a True Story Based on Fact.
It is with some shame
that I recount my experience of last week.
On Thursday evening a neighbour came round, asking a favour.
The neighbour works for a company we have been trying to get
in with for some time. The neighbour wanted a pallet of hair
products moving from Bradford in the UK to somewhere in Holland.
The Dutch customer was screaming wanting the delivery the next
day, but the neighbour said the load had to be thoroughly rechecked,
and wouldn’t be ready until Friday afternoon [presumably
because the first load was not up to spec, or had been damaged
in transit].
The Load consisted of 288 boxes weighing an estimated 288 kilo.
Too bulky to go on a small a van, so I set to work on the quotes.
The easiest, quickest, and cheapest way to go to mid Holland
is via the ferry from Hull to Rotterdam, or Teeside to Rotterdam,
both require you book several days in advance, but there is
always a possibility of getting on at the weekend. For Southern
Holland, Dover/ Calais is the favourite route, where you can
virtually guarantee getting on with a only a few hours advance
booking. The quotes were prepared to Rotterdam and Calais, all
we wanted was the address in Holland.
Friday morning we got the address, a town called Beverwijk about
80 miles from Rotterdam. The first telephone call was to Hull,
this was continually engaged, and although on Friday night there
is a good chance of getting on without booking, it was too risky
a chance to take for a new customer. Teeside couldn’t
oblige, so that left only Dover/Calais. I prepared the quote
for a dedicated van, and designated driver, as my neighbour
had asked, using this route. As this was a possible new account
which we wanted, the quotes were £100 less than standards
rates. The figure using Dover/Calais was £960, with £25,000
insurance cover for the load, and guaranteed delivery, any time
the customer stipulated Saturday morning. The neighbour had
told me they had two quotes for overnight pallet distributors,
one for £1,000 and one for £770 both with R.H.A.
cover of £1.30 per kilo. The quote for using Hull Rotterdam
came in at £780, with £25,000 cover, and guaranteed
delivery before midday, this quote only stood as long as we
could get a booking.
The neighbour phoned back at 2.00p.m. saying the load was ready,
I gave the quote for Dover/ Calais and I said that although
the Hull/Rotterdam quote was a lot cheaper, it had to be booked
before I could confirm delivery times.
The neighbour phoned back, stating the Dutch customer was not
open on Saturday, and the Transport Manager had decided to send
the load by an overnight pallet network.
The moral to this story is simple, I should have faxed or emailed
the Transport Manager with the relevant figures, as well as
trying to save my neighbours client account.
