Palletways UK has been seen welcoming several parcel companies to its member network, with more firms looking to diversify into haulage and palletised freight to widen their service offering and drive revenue. Reflecting on the first half of 2022, Palletways UK saw partnerships bloom with Darcica Logistics in Bicester, Prime Parcel Services (PPS) in Glasgow and Collect2Deliver in Kirkcaldy, with more parcel firms on the horizon to expand into palletised freight with the UK pallet network later this year.
Warwick Trimble, network director for Palletways UK, comments: “The UK saw a huge jump in e-commerce retail during the pandemic. We’ve seen the growing dominance and visibility of online retailers in our homes with the resulting increase in parcel companies to support demand. It’s a natural progression to move into heavy goods vehicles given both sectors are multi-drop with other similarities and transferrable skills.
“Parcel firms that weren’t previously in haulage have an innate understanding of drivers on a large scale – between 50 and 100 drivers in some cases – and great capability of handling larger volumes on masse, efficient routing, and general logistics management. We expect the trend to continue as even more firms look at our operation as an additional revenue stream.”
Anthony Tattersall, owner of Darcica Logistics, explains: “Initially parcels were an opportunity to start my own business, but I wanted to grow and expand into bigger things and develop a successful, sustainable business across all areas of logistics. It’s not a monumental transition as we’re already skilled at routing, managing drivers, vehicle repairs and maintenance. The main challenge is the finance needed for investment in larger vehicles and premises, but on the plus side you gain more commitment through longer contracts, longevity, and security within the pallet network to balance out the risk.”
Jeff Lawson at Collect2Deliver added: “The Palletways network has sparked conversations and opened doors for our business that wouldn’t have happened had we not become a member. It gives us a local presence we hadn’t felt before. There aren’t many ‘traditional’ hauliers in our area and those that are, have shown little interest in joining a pallet network. With the gap between parcel and pallet delivery companies closing, we can capitalise on our experience. We all know that the delivery service expectation of the public is becoming ever more demanding. It won’t be long before the expectation will be that you order a bathroom online after 10pm and have it delivered the very next day, as you would with a parcel.”
Andrew Muir, managing director of PPS, concluded: “The partnership has allowed me to build my business in an exclusive postcode area and ship anything from a parcel to a full trailer load throughout Europe for my customer base – something which is unique for my geography. Working with online retailers, everything is metric and performance driven to ensure customer experience is top priority – with an emphasis on same day and not tomorrow – and we’ll continue this working for Palletways.”
Palletways’ recent introduction of the Pallets to Consumers service for companies who sell directly to the end-consumer and the launch of Palletways ID, the world’s most sophisticated forklift truck-mounted sensor technology, are prime examples of its industry-leading systems, which members can utilise for the benefit of their customers.
