Pall-Ex Group signs key Bulgarian deal

The palletised freight specialist Pall-Ex Group has signed a deal with one of Bulgaria’s largest transport and logistics providers, Econt, continuing the company’s expansion into Europe. Pall-Ex will begin operations in Bulgaria by mid 2016 via its partnership with Econt, which operates over 40 % of the parcel market in Bulgaria.

With a central hub to be based in Plovdiv, the new network will launch with 18 members and will cover all territories next day as standard.

Pavel Penchev, managing director at Econt, said: “The pallet distribution market is a developing one here in Bulgaria. It is a market that needs a specific solution, as it is still relatively unstructured with freight volumes generally being delivered through long distance multi drops or through courier networks, which proves to be inefficient. Pall-Ex can offer a tried and tested solution with very clear benefits for customers and operators.”

Anand Assi, project director at Pall-Ex Group, added: “This new partnership will allow us to offer cost-effective rates throughout the country, based on geographical area. It will also see the introduction of differentiated pallet sizes, this flexibly will enable us to enhance our service to towns and villages. Together, we will be able to offer a much more customer orientated solution to the market.”

Members of Pall-Ex Bulgaria will have access to Pall-Ex’s growing continental network, geographical coverage, spanning the UK, Spain, Portugal, Romania, Italy, France, and shortly the Benelux regions.

Pall-Ex is also looking to secure partnerships in Germany, Hungary, Slovakia, Czech Republic and Scandinavia.

Established in 1993, almost two thirds of Econt freight is for business-to-consumer and consumer-to-consumer clients. With 520 offices and 14 logistics centres supported by the firm’s headquarters in Ruse, Econt also works across Greece and Romania – further expanding Pall-Ex’s network.