UK express parcels carrier City Link is preparing for the peakChristmas period with additional vans, collection and delivery drivers, warehouse staff and newequipment including hand-held scanners following its improved performance during the financial year2013.
With the aim to beat its performance during last year’s Christmasbusiness, City Link is adding 434 collection and delivery vans as well as 80 additional trailers.The company is also hiring additional 1,168 fleet collection and delivery drivers to its workforce,including 433 agency drivers and 735 subcontractors, along with 100 additional trunking drivers inthe busiest week.
Moreover, the company will recruit additional 469 depot warehousestaff and around 30 people to support operations while it is also using 14 more forklift trucks and963 more hand-held scanners during the busy Christmas period. During the pre-Christmas period from30th November to 21st December, City Link’s parcel collection points will be additionally opened onSundays from 10 am to 6 pm.
As part of its recent £2 million investment in new hand-heldscanners for all of its drivers, 2,500 new Motorola MC67 scanners are being phased in on a depot bydepot basis in time for the Christmas peak, to improve efficiency of the drivers and service tocustomers. The investment follows a successful initial trial at one of City Link’s largest depotsin Bristol, which led to a “dramatic reduction in the number of people making enquiries about theprogress of their deliveries”, City Link said.
Liam Tucker, City Link’s Operations Director, said: “The trialshowed a phenomenal improvement in scanner accuracy with the new Motorola MC67 hand-held scannersand we are delighted with the results. When these new handheld scanners were trialled in theBristol depot, customer inbound call volumes dropped by over 40%, driven by improved visibility ofconsignments and on-the-road monitoring of drivers. During the trial, the scanners led to betteravailability of tracking information through our self-service channels, such as My City Link,enabling customers to see clearly where their consignments were.”
The scanners can take and send photos featuring an 8MP camera,suitable for pictures in low light conditions, which enables drivers to record clear images ofaddresses where they have left a ‘Sorry you were out’ card. They also have a longer battery lifethan the previous models used by City Link and each has an in-cab charger to avoid problems withflat batteries.
Tucker showed himself optimistic about this year’s Christmasdeliveries: “City Link had one of its most successful peak periods in 2013 and we are lookingforward to an even busier and more successful one in 2014. We’ve been planning since January andhave worked with all of our larger customers to understand demand, put in place capacity and ensurecontingency arrangements are there too.”
The company stressed that the new automated sorting system at itsnational hub in Coventry will help increase throughput by up to 50%. Other operational improvementsinclude the recent introduction of the new ‘On Our Way’ message alert service which provides parcelrecipients with an estimated two-hour delivery slot and the option of re-arranging their deliveriesif they’re not at home during the time of delivery.
The company’s various investments and operational improvementsfollow a much better financial performance last year when it halved its loss to £14 million, whichwas an improvement of £13.5 million over 2012.
“It is a strong turnaround against a back-drop of difficulttrading conditions coupled with an overall reduction in revenues of £36 million due to the companytaking a deliberate step to move away from loss-making accounts. On a more positive note, the sameperiod has also seen substantial improvements in quality of service, safety performance andoperational compliance and efficiency as well as the introduction of a host of customer serviceenhancements and modernisation initiatives,” the company said.
Since City Link was acquired by Better Capital in April 2013,significant investments were made in further developing and modernising City Link’s operations suchas the hybrid automation system and the On Our Way service, in addition to 86 new double deck and afurther 85 single deck trunker trailers. In addition to the original investment of £40m, BetterCapital plans to provide additional funding to continue the company’s turnaround.
City Link CEO Dave Smith concluded: “City Link remains a businessin turnaround, and our results for 2013 represent a great step forward on that journey. We are notthere yet but the continued support of Better Capital – both in terms of the investments made sofar and in terms of future commitments – means that we will complete our turnaround story and thatthis business and our customers have a bright future to look forward to together.”
