DickyNick:
These networks (pallet force, pallet line etc etc) who all have their hubs in the midlands, they offer a full uk coverage for their networks, but how can some companies get their trunks to the midlands and back in a shift within the legal time? Such as Glasgow or Edinburgh to Birmingham and back. In a 10 hour drive? I assume someone covers anything further north than that up to Inverness. Again, in a 10 hour drive? No chance. Then down to Cornwall…Cornwall to Birmingham and back in a 10 hour?
Do companies double man for this or is there some other trick up their sleeve?
Double manned to central Scotland then dayshift man heads north with trailer
AFIK most English pallet networks don’t offer next-day North of Perth and Oban. Certainly, they don’t for the Scottish Islands, although N Ireland is usually okay.
We were only just over an hour away from the depot in Burton, so the first loads would usually leave around 7pm. Those drivers would park up for the night and reload at 4am or so, while the other trailers (up to five) would all be away by 9pm and back in the yard for 8am. Sometimes I would take the first load after spending the day on locals and taking a rest. There was time then for an overnight break in Burton then back to the yard to start another day on locals.
The whole operation was really well organised and it’s easy to see how it changed the whole pattern of distribution from the old system of picking up part and full loads and then looking for a back load. The potential downside is that every pallet gets loaded and unloaded at least four times by FLT drivers in a hurry.