Transport office Kenley Warehousing and Distribution joined UK Pallets in
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2006 covering PR and FY postcodes, and has repeatedly come close to capturing its 'haulier of the year' title. General haulage augments the storage/ distribution work, allowing Andrew Walker to micro-manage each trip, so the company delivers the most it can on as few trucks as possible.
This is also the case for backloads. "Some 90% of trucks coming back have backloads. We are involved with Haulage Exchange, as well as links with people we know.
"At a push, we can afford to come back from the Midlands without a load if we have to; if it's further away, we have to get a backload," Walker explains.
Increased work from the Helen of Troy contract, along with the work for Holden Decor, means transport manager Campbell Elliott has the unenviable task of marrying loads and the fleet to delivery time slots from RDCs across the UK.
"The biggest problem is the waiting time. You can lose days in working hours waiting to make a delivery," he says.
The price of the work doesn't cover the waiting time. It's not something that can be factored into delivery schedules and it makes avoiding fines for late deliveries the biggest battle. "With no notification, they will issue fines," says Elliott. "The recent snow caused a lot of problems.
"The RDC takes the fine from what they owe the supplier and they get it from us. You can appeal if you know about it; if a driver doesn't let us know, it's a problem," he says.
He continues: "One journey was delayed [because] the M6 [was] closed and it generated three fines, even though we were in constant contact with them."
Elliott hopes switching drivers from personal mobile phones to a new PDA system that tracks the truck and improves communication between drivers, the warehouse and its customers will solve a lot of these issues. There is also an online portal for customers to track loads.
This is important because RDCs are also starting to dictate delivery times, so the haulier has no control over what delivery times an RDC wants. This doesn't suit a haulier trying to maximise operations and maintain margins, explains Walker.
"For example, they will order Tuesday, we will pick that order on Wednesday and the RDC expects delivery on Thursday. That is a one-day lead time. You have to manage expectations with what you can do, but this is on the rise," he says.