Pall-Ex is helping a local Christmas tree wholesaler reduce the miles from forest to front door by transporting products nationwide via its pallet network.
The logistics giant has been enlisted by Hinckley-based Cadeby Tree Trust to deliver 180,000 trees, which must travel from farm to customer within five days.
In addition to the need for speed, the Christmas cargo must also be kept cool to maintain freshness and minimise needle loss, ensuring a high quality product for the customer.
Using a pallet network offers the flexibility that a seasonal retailer requires, offering smaller drops to multiple destinations and ensuring vehicles are available to fulfil urgent deliveries.
Pallet networks are also the most efficient and environmentally-friendly method of delivery; research from the Association of Pallet Networks has found that the consolidation of freight and higher average vehicle fill reduces the number of vehicles on the road by 800 per day.
Cadeby Tree Trust’s tree production operates over 600 acres, growing Nordmann fir, Norway spruce, Fraser fir and blue spruce, with the varying size and shape of the trees providing additional challenges.
Christian Bonshor, general manager at Cadeby Tree Trust, comments: “We need to ensure our products arrive in the same condition as they leave the farm, so how they are transported is a key part of our success as a business.
“Speed is a major consideration for us; trees must be left to rest for 24 hours after cutting, before they are netted, palletised and loaded, so that leaves us with a four-day window for getting the product to the customer.
“Pall-Ex enables us to deliver within this tight timeframe, but also to scale up as the season gets underway, it also allows us to make smaller drops to multiple destinations and ensures vehicles are available when we need them.
“Safety is always paramount at Cadeby because of the size and weight of the product. We need to have approved scouts on hand for off-loading with customers and experienced forklift drivers are an absolute must to ensure the pallets are not damaged.
“The larger the trees, the bigger the risk, so Pall-Ex’s on-boarding process has enabled us to work together to perfect the wrapping and load process and given us added confidence that our products will be handled carefully.”
Mark Steel, Sales and Marketing Director at Pall-Ex Group, comments: “As a team, we are delighted to be supporting Cadeby Tree Trust with their delivery requirements.
“The transportation of their products offers unique challenges, but our efforts to establish Pall-Ex as the number one network for quality demonstrates that we have the skills and experience to ensure this festive freight arrives in excellent condition.”