Highland data in full fling
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NEARLY 70 companies are now making regular use of the free BRS Datafreight service which is being operated from Inverness by the North of Scotland Transport Association (NOSTA).
The service, which is being funded by the Highlands and Islands Development Board until April next year, has begun to attract a growing number of users, and terminal operator Deana O'Brien told CM that the rail strikes in June and July also attracted business for hauliers, some of which has been kept.
She also pointed out that although the service is operated from Inverness, it is available for loads anywhere in Britain. Regular traffic is put on the system by an Avonmouth haulier who subcontracts Coca Cola traffic from Rugby to Airdrie.
London companies are as entitled to use the service as operators in the Scottish Highlands, and she said at least one load from Canvey Island to London has been processed through the system.
During the rail strike, the terminal handled load matching for 2,000 tonnes of timber, although that business has since been interrupted by business difficulties affecting a Norwegian company.
At present, the terminal is dealing with 8,000 tonnes of steel being sent south from the Invergordon area, while a less usual load last week was an infantry assault boat moved from Portsmouth to Glasgow.
HIDB senior transport officer Donald MacCuish told CM that NOSTA is looking forward to BRS's imminent extension of the Datafreight system to provide wider television-based information, and indicated that this could prove useful to NOSTA members.
Ms O'Brien said that the free service offered by NOSTA, probably the only example of this in Britain, helped introduce sceptical operators to the system, as they were prepared to put its claims to the test when they did not have to make any initial payment. NOSTA hopes to retain these customers after the HIDB subsidy ends next year.
Further details of the system are available from Ms O'Brien on 0463 36257, and the office is in Inverness's Longman Industrial Estate, opposite a commercial vehicle parking area.