West Thurrock & Dartford Courier and parcel services

Saturday, 30 August 2008

Tolls increase on the cards at the Dartford Crossing

One of the most beautiful bridges in the UK, the Queen Elizabeth II bridge at the Dartford Crossing. You drive over into Kent and return via the Dartford tunnel into Essex.
The Department for Transport has recently concluded it’s low key survey about the Dartford River Crossing. The survey was so low key, they only received 67 responses… and they used these to make some changes.

Tolls are set to increase by 50% in the sutumn as a result of the survey. Motorists will now pay £1.50 to drive a car over the bridge or through the tunnel. Vans will pay £2.00 and Lorries will now pay £3.70 although there is no longer a charge if you use a trailer.Toll Increases At The Dartford River CrossingIn the last set of accounts (2006-2007) the crossing made £47 million in profit for the treasury, straight into the chancellors coffers. So why the increase? is £47 million not enough? Apparently not, and its businesses and residents local to Dartford and Thurrock that will pay for this.

Sarah

Thurrock and Dartford Couriers

The Thurrock School run increases traffic

Sarah has been blogging about the school run today, and in doing her research she found that the school run puts 20% more traffic on the roads from 8.30am to 9.15 am and 2.30pm to 3.30pm.

The Institute of Advanced Motoring has some tips for tackling the school run.

• Avoid taking the car if you can. Walking, cycling and public transport are all better options, not only for children, but also the environment. Children cycling to school should be proficient and wear a helmet, with bright, all-weather clothing.
• If you have to drive, offer to car share with other parents and take it in turns rather than add to
congestion around schools. When you have an informal arrangement, set an example by
attending a defensive driving course such as that offered by the IAM.
• Allow plenty of time for the journey. Crashes cause delay and are normally caused by drivers
going too fast and driving too close to the car in front. Leave five minutes earlier to reduce
stress.
• Drive well within the speed limit. Maintain a sensible safety gap - remember the “two second
rule”. At 35mph you are twice as likely to kill someone as you are at 30mph. Yet within the
car, this feels hardly any different. The school approach presents many hazards - including
children not concentrating fully as they cross the road.
• Park considerately and safely. Never double park, block driveways or simply rely on the
footbrake to keep the vehicle still as children climb out of the car. Consider parking 100 yards
or so away from the school gate and completing your journey on foot. This gives you an
opportunity to teach children about using the road and reduces congestion at the school gate
itself.
• Never stop on the yellow “zig zags” by the school gate, even briefly. Always ensure you let
the children out on the pavement side (or if there is no pavement, the side away from the
traffic).
• Do not drive on the pavement in an attempt to allow oncoming vehicles to pass. Wait until the
way ahead is clear rather than risk injuring a pedestrian.The East London Ex-Pat’s Guide to Essex, Aug 2008
Whats this got to do with courier services? Sometimes it's more cost effective and safer to have our driver sitting in the traffic, than one of your own.

Give us a call on 0844 884 3331 if you think we can help, we can deliver everything except your kids, to school.

Kevin

Thursday, 28 August 2008

Lakeside Shopping Centre Courier and Parcel Service

Collect and deliver from Lakeside to anywhere in the UK.

Want an item, only to find it has sold out in your local area? If they have it in Lakeside Essex, we can collect it and deliver it to you for just £9.99 plus VAT. Thats right a couriered parcel service for just £9.99.

We take orders all week, and on Thursday evening we will collect your item, wrap it and pack it, and on Friday we will dispatch it and it will be with you Monday morning.

As part of our premium services, provided you have booked our by midday, we can collect and deliver overnight to most places in the UK for just £15+VAT.

So now you need never miss out on the ideal pair of shoes, designer dress or suit and of course all items up to the value of £500 are insured.

This service is for items up to 20kgs volumetric weight, 2 metres in length.

We are also able to collect from stores in Romford, Basildon and Southend.

Sarah

Wednesday, 27 August 2008

Dartford / West Thurrock Amtrak account cancelled?

Are you looking for a parcel delivery company?

We have an excellent ‘account’ free parcel delivery service. What does account free mean? It means you pay as you use our services, so you don’t have a minimum spend and there is no maximum spend.Is your Basildon Amtrak Account cancelled?We are an Essex based express courier and parcel company within easy reach of West Thurrock and Dartford, and we can collect and deliver your parcels and packages all over the UK.

What does that mean to you, the customer? It means you don’t have any unexpected shocks when the invoice hits the mat, no fuel surcharges, or overweight charges (you know those nasty charges that mean you pay an extra £5 or £10 because you have gone overweight by .5kgs). Account free of all the hassle associated with other parcel and courier companies.

Give us a call on 0844 884 3331 (local, no matter where you are) or 07816 528421 (mobile and out of office, yes we really are 24-7).

Sarah

West Thurrock parcel courier and collection

Deliveries gone wrong

I writing about deliveries that went wrong on Sunday:

Delivering a boat, a luxury one included, can be done safely by land. Only last week I delivered two boats for very happy customers, although I have no idea of the value, in these cases the customers insured the boats themselves for delivery.When deliveries go wrong…delivering by powerboatand that got me thinking about the other ways that deliveries can go wrong.

Quite often the problem can be in the venue the item is being delivered too. Doorways can be too narrow for sofas and beds redulting in the removal of a window to get the item in the house.

Sometimes its climbing 7 flights of stairs with a very large sofa - a cup of tea is always welcome at the top!

Pianos can be a pain too, I read about the piano they had to be removed from an upstairs flat by crane! I wondered how they got it in to the flat in the first place.

Informing your courier of potential venue problems is a good thing, it means they can plan with you how they can help, if they can help at all.

If you do find you have to remove a window to get items of furniture in, a window fitter is a good option and doesn't add that much to the overall cost, a local one may even help out of hours so you don't have to take the day off of work.

For no obligation advice on preventing your delivery going wrong, just give us a call on 0844 884 3331 or 07816 528421

Sarah

Monday, 25 August 2008

Delivering your fridge freezer from West Thurrock

If you are in West Thurrock, Lakeside or Bluewater, you might decide to collect your own fridge freezer from one of the nearby retail parks, or from the shops local warehouse. With many people having a 7 seater car, they think that it's ok to just lay the freezer down in the back of vehicle and take it home...

American fridge freezers are awkward to move

American fridge freezers are awkward to move

...this is the worst thing you can do when collecting or delivering a fridge. It must always remain upright, and when disconnected from the mains, it should be disconnected for at least 3 hours before you plug it in again.

By laying a fridge on it's side you are allowing air bubbles to get into the compression system, and possible leakage from the pipes. This isn't quite terminal for the fridge but it's often very expensive to repair.

American style fridges are also very popular. These take a two man team and our tail lift vehicle to deliver as safely as possible.

So whether you are buying a new fridge freezer from a local Bluewater, Dartford, or Lakeside retail park, or getting the item from Freecycle (the modern recycling groups), be careful how you transport your fridge freezer and if you don't or can't do it yourself, give us a call we will be glad to help and advise. Our numbers are 0844 884 3331 0r 078216 528421

Regards

Kevin

White goods delivery to and from West Thurrock, Essex

Sunday, 24 August 2008

Working in London but living in West Thurrock?

And have a requirement for a home office?

In the ever evolving workplace, it's quite common to have a workstation facility based at your home address. If this is the situation you find yourself in having ordered your office furniture, but have no time to collect or assemble said items, then we can help.

At Arrow Light Haulage we have furniture installers that can collect, deliver and assemble your flatpacked items with the minimum amount of disruption to you and your families routine.

As a professional courier and parcel company, we are capable of meeting all your delivery requirements with short notice. We can deliver out of office hours if that suits you better.

So, whatever your home office courier and delivery requirements are, just give us a call on 08444 884 3331 or 07816 528421 wqe are happy to help and advise without obligation.

Regards

Kevin

West Thurrock Courier and parcel Delivery

Friday, 22 August 2008

Lost your memory stick?

Thinking about this blog post, I made earlier today:

PA consulting is the private sector company that has lost this round of confidential information. The transfer of further data to PA Consulting on the project has been suspended pending the investigation. This on the surface appears quite harsh, after DHL lost 25 million child benefit addresses, and as far as we are aware still delivering government documents.The Essex courier and parcel delivery company, Aug 2008Is there any tools or gadgets that could actually help the government?

I found an interesting looking secure data pen on a blog by Don Cooke, who specialises in remote team working. This led me to think, why is the data being transported via a memory stick anyway? Why isn't it being encrypted and uploaded to the research companies? Don't tell me it's more secure this way...

Even if your courier is insured, what exactly is being insured? the replacement data stick? or the data on it? and how do you put a price on that data?

Is it time for the Data Protection act to be reviewed? a SME would get huge fines for non compliance, I think there should be some sort of fine to the government, perhaps suspend MPs expense accounts until they can get it right?

For confidential delivery services, with 100% success rate (so far) then look no further than your local West Thurrock and Dartford confidential courier company, Arrow Light Haulage.

Regards

Sarah

Thursday, 21 August 2008

25% off the Complete Courier Guide

This morning we have had even more success! With the ebooks selling nicely, and the positive feedback coming from happy customers, we thought we would offer the book in other formats too.

So we now offer it on CD, and can post it out to you, and in printed version again we can post it out to you.

CD is available at £34.95 and the printed version at £39.95 (plus Vat).

But because it a Bank Holiday coming up, we are offering 25% cashback on all books bought up until Midnight Bank Holiday Monday (25th August). All books bought and paid for in any format, will get a 25% cashback.

So, what are you waiting for? upload the sample Complete Courier Guide ebook right away and see if being a freelance or self employed courier is the right career for you!

Hope this makes it easier for our potential customers to make a decision, and if it doesn't and you want to speak to me, then please feel free to call my on 0844 884 3331.

Regards

Kevin

The complete guide to being a freelance or self employed courier

Tuesday, 19 August 2008

Delivering dinner services and crockery by post

Packing crockery for safer courier delivery can be done fairly easily, the problem lies in the weight. Like most parcel companies we are bound by HSE rules that say we can only lift 25kgs at a time.
So, you may need to pack your plates etc into two packages, depending on the size of your dinner service.

When you have a lot of items, bubble wrap can prove expensive, so think about using corrugated paper instead. Place shredded / scrunched up paper around the edges and around cups to stop them chipping.

Packing crockery

Then weigh the box, if it comes in under 25kgs, then tape it up securely and give us a call on or 0844 884 3331 or call Kevin on 07816 528421 and we will come and collect it.

We deliver to mainland Uk destinations starting from £9.99+VAT and we collect in West Thurrock, Dartford, Grays or Stanford Le Hope as well as other Essex areas.

Be sure to check you parcel company's terms of business, often glass and second hand goods are not insured.

Happy packing!

Sarah
Chelmsford Courier and parcel delivery

Sunday, 17 August 2008

London Couriers, delivering to and from London

Image via Wikipedia London can be a very time consuming exercise for a courier company! At certain times of the day it can take you 2 hours to go 10 miles! This means most courier companies like to collect ordrop their goods as early as possible.

At Arrow Light Haulage we also do a London shuttle run, for other courier companies who don't want their driver tied up in London. They give us a call, and we meet them on the M25 (well, just off of it to be precise) and transship the goods onto our vehicles, and then continue the delivery into London.

Our prices are exclusive of the congestion zone charges.

London multidrop of bulk parcels and packages is available at very favourable rates, from as little as £6.50 per drop if we can do them overnight. That's a fully personalised service, with uniformed driver.

We will also gladly offer the same services throughout Essex and Kent, for bulk parcels and packages, just send us the details and we can work out a price for you.

Some other companies may dislike delivering to London, but if it's a problem for them, then come to us, we are here to deliver customer satisfaction!

Regards

Sarah

London deliveries by courier

Saturday, 16 August 2008

Student moves to / from Kent universities

Are you a student looking to move closer to Uni, in the term time?

Well, you have some options and the most popular seems to be hire a van, and do it yourself.

Alternatively you can hire a courier company, like Arrow Light Haulage to do it for you. A courier is usually paid on the distance moved and not the amount of stuff that needs moving.
The have different insurance from a removal company, so it can be a cheaper option to use a courier for your light removal, than to use a removal company.
Using a courier may not suit your circumstances, so it's best to check first and see what you get for your quote.

Arrow light Haulage are happy to collect at several destinations, so it may suit you to split the cost between two or three people, that way everyone saves money!

So, if you are looking to go back to halls of residence or rooms closer to Uni, have a look at the alternative student movers too. You may well pick up a bargain.

Regards

Sarah

Friday, 15 August 2008

How to send a Bicycle by post or parcel carrier?

Got a bike to send by post? Bought one as a gift and now need to ship it to another destination in the UK? Bought one at Lakeside retail park or on Ebay? Read on, and we will help make your delivery, smoother and help ensure you item arrives in one piece.

Essex couriers delivering a bicycle

If the bike is already assembled, remove pedals and handle bars. Wrap the paintwork with bubble wrap. Wrap the pedals and handle bars with bubble wrap and attach them with tape to the frame.

If you have a box to hand, great place the bike in the box and secure it, its ready for transportation.

If you don't have a box, then wrap in recycled brown paper, and tape securely with duct tape.

You can mark the paper with Fragile, so the parcel carriers are aware its fragile.

Any questions? then don't hesitate to give us a call on 07816 528421 or send us an email
or send us an email, we are happy to help where we can

Of course, if you don't want to pack it and wrap it, we can do it as part of our premium courier services.

Regards

Kevin

Wednesday, 13 August 2008

How businesses find a courier in West Thurrock

I recently conducted two pieces of market research independently of each other, about how people source their couriers. The idea being from the results, I would determine where to focus the advertising budget for the business this year.

The first piece I surveyed a cross section of the business community about how they sourced a courier. In the second piece I asked new customers how they found our services.

The results I think are quite interesting.

92% of people in the first survey said they would use the Yellow Pages to source a courier should they need one. They would ask around for recommendations second, after they had used the Yellow Pages.

In the second survey 75% of our customers found us through a search engine on the Internet. The rest came from a mixture of leaflets and recommendations. Not one mention of a telephone directory, on line or offline.

This confirms my belief that advertising should be a mix of mediums and not focus on just one specific area.

What was also interesting was the business community clearly stated they did not buy on price alone, every customer who used us in the second survey stated we had the best value for money service. The whole package that we offered was better than just getting a price, the care in delivery was exceptional.

Quoting one customer.... 'You delivered a glass display cabinet over 300 miles without breakages. Upon collection your driver dismantled it, wrapped it and then at my delivery address, carefully unwrapped it and re-assembled it. It looks perfect. No-one else would do the job as the cabinet was made of glass and not easily transportable without breakage. I really liked the way you worked on transporting the cabinet rather than telling me how hard, how difficult and it couldn't be done. I will definitely use you again. I don't know why more retailers don't use you, you certainly are a well kept secret.'

Boy, that was good to hear!

Regards

Sarah

West Thurrock and Dartford Courier and parcel deliveries

Monday, 11 August 2008

Collecting and delivering motorbikes, quadbikes and scooters

When you a Motorbike, Scooter or Quad bike online, delivery is one aspect that isn't often covered.
A courier can help arrange safe collection and delivery if your online retailer doesnt provide this, or you have nabbed a bargain on ebay.

So, how to deliver a motorbike...

2 people are required to load a motorbike safely, but one person can unload it.

The same for a scooter or Vespa type vehicle, and a quadbike can take up to 4 people to lift it on, and 2 to unload it.

Firstly the bike is lifted on to our vehicle via a tail lift. The bike is moved so the front wheel faces the rear shutter of the van. Close the shutter (with yourself still inside), apply the front brake, push down hard on the suspension. Your assistant will will strap the bike to the floor hook, wrapping it around the handlebars and then securing it to the other floor hook, making sure its extremely tight.

Release the brake and with another strap, secure the passengers hand grip. This will stabilise the bike ready for transportation. It doesn’t need to be covered as its securely strapped.

To do it any other way risks damage to the indicators and the engine.

You will need a transit sized van or above.

If it seems to much hassle, give us a call, we happily transport Motorbikes, Quadbikes and Scooters throughout the country and to France or Spain.

Regards

Kevin
(07816 528421)

Essex and Kent Courier and parcel distribution

Sunday, 10 August 2008

Delivering Jet ski and other sporting equipment

The best thing to transport Jet Skies is the Jet Ski trailer. If you have just bought one and the shop are delivering, then your next investment should be a trailer.

If the your seller is unable to deliver, then a courier company can help deliver to you. We have delivered several of these, and every time I deliver one I think next year I will get one myself...

Again like the Rowing Boat, the Jet Ski fits nicely into the back of our tail lift luton, and depending on the models, two will fit nice and safely.

They need to be on a padded surface, and strapped carefully to prevent movement and damage. Care is always taken by us, especially when we deliver fibreglass items.

If you would like some advice on collecting and delivering Jet skies (or larger items of sporting goods) then please give us a call.

Regards

Kevin

Couriers that deliver the awkward but precious things

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Tuesday, 5 August 2008

Kent companies are you looking to outsource your vans /own transport and deliveries?

Looking to save money? Looking to outsource your transport to make great time and money savings?

Then look no further than your local Essex & Kent Courier company, Arrow Light Haulage.

Did you know the average delivery driver earns between 15-18k per year? Plus holidays and pensions, add in the cost of your van, whether you buy or lease, you are looking in the regions of another 5k a year when you add in servicing, insurances etc.

Do you really think you need all the drivers you have? As a company you can make significant savings but cutting back on your own transport and outsourcing the remainder.

Example, you have two delivery drivers that cost your company £40k a year. By having one and outsourcing the other you could save 7k by using Arrow Light Haulage to deliver on your behalf.

Find you are using a lot of agency staff?

Quite often its cheaper to use a courier as you don’t have to train the driver, induct them, or show them how to use your paperwork/trucks/equipment. An Agency driver can cost you as much as £220 (inc VAT) a day, then they don’t get as much done as a regular courier would.

Just because you have a vehicle sitting their doing nothing, it doesn’t mean you are saving money by getting in a temp.

If you are a business based in Essex, Kent, Herts or London who wants to make significant savings on their costs, then give us a call now on 07816 528421

Regards

Kevin

The second costliest courier service is...

Image via WikipediaJust in Time deliveries.
While this type of service is the second costliest ( general aviation charters are the most expensive and it is rare for a company to require these services in the present economic climate).

Companies look at the cost of service to engage an "on-board" courier versus the "cost" the company will realise should the product not arrive by a specified time. Examples of this include an assembly line stopping, untimely court filing and attendance, lost sales from product or components, missing a delivery deadline, even organ transplants.

When you use 'Just in Time' services, you are paying a premium for this, and it's vital that your courier or delivery company can deliver to your deadline.

The most frequent users of this type of service are the medical and legal professions, and needless to say, we do provide services to these companies, in complete confidence.

So if you have a subpoena or non hazardous lab samples, give us a call on 07816 528421 to discuss your requirements.

Regards

Kevin

Essex and Kent Couriers and delivery services

Courier deliveries in Essex and Kent.

Being so close to West Thurrock's industrial parks we often complete journeys that start in Essex and finish in Kent. We then source journeys to return to Essex, so we are environmentally friendlier. We absolutely try not to waste fuel and run empty, it's just not green.

To enable us to run at 85% loaded capacity we belong to several freight exchanges, as well as placing local adverts.

What can we collect and deliver?
Anything (with in reason, and legal) that can fit into the van. Our vans have tail lifts, so it an item is awkward or bulky, we can fit it on.

As an Essex and Kent courier company, we are happy to collect items for our parcel delivery services - no account is needed!

Kevin

Monday, 4 August 2008

Delivering a bed

Image via WikipediaWe often collect large items of furniture from the warehouses in Lakeside retail park, often beds. Because we are flexible on our delivery times, we can collect and then deliver when you are home from work.

So, back to delivering the bed....
Unless a bed is flatpacked and only a single or double, a two man team is required.
There are many types of mattress, and the memory foam kind is popular but it needs to people to lift on, and lift off the vehicle as it's so heavy.

The beds we collect are often wrapped in plastic sheeting, which we are happy to recycle if you give it back to the driver.

As part of our premium services we can even install the bed for you, please order this service at the time of booking, it is very popular.

So, if you have bought a new bed or even a bed from Ebay, we can help deliver it for you when it's convenient, we can recycle the wrapping and we can fit it together if it comes flatpacked or needs installing.

Give me a call on 07816 528421 if you have any questions.

Regards

Kevin

Essex and Kent Courier and parcel company
Want to become a freelance or self employed courier?

Saturday, 30 August 2008

Thursday, 28 August 2008

Wednesday, 27 August 2008

Monday, 25 August 2008

Sunday, 24 August 2008

Friday, 22 August 2008

Thursday, 21 August 2008

Tuesday, 19 August 2008

Sunday, 17 August 2008

Saturday, 16 August 2008

Friday, 15 August 2008

Wednesday, 13 August 2008

Monday, 11 August 2008

Sunday, 10 August 2008

Tuesday, 5 August 2008

Monday, 4 August 2008

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