Author: Anthony Marriage

Cliffhanger plot for lucky driver

Posted on by Anthony Marriage
A truck driver in Qingzhen, south west China recreated the famous last scene of the hit film, The Italian Job. After the brakes failed just before turning a tight corner, the truck drove straight through the cliff barriers. The truck was perched precariously over the cliff face and was mere inches from tipping over and plummeting down a 400ft drop. Luckily for the driver, mounds of sand stopped the vehicle just in time.


“It was enough to slow it down. The driver had been convinced he was going to die and took a lot of persuading to climb out of his cab and back up the truck,” said a police spokesman.”

Snow joke – transport industry faces bitter conditions

Posted on by Anthony Marriage
Transport by road, rail and air has been heavily hit by the latest icy conditions. Winter weather has come around unusually early this year, with our coldest November in over a decade. As a result the M25 has been in a perpetual standstill, with many drivers stuck on the roads for hours.


RAC have stated: “With more snow and ice predicted across large parts of the UK today, RAC’s fleet of 4 x 4 vehicles are in the worst affected areas and extra Patrols are on the ground to help stranded motorists,” but that they expected “further chaos on the roads.”

According to reports earlier today, Nottinghamshire and Kent are two of the worst hit in terms of road conditions. Couriers, who of course depend on the roads being clear, have had to take into account the recent bad weather.

London was also hit, with many lines suffering severe delays or closing down entirely. Businesses have reported over four times the number of employees unable to make into work. Gatwick has also closed down until Thursday at the very least.

We want to know how the snow and ice has been affecting you?

Have ParcelPal Finally Solved the Nightmare of Missed Deliveries & Collections?

Posted on by Anthony Marriage

ParcelPal Ltd has recently launched a new innovative product for the home delivery and collections market. Could this solution be set to change the way we view the convenience of home deliveries and collections altogether?

The product consists of a secure delivery box, fitted to the exterior of a home or business address, together with an intercom unit, replacing the existing doorbell. When a courier arrives and presses the intercom button, the system makes a call to the pre-configured mobile phone number. On answering the call, a conversation can be held with the person at the intercom, from wherever the recipient happens to be. Once the need to deliver or collect a parcel has been verbally confirmed, the owner can unlock their secure container remotely, using the buttons on their mobile phone.

The product is primarily targeted at regular online shoppers and people operating businesses from their home. The lockers are generating a significant amount of interest and according to the MD, Steve Bungard “We’re finding that Amazon and eBay Power Sellers operating their business from home are showing the greatest interest, since the product uniquely copes with unattended collections, just as easily as deliveries”.

The container is available in black or grey and has internal dimensions of 40x50x60cm, which the company says will accept the majority of online purchases; however they also produce an industrial version with internal dimensions of 50x50x100cm for users requiring larger deliveries or multiple deliveries or collections in any one day.

Bungard went on to explain about the secure event logging built into the system, which records and uploads information relating to system operations. This information is available through secure login to their website.

With the increasing rate at which online shopping and home delivery is continuing to grow, a solution such as this, which can reduce missed deliveries and the irritation, cost and environmental impact of depot collections or redeliveries, could be set to change the way we view the convenience of home deliveries and collections altogether.

More information on the ParcelPal system can be found on the company website at http://www.parcelpal.com/.

Mama mia! Lamborghini delivery

Posted on by Anthony Marriage
During a time when many businesses are tightening the purse strings, restauranter
Alberto Valotta has decided to celebrate the family business in style. His restaurant, Alberto’s, will run a Lamborghini delivery service to mark their 12th anniversary. If you live in Hemel Hempstead, Herts and fancy an Italian takeaway this Friday you can enjoy the Lamborghini delivery experience.

“There are lots of Indian and Chinese restaurants who do take away services but not many Italians, so we thought it would be a good idea.” said Alberto.

“We wanted to do something special to mark the start and my son Orlando suggested we get hold of a Lamborghini Gallardo.”

Not known for its green credentials, the supercar only does 12 miles to the gallon. We don’t think any couriers will be using this in a hurry!

A Garlic bread delivery from a Bugatti Veyron? Fish and Chips from an Aston Martin? Bratwurst from a Porsche?

What supercar, if any, would you want delivering your takeaway?

1,000 Facebook “likes”

Posted on by Anthony Marriage

Everyone seems to be on Facebook, whether it’s a quick glance on your lunch break or in the comfort of your own home. We created the Shiply page last January and we have already reached the milestone of 1,000 likes!

 
Thank you for all the comments and suggestions. We’re sure it won’t be too long before we’re announcing our 2,000th “liker!”


Not liked Shiply on facebook yet? get on over there – http://www.facebook.com/shiply/.

 

 

Pizza loving criminal gets his just desserts

Posted on by Anthony Marriage

A pizza delivery man working for Domino’s delivered swift justice when he managed to apprehend a robber minutes after the crime was committed.  How it happened is quite remarkable – read on:



Under police questioning, Charles McManus, 30, admitted to robbing Muhammad Zar who delivers pizzas around Springburn, Glasgow. McManus and another man approached Mr Zar whilst he was in his car and brandishing knives they stole his pizzas, wallet, mobile phone and tip money. The other man then proceeded to take Mr Zar’s car keys and car, leaving him stranded.


Mr Zar was then told to walk down the street and take a right by McManus. Fearing he was being led into a trap, Mr Zar turned left and ran to the nearest house with a lit window.


Unfortunately for the crook, the house Mr Zar entered was McManus’!  After his mother let Mr Zar in to use the house he contacted the police. McManus then unwittingly entered his home only to find his recent victim standing in the doorway. Although he fled immediately, police were contacted and McManus was successfully apprehended.


Sheriff Andrew Normand deferred sentence until next month for background reports and McManus has since be released on bail.

Cat-astrophe!

Posted on by Anthony Marriage

Most news about the Royal Mail recently has been grave and serious. However, one piece of news has not failed to grab the media’s attention. Yes, the story of how a postman has refused to deliver post through a home’s letterbox because of a cat has been making the headlines. Well maybe not the main headlines…



The postman, Andrew Goater, had his hand swiped by a mischievous cat as he put his hand through the letterbox. After being scratched, the wounded postman had to the local hospital in Portsmouth to get a TB jab. Mr Goater now knocks on the door when he gets to the home of Carl and Carol White, who own the cat, nicknamed “Lana Banana. The family have been told that they could even be blacklisted from receiving post if the problem repeats itself.

Mr White, a cleaner at Portsmouth Dockyard, said: ‘This was the first time she had done anything like that and she’s not done anything like it since. I think it’s a bit much to say they might take us off the mailing list if it happens again.’

Mr Goater said,”normally you hear about postmen being attacked by the dog but this cat just came out of nowhere,’ he said . ‘It was a really vicious scratch.”

The Royal Mail has stated that its employees have reported over 5,000 animal attacks in the last year and that it has a responsibility to its workers to treat every case seriously.