Essex Same Day & Next day Courier

Courier world, Couriers on twitter By Kevin Arrow | No comments yet

#Followfriday from @essex_courier and @freight_rescue

With inspiration from @nikkipilkington, we tried this a few weeks ago and guess what we are doing it again this week.

So our #FollowFriday recommendations are:-

Keeping it local, these are great Essex based tweeps. Following local people gives you a good indication of whats going on in the local area and makes it more likely that you will meet some of the people you ‘click’ with…

Tweets about found Sat Navs – @stevieaarmitage

Courier things? well that would be @courierexchange

For our lovely twitterbutt ™ and all things design and branding, a mention for Ces aka Ces_Creatively and Jay, an extraordinary duo of talent.

Shaun Gisbourne is a great follow telephony tips and tweets well worth reading, and a name you will see coming up more and more in our blogs (but Shhh! for now, it’s a secret, even from Shaun )

Right, thats all for this blog, we have a few blogs so I will share the follow Friday blog love around

Sarah and Same day courier company, based in Essex but delivering internationally

When it all goes wrong – we still deliver

Wednesday was a difficult day for our same day courier and delivery business. It started off very well, two contracts were due to start and we were prepping our drivers with the new requirements. Two of our biggest ad hoc / express delivery customers were booking in jobs and we had all four of the fleet out, on the road.

At midday just before the new contracts were about to start our daughter collapsed, in a heap on the floor. We were stunned, she had been a bit quiet but no other indication that she was unwell.

It was surprising how fast the ‘emergency’ action plan (which up until now had just been spoken about) kicked in. Sarah took our most precious delivery to the hospital and I organised the afternoon remotely, using the phone and mobile internet. I could be right at their side whilst still keeping my finger on the pulse, thanks to the systems being in place.

Our new and existing customers are very happy – it was excellent service as usual. Our precious package was fine – she has flu and not meningitis as Sarah was convinced.

I was relieved, how do you know your emergency systems will work? no amount of dry runs can prepare you for the moment they have to be implemented.

I spoke to one of the new customers that day and she was laughing that I had been sitting all day in the garden getting a sun tan… I didn’t disillusion her and say where I actually was – it was business as usual, for all of our team.

Regards

Kevin

Courier Business By Kevin Arrow | 2 comments

Testing out a greener printer – HP 8500

A few weeks back we delivered a ‘green printer’ to France (with the kind assistance of Darren Porter) for marketing and PR company Edelmann.
As a greener delivery company, it’s important to find someone who is going ‘that way’ when we arrange delivery of certain items – so it’s not so damaging on the environment (15% of emissions are from road transport).

HP OfficeJet 8500

We also collected the HP 8500 to trial ourselves at the same time. We take extra care with our back office and try to make is as green and efficient as possible. Waste is the worst kind of ‘not-green’ in this office, and we are often looking at creative ways to recycle things.

The printer, it’s a dream to use so far. We scan all our documents in and store them, we are often a companies unofficial back up of their delivery documents. We have saved approx 4 hours a week on scanning time alone.

We also have a an upcoming Business Scene event on the 2nd of July. I printed 150 red, black and gray invitations and only used a quarter of the ink that I normally do. I have enough ink to print up 100 or so posters for the Business Scene event in Brantham a few weeks later.

We also print a fair few invoices a week and other documentation and so far I am pleased with what the printer is saving me, in both time and money.

I shall keep you posted as to how I get on with it.

Sarah

Courier world By Kevin Arrow | 1 comment

Today I met a new chick and her mates and they were feisty!

Sometimes work takes me on an adventure, it certainly did today.
One courier service ‘extra’ that we offer is a ‘drive by and check’ service.

You may have ordered something online from an Essex business and for one reason or another, the communication has stopped and you would just like to know what is happening. Sometimes it can be to deliver important legal documents or contracts and it’s essential that these are hand delivered. We tailor our services to our customers needs. ‘Drive by and check’ has a variety of uses.

A customer of ours rang and said would we drive by a local business as they were worried an order they had placed wouldn’t be fulfilled, the phone wasn’t being answered and emails were bouncing back. We said of course and jumped in the van and went to have a look.

I went to the premises, well as far as I could go because blocking the road were several colourful chicks! There were lots of them – red, green, beige- all colours, they were really strutting their stuff and not letting me drive into the premises.

A feisty chick!

The chickens were blocking our way, and they had no intention of moving! So the owner of them came over for a chat, and established that yes the business was still trading and no, the recent power cuts hadn’t affected the phone lines.

Chickens

The gentleman we spoke to couldn’t have been more helpful and passed along a message to call our client, and the retailer in question did so promptly. We don’t know why the communication broke down, but it’s back on track and everyone is happy.

Except me. I want some of those colorful chicks and a triangle chicken run and a rooster…. How do I convince Sarah?

Regards

Kevin
Same Day Couriers

Moving awkward /fragile goods, Packing for transportation By Kevin Arrow | No comments yet

A Courier for your Gym Equipment

With summer almost upon us, people turn to getting fit. With gym equipment bargains to be had on Ebay, BT Tradespace and other online stores, the next consideration is the courier for delivery

Gym Equipment suitable for Courier Delivery

What can be moved by same day or overnight courier?

Exercise bikes
Rowing machine
Bench Press
Elliptical trainers
Treadmills
Weight machine
Star climbers

Ideally items would be dismantled and in their original packaging, it makes it easier to load and strap into place. It it’s unable to be sent in it’s original packaging, then we can still collect and deliver for you – it can be wrapped in our soft felt blankets.

Gym equipment for the parcel networks

Exercise balls
Exercise bands
Chin bars
Some abdominal trainers
Some small weights

When packing weights for transportation you need to make sure the box can take the combined weights and packaging is strong enough and that the box won’t collapse when lifted. Exercise balls need to be defalted for posting and abdominable trainers need to fit in a box, but be sure they are not putting you over the volumetric weight that your parcel company takes.

If you require any advice about getting your gym equipment please give us a call on 0844 884 3331

Regards

Kevin

Courier world By Kevin Arrow | No comments yet

Importing goods? Still waiting for the ‘forward’ part of ‘freight forwarding’?

Have you ordered goods / cargo from abroad, had it arrive in the UK and then found your import house or freight forwarder is reluctant to schedule your courier delivery to you, for another 2 weeks? Their lorries are always too busy or you live too remote to be part of the regular delivery schedule? Frustrating and annoying are words that spring to your mind when this happens.

Sometimes the collecting part isn’t a problem but the fact that the forwarders are not 24/7 like us means you cannot collect your goods yourself (losing a days pay from work or having to take a days holiday). Time is money and it can be as equally frustrating to sit and watch it being wasted.

We are based in Essex near Tilbury port, a drive from Harwich & Felixstowe and are 10 minutes from the M25, in other words we are real close to your goods. You no longer have to wait – if you want your goods we can collect on your authorisation and deliver.

We can also collect and store for you to collect at your own convenience.

After waiting for your items to reach the UK you may just decide to cut out all the hassle and ask us to be your courier and collect and deliver for you.

Alternatively send me an email and I’ll get a quote back to you. I’ll need to know the collection postcode, the delivery postcode, the item size and description of the item. If you are unaware of the service you will need, just say so and I can give you a price for each option.

Kevin.

Same Day Couriers easing your delivery hiccups

Courier world By Kevin Arrow | No comments yet

#followfriday my list of who to follow on twitter

This morning I found my 15 minutes of fame in a blog by Nikki Pilkington on Follow Friday, which is something people do on twitter.

So I thought, thats a good idea, I’ll write a blog about the people that I find interesting to follow. Of course you can read Nikki’s blog here and follow her too

So, my #followfridays for this week are…

@Adrianhiggs and @robertz both very talented copywriters. They tweet about a variety of things that show them as real people, and I love following real people and not people who talk tech or fluent geek all the time.

@phillipabowen is a great advisor and a pillar of support. She should be in every Essex persons contact book

@Shaugisbourne is good to follow for tweets about phone skills and music and he launches his phone mentor course soon.

I will think of others as the day goes by, so I may have to update this list often

Sarah

Courier world By Kevin Arrow | 1 comment

Jim Connolly you missed one…

I subscribe to a few blogs, and every few days I get an email from marketing specialist Jim Connolly which I enjoy reading. Today’s post was about experts.

Thanks to services like lulu.com – anyone can be an author.

Thanks to services like BlogTalkRadio – anyone can be a radio show host.

Read in full here - Jim’s Marketing Blog

The one Jim missed? Having a van means anyone can be a courier…

When times are tough people look to see what assets they have to utilise. If they own a car they think about driving a cab, and if they own a van, then it’s couriering and delivery work.

My comment on Jim’s blog was to do your research, and that applies to couriers too. How long have they been trading? how long have they had their vehicle? how and what insurances do they have?

In the mean time, you know where we are

Sarah

Courier world By Kevin Arrow | No comments yet

Green Business Exhibition

Would you like to green up your supply chain? Get to know who in Essex is greener, who is sustainable and who you would like to do business with at this great event.

Would you like to meet environmental service companies that operate in the Basildon District?

Would you like to shop around for recycling or waste carrier companies?

Need help with green transport or reducing your energy costs?

Need help with promoting your green credentials?

Like to do business with other environmentally aware companies?

You can do all of the above by attending the Environmental Service
Providers Market Place event on July 13 at 1400h at the Basildon Holiday
Inn hotel, SS14 3DG.

It is free to attend. The event will start at 1400h with a short presentation from the Environment Agency about their support for businesses followed by a talk from Envirowise about the importance of green procurement.

Attendees will then be able to visit the stands of the 30 exhibiting green companies.

Refreshments will be provided.

This event is organised by the Basildon Green Business Forum in
conjunction with the Federation of Small Businesses, the Environment
Agency and Envirowise.

To register to attend please go to website
http://www.fsb.org.uk/default.aspx?id=180&loc=101 and fill in your details
or contact Keith Brown at keith.brown@fsb.org.uk

All enquiries regarding exhibiting to Keith Smith or Colin Stroud at
green.business@basildon.gov.uk Tel: 01268 294294.

Here is a list of the 30 exhibiting companies as of April 22, 2009:-
Abby Couriers (use of electric vehicles)
Ahern waste management
Arrow Light Haulage (yes, thats us )
Asbestos Central
Basildon Green Business Forum
Basildon ITEC
BioTekNiks 100% IT recycling services
E&B Waste
Eastex, waste exchange
Enigin, energy saving solutions
EnviroComms, marketing communication agency working exclusively in the
environmental sector
Environment Agency
Envirowise
Essex & East London Van Services Ltd
Events Matter
FAT Management Ltd, waste solutions
Federation of Small Businesses
Hailstone Travel
LowC Energy Services Ltd
Morgan Cass
Organisation for Responsible Businesses
RAMAR
RDC, IT Equipment Disposal, Remarketing and Redeployment
Rentokil/Initial
Scott Wilson
Severnside Recycling (Basildon)
Simons Bus
TBU Solutions, Commercial Utility Advisors
The Eco Patch
Viridor (Thames Waste)

Contact Colin Stroud and Keith Smith from the Basildon Green Business Forum 01268 294294 / 07703 582368

The Basildon Green Business Forum can help you with any environmental
issues. Help is entirely free. Please contact Colin or Keith for more
information.

Sarah

Greener transport and deliveries in Essex

Courier world By Kevin Arrow | No comments yet

What size van do i need?

Quite often we get calls from customers asking us “can we have a transit to deliver some boxes?” my immediated question back to them is “what size van do you need?”

Frequently customers will ask for a van that is not suited to their needs its either to big or to small and each scenario brings with it its own sets of problems.

Arrow Light Haulage make a point of finding out weights, sizes and qty of any shipment that needs moving so we can then accomodate the customers needs efficiently and also so that we dont waste any space within the vehicle when it is not necessary.

Our expertise in load/vehicle matching will ensure that our customers will have the right size vehicle turn up at their premises and be able to cater for their goods without wasting space or using a van that is far to large for their needs.

If you need to move 1 archive box you dont need to order a luton van that can carry 100s of archive boxes.

Using Arrow Light Haulage and our knowledge will not only ensure the right vehicle is sent out to you but also that you are charged accordingly for the items that you need to be moved. This normally saves you money.

If you would like any further information on our load/vehicle matching techniques you can either call us on 0844 884 3331 or email me directly at kevin@arrowlighthaulage.co.uk with your requirements and I will deal with your query promptly

rgds

Kevin

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Essex Same Day & Next day Courier

Call us on 0844 884 3331 or 07816 528421

#Followfriday from @essex_courier and @freight_rescue

When it all goes wrong – we still deliver

Testing out a greener printer – HP 8500

Today I met a new chick and her mates and they were feisty!

A Courier for your Gym Equipment

Importing goods? Still waiting for the ‘forward’ part of ‘freight forwarding’?

#followfriday my list of who to follow on twitter

Jim Connolly you missed one…

Green Business Exhibition

What size van do i need?

Call us free for your delivery quote

Follow us on twitter

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Who are we? see for yourself! Essex Courier video

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