system was blaring, to fill out the receipt. We warned
Page 38
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
him that the package was fragile; he shook it up and down, told us it would be all right, and proceeded to lean on it to complete the receipt.
Red Star came in at 14:15hrs. A casually dressed woman appeared in an A-reg Charade car, gave us the form and when we asked what parts we should fill in, hurriedly told us to complete what we could. She obviously did not know the collection procedure, because at 15:55hrs an irritated Red Star employee was on the phone blaming us for not paying her and said he would bill us.
A liveried Nightfreight truck arrived at 14:35hrs. The driver, in jeans and sweatshirt, was the first to ask if the package was glass. We told him it was and he instilled confidence by putting it in the safety of his cab. He left without any mention of payment.
At 14:35hrs a Federal Express-liveried truck drove up with two men in smart FedEx uniforms. They took the package after a debate on whether it was packaged securely enough. There was a longer wait while they filled out the paperwork, continually consulting each other. We finally paid them by cash, fortunately with the right money as they had no change. They left at 14:45hrs.
Parceline arrived next at 15:02hrs. A smartly uniformed, businesslike driver took the package, left us a consignment note and said we would be invoiced later. We warned him the package was fragile. "Don't worry about that," he said, and promptly bumped into the wall with our mirror.
The Interlink driver arrived at 16:15hrs in a liveried panel van. He was the only driver to give us sales literature, but he did not take the sales pitch any further. We gave him the cash and he left after giving us a receipt.
Panic Link redeemed itself when it arrived at 16:20hrs. A very smartly uniformed woman driver in a liveried van took the time to explain that the mirror would be put into a protective bag and said we would be billed later.
The Deliveries
The destination for our parcels was Rambler Haulage in Oakmere, 16km from Chester on the main A54. We had asked the parcel carriers to make a point of delivering before 12:00hrs.
The first to arrive was TNT at 07:20hrs, only five minutes after the office opened. The vehicle was smartly liveried and the uniformed driver was pleasant. The parcel was in good condition but TNT had mis-spelt the sender's name.
Next was Datapost at 08:00hrs. The parcel was delivered by the regular postman in his liveried van. Again service was friendly and the parcel had a computer-printed label which doubled as a delivery note.
Third past the post was Parceline. The driver had misread the label and just happened to go to Rambler Haulage to ask directions to Parker Haulage (the label had been addressed to Geoff Parker of Rambler Haulage).
He was closely followed by Nightfreight at 09:30hrs; an un-uniformed driver in an unmarked vehicle.
Ten minutes later Amtrak arrived in a scratched vehicle, but we were pleased to see our parcel had an "extra fragile" sticker on it.
At 10:10hrs ANC turned up. The liveried vehicle was scruffy, the radio was blaring and the driver did not turn down the music while we signed for the parcel.
When Panic Link arrived five minutes later the service was unspectacular but the driver had noted that the parcel was a mirror.
At 11:05hrs Red Star arrived in a plain yellow transit van. "At last I've found you," said the driver as he handed over our parcel.
By 11.30hrs we were beginning to wonder if dr final two firms would meet the noon deadline. However, Federal Express arrived just a few minutes later. The vehicle was clean and smart and the driver apologised for not arriving earlier. The delivery information was tapped into a hand-held computer and double-checked with us.
Finally, just five minutes before 12:00hrs, Interlink turned up. Its adequate but uninspired performance summed up most of the day's deliveries.
The Prices
Panic Link was the cheapest at £10.58; TNT charged more than four times as much at £48.55 — more than twice the price of the next most expensive. ANC, Amtrak and Interlink Express Parcels were all around the El 1 mark; Nightfreight charged £14.10 and Nexday £15.22.
Moving up the price scale, Datapost charged £17.20, Parceline £18.58 and Federal Express £21.15.
Conclusion
Deciding on a winner for CM's 1991 parcels survey wasn't easy. We awarded points in the four categories that we felt would most affect customers: telephone manner, collection, delivery and, of course, price. The top three earned their scores for consistency. Thus, Datapost finally took first place for its high scores in the telephone, collection and delivery categories, even though it was not the cheapest by any means. Similarly our runner-up and third-placed operators — Federal Express and Amtrak respectively — came through ahead of those who performed very well in some categories, but very poorly in others.
TNT, for example, was particularly fast in collecting and delivering the component. If we had been a stranded operator desperate for a VOR part its speed would have been all important and TNT would have been our favourite. But we had trouble getting through and were quoted a high price. That would put some customers off and put TNT out of the running in this survey.
Our points system put Interlink and Panic Link together in fourth place. Both scored well on their prices but were let down by their telephone manner.
While we have mentioned the level of goods-in-transit insurance cover and the image presented by the various operators in terms of uniformed or casually dressed staff, liveried or plain vehicles, and courtesy, we have not awarded points for these items because they are unlikely to win or lose as much business as the other factors listed. However, in these ultra-competitive days maybe more operators should balance the cost of a professional image against likely commercial advantages.
We have decided not to distinguish between the other five carriers. All provided a competent service but were let down in individual categories. However, all of them managed to beat our 12:00hrs deadline and nobody damaged our fragile parcel. And at the end of the day, this survey is all about delivering the goods fast and safe. It is therefore only fair to conclude this survey by repeating that for the first time not one operator failed to meet our deadline, and not a single parcel was damaged. While there is still room for improvement, that must be good news. 0 CM's thanks to Knowles (Transport), and Rambler Transport for the use of their premises, and to Croydon-based MAN dealer MV Trucks for supplying the mirror inserts.