The idea of moving pallets through a network like parcels is a relatively late innovation in the logistics market arriving some 16 years ago, but once the formula was shown to work the growth was remarkable.
Read MoreIn the UK, the pallet service providers will be represented by their own dedicated industry body–the Association of Pallet Networks (APN, www.eyefortransport.com).
Formed at the end of last year, the APN has attracted membership from eight pallet networks in the UK: Palletforce, Palletways, Pall-Ex, Fortec, Palletline, United Pallet Network, Palletrack and The Pallet Network.
Together, these members represent more than 620 haulers, 24,000 vehicles and 11 million square feet of warehouse space.
The APN aims to raise awareness of the pallet network sector and to represent the interests of its members in the transport sector with media and government.
It provides a platform for discussion, analysis and the promotion of the pallet network sector to customers, prospective customers, network members and the public sector.
The APN has appointed logistics consultants to set up a detailed study of the sector, using on-line benchmarking to collect and collate information across the sector.
One of the first commercial tasks of the new body was to represent its members on the Countdown Forum for the 2012 Olympic Games, where it presented a detailed analysis of the advantages of using the pallet network approach to support the logistics of the Olympic Games.
Pallet networks are essentially co-operative organizations made up of groups of individual haulers who collect and deliver palletized freight in their own geographical area, consolidating loads destined for other parts of the country and Europe and trunking to a central hub for onward distribution. This significantly increases average vehicle fill, which, for pallet networks, is around 73%, compared with a national average of 51%.
Source: Newsdesk of www.eyefortransport.com
Read MoreUPN has announced the opening of four new UK depots, together with the appointment of Glenn Boldy as Network Service Director, following increased market demand after the launch of its real-time IT system.
Since UPN was launched six years ago, it has focused hard on delivering quality, confident in the knowledge that this would ensure it could build a quality network and help it to attract the highest quality staff.
Glenn’s role will involve him working closely with all UPN depots in the UK, to ensure that they continually improve service levels and efficiency. He has been working closely with UPN over recent months to help it roll out its new real-time XDA based signature capture system. This allows customers to be able to view an electronic signature on the central UPN website within seconds of delivery, wherever the pallet is being sent in the UK.
The solution was developed in-house by UPN, working with development tools from Microsoft, utilizing the latest .NET framework and standard XDAs.
Read MoreNew service grows UPN operation
Read MoreUPN has launched a new level of service for the UK market, to help bridge the gap between parcel and palletized freight sectors.
The new Micro Pallet service is available from more than 60 national UPN depots from the 1st May 2007, and will open up a number of new market opportunities for UPN and its members.
The new service from UPN allows customers to ship pallets of up to 150 kilos anywhere in the UK on a next day or timed service for around 25 per cent less than the cost of a full sized pallet. Users of the new service can ship their freight on standard 1.2m by 0.8m pallets, with a height of up to 0.6 meters.
Customers will be provided with the same high quality service provided by the UPN network. Earlier in 2007, UPN also announced the implementation of a real time signature capture system, using the latest hand held XDA technology. This is provided as standard with the micro pallet service, giving users access to the kinds of service levels that used to be the preserve of the parcel market. They will be able to move into new markets, with improved customer service levels and considerable reductions in the cost of logistics.
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