Why Can't We Give a Delivery Window?

It's a question we get asked on a daily basis and we understand why. Who wants to spend their precious time waiting all day for a delivery? It can't be that hard to tell me when the truck will arrive, can it?

Well you would think that to be the case but unfortunately, it isn't. Most of the time when ordering goods for the delivery, one of the main parcel carriers such as DPD or Parcelforce will provide a convenient 1 hour delivery slot with minimal disruption to your day. Brilliant, huh? Indeed, it is a great service, but they have the privilege of delivering parcels of 20kg or less in a small manoeuvrable van with no special lifting equipment required. Our items rarely weigh less than 850kg and due to the weight, have to be delivered by an 18 tonne lorry. Our deliveries are subject to all kinds of issues as we will try to explain as follows.......

Picture the scene, our truck is loaded in the morning with 10 different customer deliveries onboard. The route is planned and the time each delivery will arrive is calculated based on travel speed, traffic conditions etc. In fact, the planning is so accurate at this stage the driver even has time for nap. So, what's the problem?

The driver arrives at his first drop with 2 bulk bags and unfortunately the neighbour's car is blocking the road outside your property. The driver finally tracks down the neighbour and after 30 minutes the car is moved. The driver unloads which takes a further 30 minutes and moves on to the next drop. The driver is already 30 minutes behind when he arrives at drop 2 with 6 bulk bags to find the customer is not home but there is a note on the door to say where to leave the goods. The driver now has to call the customer and our office to get authorisation from both parties to leave the goods in the customers absence which takes a further 20 minutes. Drop 2 takes 60 minutes to unload and the driver moves on to drop 3. Already 50 minutes behind schedule, the driver arrives at drop 3 with 1 bulk bag to find the customers driveway is gravel, and on a slope and is unable to make the delivery. The bulk bag is left on the truck but is now blocking the remaining bags in. The driver now has to spend 45 minutes rearranging the load before moving on to drop 4, a full 1 hour and 35 minutes behind schedule. You get the picture? As you can see by the time the driver gets to drop 10 there is potential to be hours later than planned without taking into account traffic, weather conditions and road traffic accidents.

Our staff do their very best to ensure we provide as much information about delivery as possible. Our haulier is instructed to call ahead as standard and whilst we do not expect you to wait in all day, we do expect you to be available on the phone to authorise the driver to leave the goods in your absence, so please make sure you leave the correct contact number when ordering your goods.