FREIGHT EXPRESS
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eith Grant. partner of Freight Express in Edinburgh, is busy when Commercial Motor arrives at his depot in the city's Freighthill Industrial Estate. There he is, wheeling around on a fork-lift, getting the day-to-day jobs done. A couple of minutes later we are sitting in the comfort of his office, perched above the warehouse floor. How did it all begin?
"I started in 1979, along with my partner David Seaton; we bought a Ford Transit, carrying out same and next-day deliveries in Scotland, mainly with furniture," says Grant. "But the furniture market fell away in the mid-eighties. This
included office furniture, white goods, paintings and antiques."
Freight Express was not willing to flog a dead horse so the company immediately switched its operation to carrying brown goods. Grant says: "At that time we had 10 vehicles, ranging from vans to 17-tonners."
Today the company runs nine vehicles, comprising tractive units, rigids and vans. And, as is often the case, a declining market has seen rejuvenation. Furniture, once again, is king. There is no denying that this business may suffer, but it will always bounce back—people need to sit on chairs and work at desks.
"We are concentrating on white and brown goods, and furniture. These are usually collected from London," says Grant. "We are leaving here in four weeks to go to Loanhead in Edinburgh. The present warehouse is 3711m2, the new one is 1,210m2—there is a good future in warehousing and distribution.
"We bring bathrooms up to Edinburgh from London once a week," he adds, and we are also moving into kitchens and bedrooms."
The firm's 45ft box trailers and curtainsiders are used to carry these consignments. But after they have reached the Edinburgh base, Freight Express may use smaller vehicles to get the goods to the customer. This is where the rigids and vans come in. Grant says: "This is the beauty of having a mixed fleet." It is all about capitalising on the particular strengths of a given vehicle.
He sees the Edinburgh location as a strategic gem: "We are in Scotland, so we have a huge advantage over English competitors." By this, Grant means that English trucks travelling, say, from London to Aberdeen, have an awfully Ion journey, using a single vehicle for th entire trip. Conversely, such ajourney f Freight Express can be staggered: hu dreds of miles of motorway can be co ered by an HGV, then smaller vans a rigids can load the goods in Edinbur before negotiating Scotland's more ma cessible routes. At the same time, t HGV can be back on the road, transpo ing a fresh load.
Grant says that this fleet-locati equation works so well that Frei Express frequently takes on subco tracting work, transporting goods acro Scotland for hauliers who would not even • think about sending an HGV so far north.
Grant says of the logistics of the Freight Express operation: "The real art is having a lot of customers all over the place. For example, on the way down to London we will carry a full load, and deliver en route." On the return journey an HGV will be carrying the consignment from London, such as bathroom furniture, but Grant will make sure the vehicle is fully loaded: this may mean picking up from as many as 10 separate locations on the way back to Edinburgh."We carry as much as possible in both directions," he says.
With such a varied mixture Of work, how does Grant deal with rates? He says: "If we are dealing with reasonable people, then rates can be negotiated. I sit down with the customer and agree a price—that price is then fixed for a year. It works well."
With so much going on, Freight Express has customers who only use the service occasionally. Here, the rates are set individually.
The firm's move to the larger depot brings a dramatic increase in warehouse space, and that expansion MI also include taking on a second fitter. When you have your own fitters you get exactly what you need," comments Grant, He adds that the new fitter will work on other hauliers' vehicles, too. The company will also buy two new 17-tonners, Freight Express certainty Seems to have got into its market to the extent that it would be foolish to try the untried: "Diversify? No. We will stick to the market-place we understand."