Award-winning express delivery company Eezehaul is set to expand further into the haulage and courier industries from its exciting new base close to Gatwick Airport with the help of Haulage Exchange.
Four times larger than its previous headquarters, the 80,000 square feet of warehousing set in a five acre site will enable Eezehaul to extend its logistics and distribution services to more clients.
The warehouse has 5,018 racked pallet locations, 15,000 square feet of block stack storage and an 8,000 square feet Customs Bonded area, as well as seven dock levelled loading bays for containers and HGVs.
Originally a courier company, set up as a one-man operation by Managing Director Mark Duggan 12 years ago, Eezehaul is now a £6 million business employing 110 people and with a fleet of 60 vehicles.
Mark believes a key to its successful expansion into haulage has been membership of Haulage Exchange, a real-time forum for the exchange of information about empty vehicles, haulage loads and sub-contract jobs.
Set up by the TRANSPORT EXCHANGE GROUP, Haulage Exchange is the sister site to Courier Exchange, the world's largest trading exchange for the sameday courier and express freight industry.
"Haulage Exchange is absolutely vital to our business," said Mark. "While Eezehaul runs its haulage fleet, we find that Haulage Exchange is invaluable for getting jobs done at a fair market value when our fleet is fully booked.
"Our reputation is important and we do not want it to be tarnished, but we have complete confidence in doing business with any member of Haulage Exchange as the exchange carries out careful vetting.
"We also use Haulage Exchange frequently to take on extra loads from members so that our trucks are not running empty on return journeys. Half-full trucks are wasting money and resources.
"Making journeys more efficient is an important part of our environmental management strategy and using Haulage Exchange has helped us to attain ISO14001 - a standard which we are proud of."
From the outset, Mark was determined to make customer service the priority in his business and also to use technology where appropriate to give Eezehaul a competitive edge.
So he immediately saw the potential of both Courier Exchange, which is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year, and of Haulage Exchange, which was established later. Eezehaul was among the first companies to sign up for both.
Mark said: "Courier Exchange is invaluable as we often need to make things happen at short notice. We joined 10 years ago and have never looked back.
"There are other exchanges out there now, but we have never found anything that matches the overall offering of Courier Exchange.
"It is easy to use, and developments are progressive and well thought out.
"The days of putting things in the back of a van have long gone. People are now looking for service partners who can manage their logistics."
Both Courier Exchange and Haulage Exchange use up-to-date technology to save members time and trouble. Cutting edge software enables members to receive text or email alerts about only those jobs or journeys which match their specific requirements. Companies do not need to search through lists to find relevant loads, capacity and locations.
Members of both exchanges can also look on a real-time interactive map to see where journeys and loads are available. Both exchanges work on a subscription basis, with no hidden extras. There are several different levels of subscription.