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FAI R S HA RE Shared-user pallet networks have been one
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of the most important developments in the road transport industry in the past 10 years. They all make great claims — Andy Salter's been finding out who really delivers the goods...
Shared-user networks are nothing new in the road transport industry. For many decades hauliers have been working together to gain economies of scale and improve business efficiency. But the rise of the pallet networks has taken collaboration to a different and more formalised level, offering customers and operators a more professional service,better marketing possibilities and, if the pallet networks are to be believed, better profit margins for participating hauliers.
These networks — some run by hauliers. others by well informed entrepreneurs — have sprung up na Li onwide, giving a formal structure to what had grown organically into a widespread but haphazard pattern of co-operation.
For the customer who wants to move a pallet, the proposition is simple: ring up your local agent,supply the necessary consignment details and sit back, safe in the knowledge that your goods will be collected and dispatched on time and on budget.
That's the theory, at least, and over the past few years we've committed plenty of column inches to the rise of these networks.lhe proof of the pudding is always in the eating,and we were keen to find out if the networks could live up to their grand promises.
Our mission was simple, thanks to our friends at Halls Communications THE MISSION in Norfolk: we set ourselves up with six pallets to move from Norwich to Stockton-on-Tees. The goods — we used old photocopiers — had to be collected in a tight 12-3pm window from Copy IT, a photocopier supplier in Norwich, and delivered to the MAN-ERF service dealership in Stockton-on-Tees before noon the next day. tab 1
THE SERVICE
Armed with the local member details for NR6, our collection address, we took to the phones at lunchtime on 20 September, for collection on the following day.
Palletways was the first on the list; the local agent was Jack Richards. Darren answered the phone after eight rings and told us we needed to fax through the details of the consignment and our bank details for a credit check before he could discuss rates.We sent the fax at 12.15 and awaited his call.
Meanwhile, we continued down the list. PalletForce is represented in Norwich by Freightforce and after seven rings on the phone we were put on hold before someone in sales took our call. In fairness, it was a painless and fairly swift process and after initial introductions we were asked to send a fax with confirmation of the job before we could get a rate for it, though there was no IP. mention of a credit check on this occasion.
Lee took the basic details and explained there would be a surcharge for a guaranteed morning delivery. The call ended at 12.22 with Lee telling us he'd call back.
Our Palletline network search on the internet threw up two options for the NR postal area — Anglia Freight and Foulger — with Foulger responsible for our NR6 code. After one ring on the phone we were put through to an automated answering machine and two button presses later we were connected to the relevant person. Our details were taken and it was explained that as we had no account with Palletline we'd have to pay our £48 fee on collection. We were asked to send a fax to confirm the order and that was that. Things must have been a bit busy in the traffic office; we felt we were dealt with rather too"efficiently".
We'd barely put the phone down when it was ringing again. As good as his word, Lee at Freightforce was back on the line with a price for the job: £55, plus £10 for guaranteed before-noon delivery. Once we'd agreed to the rate Lee faxed us a customer account application form to fill in.
As with all the companies we spoke to, we had to prompt Freightforce for a tail-lift as the collection point had no forklift. There would usually be a charge for this, we were told (this was the only network to levy such a fee on this evidence) but as we were a first-time user it would be waived.
IP Pallets, based in Ipswich, is the Fortec representative for the area and was the only company which made us feel comfortable as a first-time caller. Mark took our call and talked us through the process. He then e-mailed us a Fortec information pack, complete with account application form and rate list, which arrived within a matter of minutes of coming off the phone. Everything was in order, but unfortunately we were unable to open the rate card and had to call back to get it faxed over, only to lind that the fax was poor quality and our untrained eyes couldn't make any sense of' the rate structure. A call back to Mark ascertained the rate was .€47 for the job, plus Elf) for the guaranteed delivery, with no charge for taillift. All prices were excluding VAT (this was the only company to highlight this fact).
Our final network.Pall-Ex. is represented by Star Transport in our collection area and the phone was answered after eight rings. The Pall-Ex website gave us a contact at Star Transport, though this proved to be the wrong person; she directed us to the main traffic office where our query was answered.As with all the others. Star Transport required the details of the job to be confirmed by fax; it gave us a quote of £58, plus £.14 for guaranteed morning delivery. In addition Star levied a 4% fuel surcharge, though was no additional charge fora tail-lift.
The Palletways representative was the last to call back. Darren confirmed our credit was good and quoted £48 for overnight delivery, an extra 0 for guaranteed morning and also informed us of a whopping 13.8% fuel surcharge to be levied on the job. An invoice would he sent out on completion of the delivery; payment terms were 30 days.
With all the pallets booked into the networks within two hours the process had been swift and painless, although we were somewhere in the region of 050 worse off!
Only Fortec had apparently taken any account of us being a new customer and had made any attempt to hold our hand through the process. The company had sent an information pack via e-mail, with a hard copy version arriving in the post the following day. Round one to Fortec for customer service. Up early, we were on patrol from 7.30am at the MAN-ERF dealer's yard at Stocktonon-Tees awaiting our pallets.
The first to arrive was Stiller Transport. cam ing the flag for Palletline. The Stiller yard is within spitting distance of the dealership. so no surprise that we were first on the delivery list.
Ward Bros, from Milton, representing Palletways, were in a rush; they had us down for a before-10am delivery. On arrival our forklift was unable to deal with the little 7.5-tonner immediately.The driver said he couldn't wait and was all for heading oft presumably leaving us with a rearranged delivery re-charge later, when our forklift guy came to the rescue and lifted off the pallet. The truck was back on its way by 9.56am.
Star Transport (Pall-Ex) arrived minutes after Ward Bros; he was tipped and on his way in two minutes. While our photocopier was undamaged, the pallet had been knocked out of shape while in transi t.And, curiously, Pall-Ex's website lists Prestons of Potto as the local delivery agent.
Fortee's agent,KW Devereux, arrived in a Daf CF65 18-tonner, and the driver scored top marks for smart appearance. Our goods had been re-wrapped while with Fortec.
The final delivery was from Ranger, bearing PalletForce livery, comfortably within the delivery window and no sign of any pallet damage.
taus
THE DELIVERY A job well done. As the results show, all five pallet networks delivered the goods on time and intact and, compared with the control, represent the most efficient way of moving single pallets by truck. Even if we'd hired a van for the day it's unlikely we could have shi lied the pallet for less than 160.
Freigh t force, part of the PalletForce network, was dangerously close to falling outside the collection windowThe arrival I i me of 3.02pm could he considered a fail if we were being ultra-strict, and had the driver been faced with a peak-capped security gateman the company might have missed its slot. THE VERDICT Palletways was the only company to carry out a credit check, at least one they told us about, and only one network wanted paying up front. Had we not been able to be present at the collection point to hand over the cheque,this might have created a problem, although in fairness they were the cheapest.As a rookie customerwe'd have appreciated being informed that all prices excluded VAT.
On price alone Palletline scored highest; it was also the only network not to charge us extra for be forenoon delivery. Pallelways gave us the most advice on how to proceed, though it was expensive, charging a whopping 13.8% fuel surcharge. Fortec was the only company to supply a full information pack. All were prompt with their invoicing, although none of them followed up with a postdelivery chat to ensure all was well. The process was painless and effective and on this evidence it's clear pallet networks do represent a significant opportunity for potential customers when it comes to single pallet movements.
For the record we'd score Fortec top on this test, though there's not much to choose between them.