Nightshift hauliers needed
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• West Midlands parcels carrier Nightshift Express is looking for operators to join its network of regional depots.
The company, set up by managing director Bob Adams three years ago, recently expanded its network from 29 to 34. Now new business has led it to sign on more established parcels carriers.
Adams owns depots in Birmingham, Leeds and Cardiff as well as a Smethwick operations hub. All the other depots are individually owned and operate on a "semi-franchise" arrangement with Nightshift Express.
"We are looking for operators with a minimum of three vehicles and between 1,5002,000ft2 of warehouse space," says Adams. "In addition, they must have a fax machine and a manned phone."
Adams charges .£2,000 for operators to join the network. "They can sign a franchise agreement with us if they want," he says, "but we don't insist on it."
The operators then sell in a designated area and build up their own customer base, which remains theirs.
They trunk all their consignments to the Smethwick hub where it is sorted, and take back the deliveries to their allotted areas.
"Even if they start out with no customers at all, we can guarantee them freight from the network from night one," says Adams. "They can come in with an empty van and go back with between 80-100 consignments."
Between 2,500-3,000 consignments a night are handled at Smethwick, and Adams says they will move anything "from a jiffy bag, to a pallet to a twelve foot length."
Nightshift also runs an international network, using Rockwood for the USA, Danzas for the EC and Metro for the Republic of Ireland.