Palletline has signed a partnership agreement with French palletised distribution specialist Lotrex, opening up the French market for express collections and deliveries of one to five pallet consignments and continuing the company’s drive to provide a comprehensive pallet distribution service covering mainland Europe.
Like Palletline, Lotrex operates via a hub and spoke system, with six regional hubs, and 85 member companies located across France. Lotrex will deliver palletised consignments to the majority of regions in France within 24 hours of the goods arriving at the company’s hub at Gonesse, north of Paris.
For Palletline customers, this means a 48-hour service to key areas throughout France, extending to 72 hours for a few specific regions in the south and east of the country.
The agreement covers the distribution and collection of pallets throughout France, as well as offering nationwide UK distribution services for Lotrex customers in France via the established Palletline network.
The service, which was launched last month, has already been trialed extensively in both countries, with excellent results. A charter signed by both Palletline and Lotrex governs the operational standards and service levels to be achieved by the partnership.
Commenting for Palletline, chairman Bob Russett explains the reasoning behind Palletline’s continuing European initiative. “Expansion into Europe has been a logical development for Palletline, driven by the requirements of our customers using our UK and Eire next-day services. In some countries, Palletline has been able to build on existing routes established by our member companies. In other countries, such as Germany and France, the identified potential volumes for the business have led us to set up hub and spoke arrangements with European partners to ensure we control and maintain the highest level of service, quality and reliability.”
Research amongst alternative services in the marketplace has shown Palletline’s distribution costs into western Europe are extremely competitive, offering customers an economical and efficient gateway into some of the largest market places in Europe.
Palletline is one of several palletised distribution networks that is participating at Logistics Link 2004, being held on February 3 and 4, 2004 at Sandown Park, Esher, Surrey. For further information contact Richard Milbourn on 0208 661 1160 or visit www.logisticslink.co.uk
