Eggciting delivery challenge

Firstly, apologies for the headline, we couldn’t resist!

A disgruntled delivery driver has offered a unique challenge to Warwickshire Council. Mr Haynes has become so angry at the state of roads in the area that he has challenged them to drop off 10 boxes of eggs around the town of Leamington without breaking them or infringing parking laws.

He said: “There is literally nowhere to go if I’m delivering to stores on The Parade.
“It’s no unloading at any time on the pavements, but I can’t park in the streets behind so what can I do?

“With the town centre now being one-way it also adds miles and miles to my journeys. Pedestrians don’t pay to walk but we pay to drive, so why should they get priority?”

Should the council take him up and complete his mission, he pledges to donate £100 to a charity of their choice.

Bone Marrow Couriers – one of the most rewarding jobs in transport?

An interesting article by BBC News takes a look into the life of a bone marrow courier.

We all get frustrated when yet again we see that “sorry we missed you” card on our doorstep. Failed deliveries are a frustration to say the least. But bear a thought for those in hospital, getting to the position where you are donated an organ is a mean feat in itself. However, there is still the unenviable task of getting the courier to deliver the vital organs safely and importantly – very quickly. Bone marrow for leukemia sufferers is no exception.

This is Beryl Sarsfield and she works for the Anthony Nolan Trust delivering bone marrow to patients across the world.

Beryl, a former nurse manager, admits the voluntary job can be a lonely one, but says it is great to know that her work is helping save lives.

“I feel very privileged to do it,” she said.

“Because of my previous nursing knowledge I know how important this is and that it is often a last ditch treatment.

“And my small part makes it happen. ”

Bone marrow needs to be delivered speedily, although the cells can survive for up to 48 hours, couriers do need to move fast as viability decreases as soon as it is collected.

What a responsibility, but it must be so rewarding.

Shiply Featured in The Mail on Sunday

One thing that made all of our Mum’s happy and proud this Mother’s Day was our nice feature yesterday in The Mail on Sunday!

Not strictly purely about Shiply, the piece’s main aim was to educate about graduate recruitment. Being a recent graduate myself, I can appreciate the tough times at the moment with finding jobs.

The article in the Mail introduces Shiplyas a model small firm that graduates should look to as an alternative to the mainstream graduate schemes which are becoming tougher and tougher to get on.

We recently took on a graduate, Chris Mason, full-time and he is doing a fantastic job. Not only do I think that graduates should be sending their CVs to small businesses but I also think that SMEs> should be actively seeking them out. Sure, experience is key, but everyone needs that first break and you may well be surprised at the level of skills recent graduates can offer.

LDV pays it’s bills with vans

We posted a blog not long ago about the financial difficulties LDV Vans have found themselves in and their rejected bail out appeal to Government.

It now seems that in a bid to stay afloat, LDV are offering payment in vans to suppliers to help ease cash flow and reduce stock.

LDV public relations and marketing director Guy Jones said: “This works for our dealers and it works for us.

“They get something that is of value now and it reduces the debt position for the business.

“It is just accounting, really – people who are buying the vehicles from us are invoicing against their debts.

“We are not giving the vehicles away. This is part of an existing business arrangement to reduce debts.

“It is mainly used vehicles and it is being done on a case by case basis.”

And Mr Jones insisted the vans for cash deal was a valuable tool for the van-maker in its battle for survival.

“Some of our dealers are helping us out in that respect.”

The knock-back from Government with their plan to create Europe’s greenest van fleet has not deterred LDV who are working on a revised business plan to pitch to Ministers.

Around 7,000 jobs are at risk at the failing plant, all of whom have already taken a 10% pay-cut. There are thousands more jobs at risk should LDV go under in the form of suppliers.

Axed lorry driver goes on fuel spending spree

Fired lorry driver Christopher Bevan kept 2 of his ex-employer’s fuel cards and went on a £7,000 spending spree it has been heard.

Mr Bevan used the fuel cards 98 times over a period of 5 weeks racking up the huge bill. It was heard by courts that he was filling up cans and then re-selling them at low-cost. Customers were beating a path to his door.

However at around 1am on October 30 last year a garage cashier became suspicious and phoned police. The police caught Mr Bevan with the two fuel cards and class A drugs.

Judge Francis Gilbert QC said Bevan was guilty of “rampant dishonesty” and sentenced him to a total of 10 months in jail: eight months for the fraud and drugs offences and two months for the criminal damage, but made no order for compensation due to his lack of means.

Moral of the story – It is so vitally important for hauliers to keep on top of the whereabouts of their fuel cards. They should be treated the same as debit/credit cards and immediately cancelled if an ex-employee has possession.

The magic sat nav that shows truckers the safe way

A new sat nav system has been launched that helps truckers avoid narrow lanes, low bridges, mini roundabouts and rivers.

The ProNav PNN200E, unveiled this week at CeBIT, has been designed from the ground up “to appeal to the needs of the European trucker”.

The clever device allows the driver to enter their HGV’s stats such as height, weight, length, width and the type of goods being carried.

The software then works out the safest route to travel. Furthermore, the system even for-warns lorry drivers of steep hills, high cross winds, and the risk of grounding, displaying them as icons on the maps well in advance.

Clever stuff eh? Not bad for around £200. But where will ideas for the Sun to write about come from if there are no more incidents like this:

Van driver stands up against the clampers! Spends two nights sleeping in vehicle

I’m sure we have all had a run-in at some point with an unscrupulous car clamping firm. But spare a thought for the poor couriers who are only parked up for a few minutes to make a delivery (often to the occupants of the property) only to return 2 minutes later with a clamp and £200 sting.

As a delivery company with multiple drops and customers to service everyday, they can’t afford not to pay the fines – clampers know this.

Michael Lea, 40, sparked a media frenzy after spending two nights in his van to prevent it being removed by clampers in west Hull.

He faced a fine which rose to £350, eventually an un-named charity paid his fine so he could finally get home!

It is claimed that the clamping firm Sector Security Ltd. has developed a notorious reputation in Hull for using intimidating and threatening behaviour.

The clamping “industry” is heavily criticised for a lack of regulation.

If you live in a clamping area, please do make a point to tell your couriers where they can park when making a delivery.

Dancing Romanian Lorry Driver – shocking video whilst driving on motorway

Apologies to all for posting two videos in a row, however this one hit my inbox this morning and it shocking.

A Romanian Lorry driver is being hunted by police after releasing this shocking video which he originally took to show friends.

He apparently works in Romania and across Europe and UK.

Copies of the tape are now being viewed by traffic police officers throughout Europe as they try to track down the driver.

“He doesn’t seem to be driving in Romania so what we can do is limited but we certainly want to talk to him,” said a Romanian senior police officer.