COVID-19 and Palletised Deliveries
A Statement from our couriers re palletised deliveries
The below is the latest correspondence from our pallet network re the affects of COVID-19 on delivery times.
We are hearing day by day that an increasing amount of HGV drivers are going into self-isolation across the UK. This won’t, ‘might’ have an impact to service, it absolutely, undoubtedly will. It is important for me to let you know what we can expect over the coming weeks in regards to freight movement.
What we are expecting:
We would expect that delays to normal service will happen, initially we would expect to see ‘Economy’ freight moving from 48 hours to a range of 48-96 hours depending on location, lock-downs and movement controls. We would expect to see ‘Next Day’ freight moving from a fixed 24-hour delivery to a range of 24-48 hours, again based on location, lock-downs and movement restrictions. ‘Timed’ services I would expect will always take priority, however realistically I would foresee these services just becoming a ‘Premium’ offering and would aim to be delivered within a 24 hour to 36-hour window.
What can you do to help the situation?
It would be futile and disappointing for all customers to send freight on a ‘Timed’ Service as a saturation of this service would result in disappointment for you and your customers. We would not be able to refund any failed services during this period. We would suggest any freight that is sent to be on standard services ‘Next-day’ and ‘Economy’. I would be informing your customers that although our networks will work hard to process all the freight both services may have an additional 24 hours added onto them.
We hope things will improve quickly, but we have to be realistic in our approach.
Although we have received no official notifications regarding service issues, we have seen before what happens when the networks become choked. I just wanted you all to be aware too. As your freight provider we will continue to work hard and long to keep your businesses connected to your customers.
We hope you all are keeping safe in these unfortunate circumstances and thank you for your continued support.
If you have any queries regarding any of the above, please feel free to contact our support team on +44 (0) 1623 559966
