Truck and Track Spring 2021

Truck and Track Spring 2021 www.truckandtrack.com 48 PALLET NETWORKS location of Pallet-Track’s southern hub, said: “This is by way of a thank you toall hauliers inall businesseswhohaveworked tirelessly and together throughout the difficult times of this pandemic. “We’ve all heard about the hard work of the NHS and care workers but not much about the hauliers, those essential workers who have gone the extra mile to deliver everything from food to pharmaceuticals as well as look after their own staff with regular testing and keep the UK’s wheels turning across the country.” John Sheard, managing director of JMS of Doncaster, said: “This was a great initiative from Pallet-Track that we were happy to be part of and we hope that it starts a bit of a revolution as the sector needs a lot of support. “It’s been tough during the pandemic, but the ordinary life of drivers is pretty tough and unappreciated with long hours, often poor rest facilities on their journeys and a lack of secure parking – issues that should be kept in the public eye after Covid-19 because we need to drive home the fact that drivers are indispensable.” Paul Denyer, a director at Alan Firmin Ltd in Sittingbourne, Kent, added: “While other businesses have the livery on their larger trailers, we are putting it on a smaller vehicle to highlight the fact that the message is just as important for the whole industry – from the long-distance drivers to the final mile delivery couriers, demand for whomhasmushroomed during the lockdown asmore andmore people are ordering home delivery online.” The transitionof power at Pallet-Trackhas been steady. Nigel Parkes, who fondly remembers that first night of activity at the original Woden Road West facility, will remain a significant shareholder of the business and takes a seat on the board of parent company, Palman. Continuing in the managing director post for two years following private equity firm TPA Capital’s investment in the company, Nigel, 50, along with the board, had already begun the process of looking for a successor. “I knew I was going to step back from the day-to-day running of the business and we were going into the market to recruit a replacement for me,” he said. “However, working with Caroline from the autumn of last year, I soon realised that she was bringing a new fresh perspective to the business as CFO – she is so enthusiastic and a breath of fresh air, so the board and I asked her if she would consider taking on the CEO role and I’m delighted to say that she accepted. “From a personal point of view, leaving Pallet-Track was always going to be a big step for me, but I know I could now stand down knowing the business is in very good hands going forward.” He said Caroline shares his approach to the business in terms of drive and enthusiasm and the ‘old-fashioned’ ethic of putting people before profit. At the time of her appointment, Caroline said: “This is a bittersweet moment for me – I amextremely honoured and excited to be taking Pallet-Track forward, but unfortunately, it will be without Nigel day to day – these are very big shoes to fill. “Nigel has built a business on very firm foundations, maintaining a strong growth trajectory even through some difficult economic circumstances including the financial crash in 2008 and the current pandemic. These have all been challenges – and there will undoubtedly be more uncertainty in the future - but we look ahead from a position of strength because we have invested in the people and proven processes that will see Pallet-Track continue to grow.” One of those issues is related to the increased volume of online orders and the pallet network shift from business to business to business to consumer. In 2020, UK pallet networks delivered 10.5million tonnes of freight with an average weight of 380.5kg, an increase on 2019’s average weight of 378kg, but a mark of the direction of travel as a result of market confidence in just-in-time deliveries and the growth of home deliveries. The APN has worked closely with other trade associations, its members and the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) to produce guidance on safe tail-lift delivery and Pallet-Track has been at the vanguard of this health and safety movement. This is in part due to a chronic national HGV driver shortage – upwards of 50,000, according to the Road Haulage Association (RHA) - and the push towards more kerbside deliveries of heavier consignments, including building materials and turf, that have created a perfect storm around productivity and health issues that are blocking recruitment and retention. In 2019, Pallet-Track recommended that all of itsmembers invest in power-lift truck technology. “This is the right thing to do from a staff protection perspective, as well as a moral point of view,” Nigel Parkes said at the time. “Anything over 500 kilos should be moved on and off the vehicles using one of these trucks. Most of our network members have already equipped their drivers with the lift trucks through strategic investment, because they not only respect the narrative around safety but also understand its value as a retention and recruitment tool. “There is greater productivity and efficiency and less down time from avoidable strain injuries – this is understanding the investment as part of a bigger picture, as it costs less in the long- term if you factor in higher morale versus the cost associated with hiring agency drivers or having people off on long-term sick,” he added. Duncan Pannell, operations director at Pallet-Track member Aztek Logistics in Letchworth Garden City, said: “We currently have 13 of these power assisted pallet trucks – the first of which was purchased in 2017. All the trucks are used daily in preference to the manual pump trucks that each network vehicle was equipped with and the general feeling is theymake light work of a heavy pallet and prevent over-straining on the part of the driver. “This works on more than one level. Firstly, the driver is given some protection from a possible strain injury; secondly the driver is more agreeable to moving the pallet a reasonable distance to assist the client and thirdly it promotes an image of the right kit being used by a professional company that cares about the driver and his cargo.” During its 17 years as a business, Pallet-Track has become synonymous with industry leadership and doing the right thing by its employees, its members and its customers – a torch Caroline Green will continue to carry as, with the opening of its newWoden Road West depot, the business looks forward as well as back to the future. For more information about Pallet-Track, call 0870 385 0055 or visit www.pallet-track.co.uk. Caroline Green, CEO of Pallet-Track with Habib Hussain, a driver with PWGates