APC Overnight have made it through to the finals of the Motor Transport Awards for 2011. Not just in one category but two. The prestigeous Fleet Van Operator of the Year, But more importantly the Customer Care award. Its just reward for years of hard work for the Carrier which has the largest Uk Depot Network. It comes hot on the heels of fantastic results in the Triangle Parcel Carrier Survey where in all the important categories – Service, Customer care etc APC beat off competiton from the usual household Global players for top slots. Well done and good luck for the finals.

admin APC Overnight, Courier News, Local News, Parcel Delivery, Parcel News APC Overnight, courier, North Yorkshire Parcel Delivery

We need some entrants for our free to enter Sat Nav competiton on the Euro-Tran Homepage… Come on guys its FREE to
enter, and this time the number of entrants has been poor… We had a great response to the Acer notebook competition but it would appear nobody wants a sat nav…! err WHY?

Come on enter – (The answer is GPO)

admin Competition Result, News at Euro-Tran, Parcel News, Skipton, Uncategorized, free to enter competition competition, courier, Euro-Tran, overnight parcels, Skipton, Yorkshire Dales

**** The Current Fuel Charges In Place are ****

Uk freight (Euro-Tran/APC) 4.5%
International (Standard UPS) 3.50% (Dec 7th to Jan 6th)
(Express UPS) 13.50% (Dec 7th to Jan 6th)

admin APC Overnight, News at Euro-Tran, Parcel News, UPS courier, Euro-Tran, UPS

Heres your chance to win an Acer notebook.

Enter for free on the website, simply follow the link in the homepage.

Use your knowledge of the Parcels Industry and enter the question.

All correct answers will go in the draw – It could be yours for Christmas….

admin Courier News competition, courier, Euro-Tran

Working within a courier company operations office for 20 years I have heard most complaints that customers tend to throw at their courier when a parcel arrives while they are out.

Most times the courier has called when they were at work – which begs the question why deliver to the  home -when you are at work all day.  Normal practice when you are not at home is for the courier to put a ‘We called while you were out’ card through the letter box.

Comments like -

•  I only nipped out for ten minutes when did he call !
•  I couldn’t hear him knocking for the dogs barking !  
•  He must have waited till I went out then shoved a card through the door !
• and of course the classic – ‘I couldn’t hear him knocking, I am deaf you know… ‘ 

Have you used, or heard a better one…..

admin Courier News courier, home delivery

Euro-Tran Despatch Fuel Surcharge Matrix.

Based on the AA average fuel price index, we bench mark our fuel surcharge on the following matrix.(Courtesay of DPD) We avoided any surcharge as long as possible and eventually had to introduce a 2.5% surcharge, and later then increased it further to 4.5%, At all times we were well behind our competitors on both introduction, and to what extent it was applied.

A substantial fall in fuel prices (diesel down to £1.07 pence per litre) in October/November 2008 led us to believe this would continue into the new year and we would rapidly see fuel fall to a figure we could consider the option to reduce the surcharge down to 2.5%. However despite a barrel of Oil dropping to a third of itspeak price this has not been the case with fuel hovering around the £1.00 mark. In recent weeks it has actually increased. This is arguably due to the fall in the value of sterling. It is all very confusing with some carriers one minute carrying a 10% surcharge then dropping it altogether. Constant change is unworkable. The change is necessitated by how, and when they in fact purchase their bulk diesel.
It is our intention to make two downward changes to the fuel surcharge, The first will kick in at 85p and take the surcharge down to 2.5%……In theory the removal of the charge would be at the 75p mark, However if an element of stability came into the market place we may drop it earlier. It is our intention to keep all other rates stable for the foreseeable future.

THE DPD FUEL MATRIX.

surcharge
from 72.4p to 74.3p 1.00% Benchmark to remove
from 74.3p to 76.3p 1.30% surcharge (75p)
from 76.3p to 78.3p 1.60%
from 78.3p to 80.2p 1.90%
from 80.2p to 82.2p 2.20%
from 82.2p to 84.1p 2.50% Benchmark for 2.5%
from 84.1p to 86.1p 2.80% surcharge (85p)
from 86.1p to 88.0p 3.10%
from 88.0p to 90.0p 3.40%
from 90.0p to 92.0p 3.70%
from 92.0p to 93.9p 4.00%
from 93.9p to 95.9p 4.30%
from 95.9p to 96.5p 4.60%
from 96.5p to 97.8p 4.70%
from 97.8p to 99.8p 4.90% Benchmark for 4.5%
from 99.8p to 101.7p 5.20% surcharge was never
from 101.7pto 103.7p 5.50% exceeded
from 103.7pto 105.7p 5.80%
from 105.7pto 107.7p 6.10%
from 107.7pto 109.7p 6.30%

admin Courier News courier, fuel surcharge

“As a company Euro-Tran has always adopted a responsible approach to its surroundings. Only recently however, It has hit home that we could do a lot more” say’s David.

Climate change is inevitable… It is however possible that we can all contribute towards sustaining our environment. Its too easy to adopt the “how can I make a difference on my own” attitude. It’s a fact – each and every one of us makes that difference.

David is concerned that Euro-Tran is involved in a dirty industry. Road Transport being a major polluter of the environment, It is however vital to keeping the economy going, Proven so clearly with the fuel crisis some years ago. “The more successful we become”, David say’s ” The more customers,and the bigger our environmental impact.As a company we operate the most modern, most environmentally friendly vehicles our budgets will allow. We offer a dales drop in service,which, to be fair is underutilised and provides little financial return, but it does reduce the amount of heavy traffic on the Yorkshire Dales lanes. Yet we still need to do more” He says.

“Now we must OFFSET OUR CARBON FOOTPRINT”.

He explains “Simply put, we ensure trees are planted which will help filter the damage we do. Its not an exact science, but is a responsible approach to reduce our impact on the environment, If everybody took a similar approach, including the Governments, The big picture may get a little brighter”.

The Company wants to go further. Albeit at the moment restricted by budgetry issues because of the ‘Credit Crunch’ there is much we can do at no expense to the company.

We recycle our paper waste, recycle old pallets, as well as
any metal objects etc.

“We will aim to recycle more, and waste less” David tells us. “How many local business’s are fully aware of the ‘WEEE’ disposal of Electronic waste legislation..That
old keyboard or computer screen, CANNOT go in the bin now – The financial penalties of non compliance are severe.

As a registered electronic trade waste transporter we are now able to dispose of our clients ageing IT eqpt, We offer good rates and a traceable disposal record.

“Further, When we replace vehicles and plant. New kit will be bought with the environmental impact it has as THE major consideration”.

The Yorkshire Dales should be available for future generations to visit,to enjoy, and admire

– Lets all do our bit to keep it that way.

admin Courier News, Skipton carbon footprint, courier, Euro-Tran, recycle, WEEE

Visit APC Website for the latest newsletter.

admin Courier News APC Overnight, courier, overnight parcels

APC OVERNIGHT BUYS FREEHOLD OF NATIONAL SORTATION CENTRE AT ESSINGTON
- second site also leased to increase capacity
- volumes up 17 per cent

APC Overnight has acquired the freehold of its National Sortation Centre at Essington, as it continues to expand its operation with volumes up 17 per cent since April.

Furthermore, as a direct result of continued and future projected expansion, the company has leased a second site adjacent to its main hub at Essington. Vince Friery, Director of Communications for APC Overnight commented: “The decision to acquire the freehold of our National Sortation Centre enables us to plan for the long term. We had previously outgrown hubs four times in nine years. We are in our eleventh year in business and can now consolidate our headquarters at our National Sortation Centre for many years to come.”

APC moved into its new National Sortation Centre just over two years ago but further growth of the business also led the company to lease the second facility which has enabled APC to separate out its ever-increasing traffic bound for Scotland. He added “We decided to put our Scottish bound consignments into this second building to allow faster turnarounds for the longer distance trunking routes and the benefit of increased efficiency has already been felt. “In addition the site also offers us a larger marshalling area for our trunking vehicles and this too has helped improve efficiency.“Outgrowing our facilities is a wonderful problem to have and whilst the second building at Essington does currently meet our requirements, we are mindful that we must also accommodate further growth in the years ahead. We are already looking at other suitable regional hub sites, both in the North and in the South.”

ENDS
Editor’s Note: For further information please contact Century Public Relations Tel: 024 7622 8881.

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Skipton Ford’s Andrew Busfield (left) and Damian Smith, hand over four transit vans, with more to come, to Christine Howson of Euro-Tran. Skipton-based logistics firm Euro-Tran Despatch has increased its fleet with the arrival of four Ford Transit vans from local dealer Skipton Ford. Part of the APC Overnight courier network, Euro-Tran Despatch has seen a 20 per cent rise in business over the last 12 months and so needed the new vehicles to keep pace with demand.

The new vehicles will be based at their Airedale Business Park depot. The deal with Skipton Ford maintains a 20-year relationship which dates back to the courier buying its very first Ford Transit in 1986. At the handover for Skipton Ford was Andrew Busfield, Andrew handled the first transaction almost two decades ago.

David Howson, co-founder of Euro-Tran Despatch, said: “It’s only recently that Skipton Ford has been able to supply us with the larger model Transits. As soon as we became aware of the option, we took the plunge. We employ a keep-it-local philosophy,Where possible all our budget is spent locally. Skipton Ford have an excellent service facility right on our doorstep, its a good product, and of course there’s Andrew, how could we go wrong?”

Complete with fresh APC Overnight livery, the new vehicles will assist in servicing some 300 local accounts in the Skipton and Keighley areas. Euro-Tran Despatch also collects goods on a daily basis from Skipton Ford’s highly successful parts division, these are then despatched to major outlets across the UK, So its a two way trading relationship… around a thousand parcels and 200 pallets can pass through the Skipton depot on a daily basis.

Mike Courier News, Skipton courier, Euro-Tran, skipton ford