Carrier manager GFS adds Hermes and UK Mail to roster
UK parcel and carrier management platform Global Freight Solutions has agreed deals for delivery companies UK Mail and Hermes to join its partners. The West Sussex-based company offers free software helping customers deliver and track more than 5m parcels a year in the UK and Ireland.
The platform operates through carrier partners that include CitiPost, City Link, DHL, DPD, FedEx, Interlink Express, Nightline, Tufnells, DHL and Royal Mail.
Adding UK Mail and Hermes to the line-up brings companies to the service that between them boast more than 10,000 drivers and couriers.
Birmingham-based UK Mail Group has a network of 52 sites around the country, with 2,500 vehicles. The company said in January that its parcel volumes are currently growing by about 10% year-on-year thanks largely to online retail.
Leeds-based Hermes UK is part of the European Hermes Logistics Group, owned by mail order retail giant Otto Group. The company runs a network of 7,500 subcontracted couriers providing around 140m deliveries each year for a range of retailers and mail order customers.
Hermes has also seen its parcel volumes benefiting significantly this year thanks to the rise of Internet shopping, reporting a 40% year-on-year increase in volumes during the recent festive period.
“Best fit possible”
Daniel Ennor, the GFS commercial development director, said adding extra choice for his clients meant their parcels could be moved by the “most appropriate” carriers.
“Having two new partners provides us with even more expertise, enabling us to deliver the very best fit possible for both customer and carrier alike,” he said.
“UK Mail is the biggest independent logistics firm in the country, while Hermes is recognised throughout the industry as a market leader in home deliveries.”
GFS celebrated its tenth anniversary last year, when it changed its business model to make its parcel and carrier management software available free of charge. Fees for using the service are levied on a per-parcel basis.
The company’s PC-based multi-carrier despatch system is offered alongside a web-based track and trace system, which can provide interactive messages for consignees and performance statistics, with customised, branded reporting available.
