Pallet Track has taken a five year lease, with the option of a further five years, on Titan 10, a new 267,290 sq ft warehouse on Millfields Road in Bilston. The agreed rent is in excess of £1 million a year exclusive of rates. King Sturge and Colliers CRE represented landlords Threadneedle Investment Managers and Zurich Assurance.
Read MoreWith all the focus from the HSE that pallet networks are experiencing of late (Motor Transport 20th March). Pallet Track was pleased to announce to its shareholder members this week the introduction of a quality control department to monitor all aspects of the transhipment operation.
In the non-pedestrian environment of the sort areas where visiting line haul drivers are unable to supervise both the unloading and re-loading of their freight PT has invested a six-figure sum in the introduction of a completely independent team which reports solely to the daytime operations management.
The team will be responsible for supervising and reporting on the quality of the member (arrival vehicle), Pallet Track Fork-Lift truck drivers and management operatives during the sort process and ultimately the presentation of the loaded outbound trunk vehicle prior to departure back to the depot.
Read MoreAnother ‘first’ in our industry sector was the foresight for Pallet-Track to fully prepare for the busiest week in the year by adopting an additional two sort operations.
Given the previous two years historic volume increases PT decided to add two Economy (48-hour) sorts on Wednesday and Thursday (19th & 20th March). The previous year had seen growth in volume spiral by over 32 pct on these two days, with the demand for next day (as opposed to economy) increasing from 65 to 85 pct.
A complete 68-depot sort operation was undertaken with an additional workforce of over 20 members of staff some of whom were office staff seconded to the sort process. Approaching 2,500 pallets were successfully transhipped during the two-day process which enabled the more time restrictive night operation to function efficiently. In total the combined sort operations handled over 9,500 pallets.
The result was that no delay was incurred by any network member which in turn helped all PT members customers receive their goods on time prior to the holiday period.
Nigel Parkes PT Managing Director comments:
“The whole project was a complete success, we had the element of experience and a willingness to make this ‘first’ succeed from the membership to our staff who both worked tirelessly during the night and day operations. It was an extra benefit for staff normally positioned elsewhere in the business to fully appreciate the hard work and attention to detail the operations team provides night in night out”
Read MorePallet-Track has submitted their second successive entry to this year’s Motor Transport Awards.
Following on from last year’s entry and subsequently the only pallet network to be short-listed for Network of the Year the Pallet-Track board felt that a refreshed entry for 2008 was appropriate due to another successful year in the network.
A year which has seen growth of over 37 pct, the network complimented by a further thirteen shareholder members, successful implementation of a central transit insurance scheme, both IT and operating procedural enhancements which have added to increased efficiency, investment in new management teams and significant purchases in plant and machinery.
This year’s event is again being held in the Great Room of the Grosvenor House Hotel, Park Lane, London.
Read MorePallet-Track held its first combined AGM and Gala Evening at the Alton Towers Hotel Stateroom on Saturday 10th November 2007. A full day event commenced during the afternoon for the AGM and General Meeting followed by over 260 attendee’s at the formal evening event which included an 8-category Award Ceremony.
Former Bond Girl Helene Hunt hosted the awards which culminated in Norfolk based Lynn Star Distribution and Logistics (Depot 28) taking the Hub depot of the year award and Hampshire Freight Services (Depot 27) of Eastleigh the member’s depot of the year. Managing Director Nigel Parkes presents the award to Roy Dowen (second picture) and Network Director Chris Flynn (third picture) to Iain Sands.
Other Categories and Winners:
Trunk Driver of the Year:
Depot 52 – CFT Services Ltd (Paul Russo)
Best Delivery Depot:
Depot 61 – ELB Partners Ltd
Best New Depot:
Depot 91 – Courier Connections (Scotland) Ltd
Directors Recognition Award:
Depot 52 – CFT Services Ltd
Most Improved Sales:
Depot 71 – PGS (Birmingham) Ltd
Hub Employee of the Year:
Charlotte Newton – Network Support Manager
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