LOADUP IS 'ICING ON THE CAKE' FOR ROAD TRANSPORT SAYS LORD SUGAR
An Internet Company based in Bolton, Greater Manchester is helping to make our roads less congested. The website - www.loadup.co.uk is a freight exchange service which gives hauliers and couriers the ability to find a return load from anywhere in the UK and Europe, which needs to be delivered near or en-route to the haulier's home base.
In a Daily Mirror article, Alan Sugar compliments
Loadup in his 'Spoonful of Sugar' column, which reviews, analyses and
advises entrepreneurial start-up businesses, "Your website, loadup.co.uk,
offers a great service to the freight transport industry, providing the
icing on the cake for hauliers" ie.. backloads.
Loadup was his pick of the week with the headline 'TOPLOADERS', praising
the concept.
In light of recent fuel price increases, any haulier who procures a return load for a given round trip is effectively paying only 55%-65% for his diesel (depending on the weight of the return load) when compared to the total cost of returning back empty. From a slightly different perspective, assuming the extra profit for delivering a return load is above the total round trip fuel cost, it can be said that the fuel becomes either free or a non-consideration.
Although there is nothing new in the concept of online freight exchanges, Loadup has become the busiest, due to it's simplicity, speed, ease of use and value for money. The initial philosophy, still adhered to, is that keeping things simple and quick to use, is paramount when presenting a service using technology such as the Internet.
The operation is run by Steve Jones, an
ex-haulier and transport manager with many years experience in the transport
industry and David Kay, an electronics engineer and computer programmer.
David Kay, Loadup's MD says, "We set up Loadup because we were becoming
increasingly alarmed by the overloading of our road network. Loadup's
concept is to reduce this congestion and at the same time increase the
profits of the beleaguered road haulage industry. The added bonus is that
diesel pollution is reduced.
It is important to note that although the service is subscription-based for hauliers and couriers needing backloads, it is entirely free of charge, for any business or private individual, to place their goods for delivery on the system.
Recent statistics show that around 30% of all goods vehicle journeys on our roads are empty return trips because they have been unable to procure a backload. The potential for reduction in HGV journeys and therefore traffic on our roads and motorways is huge.
A conservative estimate of Loadup's annual contribution to reduction in road usage by goods vehicles:
5 million vehicle road miles per year. 5,000,000 hgv.miles/annum.
This also equates to approximately 23,400 vehicle journeys removed from our roads per year
What our users say (Testimonials)