APC News Archive 2011
Reference – Fastway Global Ltd
Following the recent closure of a number of Fastway locations in various parts of the UK, there has been a misleading and inaccurate statement published on the website of Fastway Global Limited.
A number of former fastway customers within the local Manchester territory have commenced trading with our independently owned member depot based in Manchester, and have received a letter outlining the respective terms and conditions of trading between both parties. This is a local arrangement with the Manchester member depot and is not endorsed on a national basis.
APC Overnight (The Alternative Parcels Company Limited) would like to clarify our position regarding this situation.
APC Overnight (The Alternative Parcels Company Limited) have not taken over any of the Fastway Global Limited ex Franchisees, be that in part or whole, and have not entered into any direct type of trading agreement whatsoever.
Bra Chain Raises Money for Cancer Charities
APC were out in force at Worcester Racecourse on 31 July creating a huge bra chain to raise money for Breakthrough Breast Cancer and Women’s Aid. Although the bra chain fell short of the existing World Record we were extremely happy to raise over £25,000 for the charities on the day – with donations still rolling in.
There was great weather and everyone pulled together, working non-stop all day to try and break the record - even members from the crowd joined in with their vehicles to help. APC had the double deck trailer filled to the brim with Bras and two 18 tonne APC trucks and sprinter vans turned up to support the record attempt.
It was a shame to miss out on the World Record but we’re proud to have raised money for such good causes and have taken part in such an enjoyable day.
A big thank you to the entire network for taking part in this event as you managed to send over 10,000 bras, which made a huge difference. The APC network at its best, working as a team.
APC Shortlisted for Two Motor Transport Awards
We are proud to announce that APC Overnight has been nominated as a finalist for two prestigious Motor Transport Awards – the transport industry’s ‘Oscars’. Our first category is ‘Fleet Van Operator of the Year’ which is awarded for “the highest levels of commitment to running a safe, efficient and high performing fleet”. We are also delighted to be nominated for the ‘Customer Care Award’ where the judges are looking for excellent customer care “which means going out of your way to ensure that your whole operation is geared to consistently exceeding your customers’ expectations”.
This year sees the 25th Motor Transport Awards, which are judged by an independent panel of experts drawn from the industry, celebrating the achievements of the industry and recognising innovation, outstanding service, efficiency and quality.
APC Invests in More Green Trucks
APC Overnight has invested in new 18T low emission DAF trucks as the latest addition to our Hub-based fleet. APC Transport Manager Surjit Ram explains:
“Low emissions and a greener profile are crucial to all our purchasing decisions – and these DAF vehicles with the advanced Euro 5 engines are top of the range. They also feature DAF’s road-friendly suspension, meaning that tyres last longer, the AdBlue system which neutralises nitrogen oxides in diesel, and AS-Tronic Automatic gearboxes for driver comfort. All vehicles are fitted with wind reflectors for maximum fuel efficiency.”
Over 120 vehicles arrive at the Hub every night, so by embracing the latest technlogy we can make a major difference. Using our combined buying power means we can negotiate deals on these advanced vehicles to bring them onstream across the network, for the benefit of all.
APC delivers nationwide growth for Benson Signs
Liverpool sign manufacturer Benson Signs has seen a substantial growth in its business for nationwide next day deliveries by APC Overnight to most of its key clients. These include Whitbread, Costa Coffee, Pizza Hut and Subway, to name but a few. APC Overnight delivers signs of all shapes, sizes and weights through its unique ‘Handled with Care’ delivery service to Benson Signs’ customers across the UK, Ireland and the Channel Islands.
“APC’s reliability and flexibility is an important factor in helping us to expand our nationwide sales and it also keeps our existing customers happy. Having a depot nearby – APC Swift Despatch – also allows us to respond to urgent requests with a next day delivery if necessary. The service enables us to ship many signs of all sizes, shapes and weights nationwide – one week we shipped over 500 kg of signage. Signs are made in-house from a wide range of materials and some are fragile. APC gets the products to site, intact and on time, every time,” says Dave Moore, Technical Sales at Benson Signs.
Benson Signs uses an innovative web-based system that links directly to APC for online booking, parcel labelling, tracking and proof of delivery (POD). The NetDespatch Velocity system was set up for Benson Signs by APC Swift Despatch and is saving administration time and helping with customer service.
“The web software is very easy to use and helps streamline parcel booking. It also helped us minimise our paper output, which is in-keeping with our strong ‘green’ ethics. The system allows us to keep a computerised record of all our dispatch and delivery information in one place and generates the shipping labels automatically, providing visible tracking from collection to delivery. The POD facility has many uses; it shows that the parcels have been received on site and by whom. We can then send the POD to the customer should they have a query about when the sign was delivered,” says Dave Moore.
Benson Signs’ 45,000 sq ft site in Liverpool provides one of the largest in-house sign production facilities in the UK with powder coating, wet spraying, steel fabrication, computerised routering, laser profile cutting, traditional signwriting, full colour digitally printed signs and banners, silk screen printing and LED illuminated signage.
Keeping the Network Moving
The recent arctic weather – the worst recorded for more than 30 years – was a huge challenge for everyone, with transport and delivery companies at the sharp end. We would like to thank all our customers for their patience and understanding while we did everything we could to keep the deliveries flowing.
Some amazing stories have come to light. One of our trunkers battled through driving snow up a steep single-track road to collect 300 festive turkeys for delivery nationwide. These weren’t the only Christmas dinners we rescued – deliveries of organic meat from Dewi Roberts Butchers were all safely made before 12 noon on a day that many airports around the country were closed. Mr Roberts described this as “top service”, which was echoed by Russell Downing of Sheepgrove Organic Farm who said that despite everything the weather threw at us, it was the best service he’d experienced from a delivery company.
Inevitably some consignments were affected. One of our depots was hit by 18 inches of snow in a single night while areas such as Scotland and the North East coast, as well as Gatwick and Kent, were badly disrupted for many days. But at every opportunity our teams worked evenings and weekends to keep things moving. We greatly appreciate the many unsung heroes in the network who quietly got on with their jobs and kept the whole system going.
The snow tangibly underlined our commitment to each other as a network. APC Area Managers were despatched to assist the weather-affected depots, while both the Hub and depots worked together to ensure we delivered our promise.
Some areas of the country are already experiencing more snow, and if another major freeze sets in we will continue to provide the excellent service people rely on. Please check our daily bulletins here on the website which detail the situation in different parts of the country, and of course your local depot is always on the end of the phone to help. We can’t control the weather, but we understand the importance of reliability to businesses who have chosen us as their delivery partner, so we are committed to providing the high level of service you have come to expect from APC.
The APC Overnight Network carried a record number of parcels during this time and our level of performance far exceeded the industry as a whole.
Ivor Skinner
MD, APC Overnight
