A service for exporters that reduces transit miles and delivery times has launched in the UK and across Europe.
Following a successful pilot in the spring, the Palletways Group, belonging to Imperial, a DP World company, has rolled out its new direct injection Hubdrop service across the UK and in its networks in the Benelux, Iberia, Italy, Germany and Hungary. It means customers that ship large volumes of international freight can now consolidate their orders and drop off multiple pallets at the nearest destination hub. Palletways’ member network in the delivery area or country is then responsible for the last mile delivery anywhere within Europe.
Currently all international deliveries in the UK go via Palletways’ Fradley hub in the Midlands, before being transported to Dublin, shipped onto Nijmegen and reach their final destination – a process that can take around seven days. Now, with Hubdrop, customers that regularly ship large volumes of consignments every year internationally can consolidate orders onto one of their trucks, or that of their nearest member, and directly inject the consignment at one of Palletways’ 15 participating hubs within any of the core countries it serves. The member network then handles the final leg of the journey.
This is a more environmentally conscious way to ship as it cuts down on transit miles. Delivery times are also reduced as consignments arrive at their destination the day after the drop-off at the hub.
Hubdrop is also backed by Palletways’ industry-leading IT infrastructure. This means each consignment is fully traceable from the time it’s collected at the hub until the point of delivery, providing customers with the full visibility they’ve come to expect from the Palletways Group.
Luis Zubialde, CEO for the Palletways Group, said Hubdrop boasts numerous benefits: “We’re always looking for ways we can enhance our service. Hubdrop has been designed to process more efficiently an increasing number of pallets through our network, delivering cost and time savings for our customers not to mention a more environmentally friendly way to ship.”
Participating Hubdrop locations are based in the UK, France, Germany, Iberia, Italy, Hungary and the Netherlands.
Founded in the UK in 1994, the Palletways Group began developing its pan-European network in 2002, starting with Italy. Today, it operates in 23 countries and currently works with more than 450 depots and over 20 hubs.
