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Truck and Track Spring 2019 50
PALLET NETWORKS
One of the UK’s leading packing and haulage operators,
International Logistics Centre, has embarked on a new venture
after becoming the latest company to join Palletways, Europe’s
largest and fastest growing express palletised freight network.
The family-run Group business, which was founded in 1988,
specialisesintransportation,shipping,exportpacking,warehousing
and storage. Over the past 30 years, they’ve provided a range of
services across the globe - working in Russia, the Artic, Antarctica
and the Middle and Far East - and the business has won national
awards recognising them for their movement of large gauge freight
into the remotest areas of the Congo Jungle.
International Logistics Centre’s Palletways services, which will be
offered from their depot in Newark, will also be international –
enabling new and existing clients to benefit from industry-leading
technology and high-quality logistics services into UK and Europe.
From this depot, the company boasts a 50 plus-strong team and a
fleet of Arctic to 7.5 tonne vehicles.
Commenting on the decision to join the network, Andrew Morris,
ManagingDirector at International Logistics Centre said: “While the
business has been running for over 30 years, we think Palletways
is a perfect fit for our new venture, especially after considering its
mature domestic and pan-European networks, use of innovative
technology and commitment to excellent customer service.
“Our family-run business values hard work, respect, commitment
and teamwork and our workplace is characterised by the high
energy, enthusiasm and effort of our employees. We’re looking
forward to bringing this level of enthusiasmas wework closelywith
the Palletways team and will continue to provide our customers in
Nottinghamshire & Lincolnshire with a first-rate logistics solution
that is truly customised to their needs.”
BarryByers, Palletways’ network development director, added: “This
appointment highlights the importance we place on recruiting
the most experienced transport firms in the logistics industry.
International Logistics Centre is a great asset to the network and
we’re looking forward to drawing on their experience to grow our
presence in and around the Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire
areas.”
International Logistics Centre is now one of over 115 independent
transport providers that are part of the Palletways UK network.
They benefit from shared expertise and resources from within the
group to deliver consignments of palletised freight to market faster
and more cost effectively than ever before. The Palletways Group,
famed for its industry-leading IT developments and operational
systems, comprises 450+ depots and 20 hub operations, through
which it provides collection and distribution services across 24
European countries, including the UK.
International Logistics Centre joins Palletways
2018 proved to be a memorable year for
the pallet network sector, with record
volumes being delivered and an increase in
home deliveries. The Association of Pallet
Networks’ chairman, Paul Sanders explains
why the sector continues to enjoy growth,
but advises caution for the year ahead for
an industry experiencing difficult trading
circumstances.
“The pallet network sector market is both
mature and stable,” said Sanders, “yet our members continue to
enjoy sustained growth.” Since the association was formed and
benchmarking began in 2007, annual volumes have grown by
almost 10% year on year. “Last year our pallet network members
delivered almost 26.8 million pallets; this growth reflects the
outstanding service our members offer customers across a wide
and growing range of industry sectors.”
“The sector’s variable cost base offers customers a practical, flexible
and reliable position fromwhich to respond to customers’ changing
demands,” said Sanders, “Next day services continue to show most
growth, in excess of 11% last year, while full pallets growth has
increased at a faster rate than other pallet sizes.”
2018 was also a record year for home delivery services, with
3.3 million deliveries made to residential addresses; more than
16.3% of quarter pallets and 11.7% of full and half pallets are now
delivered to residential addresses. “Members are seeing increasing
demand for their home delivery services as the ecommerce market
expands; at the quarter pallet level our members are in competition
with the large parcels market. By investing heavily in technology
solutions for all deliveries, ourmembers have secured a competitive
advantage in this home delivery market, on-time delivery service
levels remain high (averaging 96.9% in the last 8 years) and growth
is consistently strong.
In light of recent press coverage concerning pallet weights and the
impact on health and safety, the association began benchmarking
pallet weight delivered, with some surprising results: average
pallet weight delivered across all members is less than 400kg per
pallet, far lower (on average) than previously thought. “Weight is
just one factor in the safe handling of pallets,” observed Paul, “load
presentation, quality of wrapping, standard of stacking andmanual
handling techniques are all contributory factors in our members’
risk assessments, and we are working with the RHA /HSE Tail Lift
working Group and the wider transport sector to devise a best
practice approach in this area. We will share our findings from the
research through our website, where we already have numerous
best practice documents which are freely available to download for
any transport operator or their customers.”
Sandersexpressescautionforthefuture,“2019isalreadypresenting
new and unprecedented challenges for the transport sector across
the board. Uncertainty surrounding Brexit is undoubtedly giving
our members operational challenges; international services are
increasing, and the impact of delays and trade issues, coupled
with the sector-wide skills shortage, escalating fuel prices, health
and safety initiatives and myriad other issues, trading conditions
will undoubtedly be tough over the coming year,” warned Sanders.
“There will be an unavoidable impact on costs, and rates will have
to be reviewed if there is failure to address these concerns at the
highest level. We will continue to represent our members’ interests
across industry bodies, the HSE and Government Agencies. As an
association, we are looking to invest in skills development across
the sector over the coming year, as we see this as a key challenge
to be addressed, Sanders commented, “We must raise the profile of
the transport sector in general to young people, people looking for
new career challenges and those who may have left the sector in
recent years, if we are to continue to support the nation’s economy.”
As Brexit looms, pallet
network sector prepares
itself
Paul Sanders, Chairman
of the Association of
Pallet Networks
Paul Sanders, Chairman of the Association of Pallet Networks, comments on its
members’ latest operational statistics:
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