My firm are shortly opening a depot in Glasgow. We run a small order refrigerated pallet network and are hoping to offer next day (day 1 for day 2) distribution to and from Scotland. My firm places a big empasis on the service we offer to our customers and we offer a day 1 for day 2 delivery service to most of the UK (not mid/west Wales and northern Scotland etc).
We run overnight trunks between all of our depots to get goods from their collected depot to their delivery depot. Our network includes a depot in Dover. It is approx 495 miles from the Dover depot to the Glasgow depot and we really need to get pallets from Dover to Glasgow (and back) overnight.
Two possible options (thought of so far):
Trampers running straight through - I realise that it is tight on time but can it be done (please anyone)?
A changeover point somewhere. Doncaster is around half way (approx 240 miles from Dover) but is probably too far to get up and back in a driving shift? The other option on a changeover is to skew the changeover point further than half way and double man that leg of the changeover so that they can get back to base.
Any ideas or constructive comments on how we could achieve this would be most welcome.
the easiest solution would be to trunk it to a depot further north from Dover, (within 4 1/2 hours preferable, so the driver can get back to base), then get the depot you just delivered it to, to take it up to Galsgow, or even do another changeover.
yea probably meeting halfway in the middle is the only way it could be done even though a couple of days you can run 10 hours a day you cant do it all week.
By utilising the 10 hours between the driver from the north and the one from the south is it possible to have 2 changeover points - the first three days of week 1 a little bit north (south driver uses the 10s) then the last two days of week 1 a bit further south (north driver uses the 10s) and the swap the three and two days for week 2.
Does that make sense… it did when I wrote it
EDIT - just realised - it could not be the same driver over 2 weeks as I think it would go over the 90 hours in 2 weeks rule
Cant see why your using east coast coming out of Dover surely would be wiser to head up M40, you have a depot at redditch changeover near there and that driver can do it up
A good transport clerk would be able to work this one out on a map.
Just a suggestion :-
why would you go to Doncaster when your heading for Glasgow
Surely Carlisle would be more appropriate
Needs 2 vehicles min` , preferably wagon and drag demounts (unless its accessible drops for an artic in Glasgow ?).
one runs up + one runs down - trailer / boxes or driver swap then run back to own area.
Dover driver solo would Never make it back in their hours,( infact they might just about make Carlisle on a busy day ), have to be double manned.
Glasgow then swaps drivers and a third driver does Glasgow day deliveries.
You would need 6 or 7 drivers employed on this mininum to try and make it work just for even 2days on the trot , `cos of the rest hours needed.
Then take into account weekend breaks , and you might need 3 or4 more temp` drivers too.
bearing in mind heavy traffic and delays at peak periods thats one hell of a schedule on a 7day basis.
Or, as suggested , you utilise 3 depots and run is split into 3 runs from start Dover to Northampton,-- Northampton to Carlisle , --Carlisle to Glasgow ? and same reverse load.
All depends how many depots you have and where ■■?
4 1/2 hours from Dover puts you somewhere near Doncaster at a guess.
Doing a swap there with a Doncaster driver taking it to Glasgow could work but it depends whereabouts in Glasgow as the time would be VERY tight.
Guess you would have to go with option 2, swapping over further north and double manning that vehicle.
As a bit of a guide I do Bradford to Airdrie in 4.20, via A65 and m6.
Using M62 / M6 is about 20 mins longer, no idea on times going via A1.
No matter how you cut it, 495 miles is a fair way to go in a night
Short of planning the shift patterns and working it all out properly, i would look at trying to double man it all the way. Dont forget you dont need to stop for breaks and you can get a 20 hr drive and a 21 hr spread on a double man if you push it to the limit. Be a bit of a ■■■■■ of a day though.
pugwash:
Short of planning the shift patterns and working it all out properly, i would look at trying to double man it all the way. Dont forget you dont need to stop for breaks and you can get a 20 hr drive and a 21 hr spread on a double man if you push it to the limit. Be a bit of a ■■■■■ of a day though.
That would kind of bugger up the over night thing though, i would have thought.
dover to donny can be done, just.
you’d need to be very light to maintain the 86kph you’d have to do to get there and have no hold ups whatsoever, a 5 minute crawl to the tolls at dartford would be enough to ■■■■ it up.
dover to markham moor was considered a bloody good run for us.
I’d definitely use the M6 route, on Google maps, it’s 5 miles longer, but half an hour quicker, I know that’s in a car, but it still seems the logical way.
The only safe way to do Imo is 3 legs, which I know makes a proper 'night trunk extremely difficult.
biggusdickusgb:
dover to donny can be done, just.
you’d need to be very light to maintain the 86kph you’d have to do to get there and have no hold ups whatsoever, a 5 minute crawl to the tolls at dartford would be enough to ■■■■ it up.
dover to markham moor was considered a bloody good run for us.
If this is right, and I have no reason to believe it isn’t, then you couldn’t seriously plan on the basis of 5 min margin on 250 miles.
If the company emphasis is, as you say, on a quality service then you will be letting them down more often than not.
Thanks for all of your replies, not surprised that most of you favour the M6 over the A1 (but the A1 route came up in MS autoroute when I had a look earlier).
bedgar047:
Cant see why your using east coast coming out of Dover surely would be wiser to head up M40, you have a depot at redditch changeover near there and that driver can do it up
Didn’t think that I mentioned where any of our depots were but congrats to bedgar47, we do actually have a depot in Redditch which may end up as a staging post. Think you guys have inspired me - another possibility is a night trunk driver from Dover to Redditch with a tramper waiting to take the trailer to Glasgow and vice versa.
I think that’s sounding sensible & worth looking into.
Some posters, though trying to be helpful, i don’t think have read what’s required properly. i.e. mentioning busy day hold ups etc.
It is possible in 2 stages but as other posters have said would be extremely tight & drivers could feel pressurized to run over 4.30 in one hit to get there.
Not so bad on the return leg as you could have stand by drivers available to get them in if necessary.
Our night boys used to do Fleetwood - Cambridge - Fleetwood, about 466 miles around & they had to go some to do it in 4.30.
If both depots are VERY close to the m/way, i’d reckon on an average speed of 50, much less if they aren’t close.
This one really will depend on start/finish exact locations as every 5 miles is going to count.
