Two more on the Track
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• Track 29 appointed two new franchisees this week. Hawk Freight Services, based in Exeter, plugs a gap created by the departure from the network of a previous contractor: Bradley (Dundee) fills a vacancy for Fife and north Tayside.
John Lidderdale, managing director of Track 29, says he was looking for a company at the southern end of the Fife area to reduce trunking time and costs: 'Bradley's have the right culture," he says.
The network now has six depots in Scotland. Last month Lynsteff Express joined to cover Lanarkshire and manage operations at the new Scottish hub at Law Junction.
Track 29 was using Glasgow Central station as the terminal for all of its Scottish consignments, but this proved unsatisfactory: "Parcels and people don't mix," says Lynsteff owner Ken Macdonald.
He is now responsible for handling freight between the trunk trains, which off-load under a large canopy, and trunk lorries sent in by the other Scottish franchisees. Law also has substantial transit warehousing available.
A month after Lynsteff started operations Track 29 is launching a sales blitz in Scotland, including visits from southernbased sales staff. "The volumes are low now, but there's a lot of business out there to be won," says Macdonald.
Track 29 will appoint another 12 operators nationally by the end of the month, and will have reached 50 franchisees by the end of May. Revenue is growing by 5% a week and has passed the level of the network's preChristmas peak, according to Lidderdale.
He expects revenue to reach £9m this year.