Changes afoot for RDC waiting times
Date: 25 September 2007
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Many in the haulage industry believe that the waiting times at regional delivery centres (RDCs) are often unacceptable.
Haluage drivers are often forced to queue for hours when delivering into RDCs, making it hard for operators to organise a day's deliveries, RoadTransport.com reports.
Of course, there is also the cost associated with holding a truck up, with longer queues meaning greater costs to haulage firms.
The Pallet Network and its members have begun a pilot scheme whereby they will only deliver into RDCs between 9am and 2pm, which has angered some retail customers.
However, Jack Semple of the Road Haulage Association (RHA) notes that something has to be done about the excessive waiting times.
"The scheduling is inefficient and the delivery windows are unreasonable and not in the least realistic," he said. "There's no flexibility from the RDCs and this is all making haulage operations less efficient than they should be.
"Generally the attitude of a number of companies that buy or are users of transport services shows that they need to take on board the realities of the road haulage industry to a far greater degree than they do at present."
He added that the long waits were making the haulage industry "less green than it should be".
The industry has been doing a great deal to become more environmentally friendly, according to the Freight Transport Association, with initiatives including using biofuels.
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