(openPR) - Being able to guarantee time of delivery is, in some cases, a logistics company’s strongest selling tool. Failing to meet these deadlines, whether it be due to adverse weather conditions, traffic or any other unforeseen circumstance can be disastrous, both to the logistics company and the customer receiving the delivery. Here Gary Phillips, Commercial Manager of Rhys Davies Freight Logistics, talks about how they beat the jams that can affect delivery.

With this winter’s bad weather causing havoc on the roads, Rhys Davies were hit as hard as most other logistics companies with a number of vehicles being unable to leave the depot to make their deliveries. Gary said that on one particular day a number of vehicles in Rhys Davies’ Haydock depot stood still, as the police would not allow them out of the depot owing to treacherous roads. “This cost us a lot of money,” said Gary. “However, by communicating with our customers and explaining the problem we managed to avoid any unhappy end users.”

This winter, by UK standards, was an extreme case, however Britain’s overstretched highway infrastructure can often disrupt logistics companies and their everyday workings. So, how can the freight logistics industry combat the ever growing difficulties with making reliably timed deliveries?

Regional Stocking

During the snow this proved a very successful option for Rhys Davies’ customers. Having the product stored closer to the end user during periods of difficulty has obvious benefits and allowed Rhys Davies to make deliveries that it couldn’t have managed otherwise. “We have a number of customers who deliver full loads into our warehouses,” said Gary. “Their customers, local to that site, then call off the product in smaller more frequent quantities. This system proved to be particularly successful with our Scottish depot, where a number of customers have placed a regional stock holding.”

Night Time Deliveries
Night time deliveries allow hauliers to make deliveries when the roads are quiet and other road users are tucked up in bed. “Night time deliveries allow us to utilise vehicles across a 24 hour period, making us more cost effective” said Gary. “It also means that the roads aren’t clogged up with lorries in the daytime when they are already busy, which benefits both us and other drivers.”

Regional Consolidation

Similarly, regional consolidation is another method that allows better continuity of service. This allows other hauliers and distribution companies to drop goods into Rhys Davies’ depots, without them veering dramatically from the main and clear arterial roads. Rhys Davies then delivers the goods on their behalf to the more difficult to reach locations with other similar consignments for the same area.
Gary commented, “A good example of this is product dropped into our Cardiff depot, just off the M4, for delivery to West Wales. Many hauliers will run from Cardiff to Pembroke to deliver one pallet, a distance of nearly 100 miles each way. Using regional consolidation they can drop it into Rhys Davies Freight Logistics Cardiff, and we deliver it for a small fee.”

Not only does this operation save companies travelling hundreds of miles for a single delivery, but one vehicle fully loaded rather than ten vehicles running to the same location part loaded is clearly a great benefit environmentally as well.

‘More than just transport’

Rhys Davies Freight Logistics is a national network employing over 400 staff, operating 170 vehicles through eight operating centres throughout the UK. It offers a uniquely tailored warehousing, distribution and handling service that extends to much more than just transport. These services include: re-working, re-packing, quality control, auditing and across-the-threshold deliveries to businesses and private residencies.

Rhys Davies Freight Logistics
Moy Road Industrial Estate, Taffs Well, Cardiff, CF15 7QR

Gary Phillips
mailto: gary.phillips@rhysdavies.co.uk
+ 44 (0) 29 2081 0587