Government run organisation Freight Best Practice, has set up a free online benchmarking service.

As an industry first, it allows transport operators to externally and anonymously benchmark their operations.

We think the idea is fantastic, in a competitive industry like haulage it is so important to measure yourself up against the competition. However, traditionally being able to do this is tricky without being accused of spying!

The new system allows thousands of operators nationwide to specify and measure their operational efficiency and then benchmark themselves with trends across the industry.

Measuring your own performance is an essential process for any modern day operator, particularly during the current tough economic climate, but to fully understand how your operation compares to that of your peers, benchmarking is essential.

Many of us will simply stick with the petrol station that’s closest to us or the one we’ve got into the habit of going to. However, prices between stations do fluctuate and you can make significant savings over time by using the petrol station offering the cheapest fuel locally.

Easier said that done, you may say. By the time I’ve driven around looking for the cheapest petrol price I will have undone any savings I could have made and also hindered the environment!

That’s where petrolprices.com comes in, they independently check petrol station’s prices across the country so you don’t have to. The site is free to use and they’ll even drop you email alerts as and when your cheapest local petrol station changes, so you’re never left out of the loop.

To make things even easier for our transport providers, we have also added a live feed of petrol prices in you local area to your “My Shiply” section. We hope this helps with keeping costs to a minimum in these especially trying economic times.

It’s finally here, the Shiply eBay widget. eBay sellers can insert our free widget into their eBay auction listings. This will give prospective bidders on those larger “local collect only” items the option to use Shiply and get ebay courier quotes from thousands of transport providers already making similar trips.

Did you know that at any time there are over 930,000 items on eBay which are listed as local collect only. This really does restrict the majority of eBay buyers who do not live locally. The hassle and expense of arranging an independent courier, is often enough to put off the majority of eBay bidders.

The Shiply widget allows eBay buyers to simply enter their delivery post code directly from the eBay listing page and Shiply does the leg work, importing photos, descriptions, pickup post code and more…

So, if you are an eBay seller who has large items to sell on eBay, then the Shiply widget is for you. It is just a small piece of HTML code which you copy/paste into your auctions and then it is all ready for your eBay bidders to use.

Once eBay bidders have secured a cheap price for ebay delivery of their auction items they are far more likely to bid on your auction and indeed bid more aggressively, so you can expect a higher auction selling price!

Happy eBay-ing & enjoy the widget!

When selling a large item on eBay, sellers are often forced into only offering local collection as arranging a ebay delivery is not only a headache but also costly.

However, by not offering a courier solution on your eBay auction, you really do tend to reduce the number of prospective bidders.

Now, there is a solution for eBay sellers. You can simply add a link to Shiply in your eBay listings and prospective bidders can start getting cheap ebay courier quotes before they decide whether or not to bid. You will find that the prices they get on Shiply for delivery services are up to 75% cheaper than traditional methods so they are more likely to bid on your auction – increasing your final sale price.

We hope our site is of great benefit to eBay PowerSellers and sellers across Europe.

LDV vans have had their plea to the Government for financial support denied.

The plant in Birmingham, which carries some 850 jobs look at risk along with several thousand other linked jobs.

Management at LDV wanted to secure a £20-30m loan to help them re-badge themselves as Europe’s first green van firm as they felt this was their best chance of securing finance.

As you all know, we are very keen on helping the environment. By matching people up with couriers and haulage firms already making similar trips we can help reduce the shocking 25% of lorries on our roads that trundle along empty.

But we can all do more, we’ve come across a great site called Daily Eco Tips. You can subscribe and every day they will send you an email with a green tip. We think this is great, just do a little something each day to help make the planet just that little bit of a better place.

Enjoy!

Transporting a classic car does require some extra care and attention. There is certainly more involved when compared with your bog standard Ford Escort!

Car transport is usually undertaken one of three ways. Either your car is driven on trade plates, transported on a single car trailer or transported on a multi-car trailer.

Generally for classic cars, it is not recommended to have your car driven on trade plates. This adds un-necessary miles and carries with it a higher risk of damage.

Multi-car transporters are generally good and a fairly economical way of transporting cars. However, as your car may be either below others (where fluids from the cars above can leak onto your paintwork), or on the top (where it is more susceptible to damage by overhead obstacle such as tree branches), this option is generally not recommended for classic cars requiring that extra bit of care in transit.

Instead, you should probably opt for a single-trailer transport. Better still, you can choose enclosed car transport which will fully protect your vehicle from the elements in transit.

You should be extra vigilant when assessing car transport companies to transport your classic car. Be sure to scrutinise insurance cover and insist upon seeing references for similar car deliveries they have undertaken. If their forte is vehicle recovery of clapped out mini’s after demolition derby’s perhaps they are not your best choice!

As always, be sure to document any pre-existing damage before releasing your vehicle and do not sign acceptance on delivery until you have fully inspected the vehicle.

Shiply is now on Facebook and Twitter. You can connect with us, keep up to date with the goings on at Shiply HQ and send us messages.

A recent survey carried out by the Road Haulage Association, has found that over 3/4 of haulage companies have seen a a dramatic downturn in business. The findings come as no surprise given the recession.

Jack Semple, director of policy at the RHA, said: “Business demand dropping off is a big enough problem on its own, but coupled with the fact that customers are taking longer to pay, it is a real problem,” Semple says. “This industry is already well below the business average for receiving payments.”

The survey was conducted amongst 300 drivers, ranging from owner-drivers to large fleets and found:

• 41% reported business was down by 10-30%
• 20% found business had fallen 30-50%
• 9% has seen business drop by more than 50%
• 52% of hauliers say customers are taking significantly longer to pay
• 20% of operators are having serious problems agreeing credit facilities with banks
• 25% of hauliers face difficulties getting credit for spare parts and consumables

A rather nice surprise this morning was news that Shiply has been featured in today’s Daily Telegraph.

The piece which played off the new movie “confessions of a shopaholic” (don’t think I’ll be rushing to see this one), was an article based on how the reporter Kara Gammell used the Internet to save over £1,000 when moving home. It was a great article which really does show that if you, the consumer are willing to shop around, you can make great savings.

Kara used shiply.com to move some furniture which a friend had kindly given her. Instead of hiring a van and driving it herself, she used Shiply and got a fantastic price of just £54 for a 78 mile journey. This represented a saving of over £81, not to mention time and effort!

We’re so glad that Shiply helped aid this move and not only saved Kara money but also helped the environment by keeping that hire van off the road and fitting her delivery in with a transport provider already making a similar trip.