How AK Transporters went from start-up to success in just three months

“Some think of CX as just a job*, but it isn’t just that. It’s a place to build your company, grow your brand, and make a name for yourself in the transport industry, especially for those who are just starting out.” 

Mohammed Khan, Managing Director, AK Transporters

Mohammed adds, “CX exposed us to clients and helped us to reach big-name courier companies, big-name logistics companies. It just boosts your level up as well.”

“If you provide a good service, and invest in technology CX can make it easy to find new clients and grow partnerships.” 

Mohammed Khan, Managing Director, AK Transporters

“We really value technology and biometrics, So, we can see we’ve decreased our dead miles by over 80% whilst also decreasing our cost per mile. And also providing our customers with a more streamlined service.”

Mohammed Khan, Managing Director, AK Transporters

And with efficiency comes higher revenue. After starting their business just 6 months ago, 3 of which have been on CX, AK Transporters are already planning to open their office before the Christmas period this year.

“I’d say we’ve exceeded our goals. We’ve already ordered more vans and we’re already expanding our fleet. It’s just onwards and upwards for us.”

Mohammed Khan, Managing Director, AK Transporters

It started with people ringing me up. And me ringing some drivers up. One driver got in touch with me, and I got him a job. Another friend called me up for a job, and I got him one off CX too.

Managing Director, Red Rocket, Lee Gueller

Lee adds, “I set myself a target. If I could earn £50 from each driver each day, that’s £250 a week. When I got to 4 drivers, that’s when things got rolling. That’s when I started seeing the other side of CX.”

On our website, we claim we collect from anywhere in the UK in 60 minutes. To be honest, that’s because of CX. We get a job, put it on the platform and drivers bid. We go from there.

Managing director, Red Rocket, Lee Gueller

Feedback is another area where Red Rocket excels. They have an impressive 1667 positive comments for delivery feedback and 7653 positive comments for payment feedback.

We use the platform to build a list of contacts. We’ve also built enough trust on it to secure direct bookings and get feedback from our suppliers which boosts our business.

Managing director, Red Rocket, Lee Gueller

“Plus,” he adds, “the CX app is fantastic. Easy to use and find work. And we get to be one step ahead with the integration tracker. I wouldn’t use any other platform.”

Without sounding like Jerry Springer at the end of his programme, I can only speak from my point of view. If you use the CX right, it can open that many opportunities.

Managing director, Red Rocket, Lee Gueller

And the opportunities are endless. Red Rocket currently sponsors three kids’ football teams, professional boxers, charity raves and churches.

“All the money we’re able to give back to the community diversifies from the courier work we’ve done,” Lee explains.  “Red Rocket Couriers is my baby. It’s mine. CX has given me complete independence. It’s given me my life. What you put in you get out.”

Much like the man himself, Lee’s business advice for all new couriers starting out on the Exchange is to-the-point and exceptionally encouraging.

Get your head down and put in the effort. That’s all it takes to make it on CX. Trust me: if I can do it, anyone can!

Managing director, Red Rocket, Lee Gueller

With that barrier removed, the pair were able to put in place a customer-centric strategy for their business, which is woven deep into the fabric of Quickline’s DNA. But how did they succeed in making industry-leading customer service the central pillar of their business, and how do they maintain it?

Mr Martin says, “Again, it’s the combination of people and technology that’s the difference. When we post a load on Courier Exchange – which we do over 60 times a day every day – not only do we know that each driver on CX is compliant, but the online feedback system lets us see feedback on every job they’ve done. Therefore, we know that every job we post is carried out by an experienced and reputable courier company.”

But both believe that the feedback system, while exceptionally useful, needs to be used in “a more nuanced way to get the best out of drivers”.

“Behind every feedback entry, there’s a human being. While online feedback is very useful, we don’t use it in isolation. What do I mean? Well, it’s possible for someone to pick up one piece of bad feedback, which may be a one-off – or may actually not be their fault. Therefore, if a driver who we haven’t used before quotes on a load – and has a minor blot on their copybook, then we’ll give them an opportunity to prove themselves.”

“The Exchange’s direct booking system helps us in this way because it means that we can offer that driver an incentive. Our approach is very much if they do a great job for us transporting that first load, we’ll give them a much more lucrative load next time round, and do it through a direct booking.”

But driver selection aside, Mr Martin and Mr Doran recognised that offering a professional and timely service wasn’t enough. To really excel, they realised that they needed to provide real-time updates to their customers. Thankfully, the Exchange provided the solution.

Says Mr Martin, “As a rule of thumb, we believe that if a customer has to call us and ask where their load is, we’ve failed them. The vehicles in our private fleet are all fitted with hardwire trackers, so when they’re sent on a job, we know exactly where they are in real-time and can share instant updates with our customers. We wanted to offer our customers the same service for loads that are delivered via the Exchange too.”

“By using Freight Vision and integrated telematics, we can track every load we post on the Exchange in exactly the same way, and best of all, updates can be sent to our clients automatically. The Exchange’s e-quotation system has also saved us several hours each day, as managing 20 quotes digitally is far less time consuming than fielding 20 calls.”

The efficiency and cost savings that CX has brought about has enabled Mr Doran and Mr Martin to grow the company’s private fleet and introduce nine different services.

Mr Doran says, “We’re excited about the future. Last year we moved into a 1000-square foot facility in Liverpool. This year, we’ll be doubling the size of our fleet in the next three months, and will be taking on more drivers. We’re able to do this thanks to the Exchange. Not only has it provided us with the revenue and time to add to our fleet and grow our business, but CX has given us the peace of mind that our new vehicles will always be fully utilised, while at the same time allowing us to further develop and strengthen customer relationships.”

CX has given me the confidence to strike out alone and build a successful same-day courier business.

Owner at Salix Courier Solutions, Stephen Nicholson

Of course, to come up with a baseline figure, you need to have calculated all of your overheads, which can differ from month to month. And if you have a small fleet of vehicles – each one a different type and size – you’ll need to work out the price per mile per vehicle. But this really isn’t rocket science, and once you know your bid price, you have full control over the quoting process. Why? Because there are so many loads to choose from, the likelihood is that there will always be one that matches your criteria.

But, as I say, CX’s smart load matching system, which I use on the Mobile App, does the rest for you. If you’re not familiar with the Mobile App, the best thing about it is that it’s very intuitive. It’s well laid out. The buttons are big and the system is very easy to navigate. So you don’t have to be an IT professional to operate it effectively (I’m certainly not).”

There are so many loads to choose from, the likelihood is that there will always be one that matches your criteria.

Owner at Salix Courier Solutions, Stephen Nicholson

Of course, as CX is a community, I’ve gotten to know several drivers in the past two years, and we work together to secure work. So it might be that one of them will see my position on the LAM, and will offer me the job. But, to be honest, as everyone on the Exchange is a trusted trade-only business, I’m just as likely to receive a call from a contractor that I don’t know. To maximise opportunity, however, I use the future journeys tab. This enables me to post my status in real-time. The more information I provide, the greater the chance that someone will pick up the phone and provide me a direct booking.

Finally, like any cricket lover I’m a great fan of statistics. Last year, largely thanks to CX, I drove over 86,000 miles in my Renault Traffic short wheel base van. This year, with my business still moving forward, my mileage count is likely to increase. And the best news of all – my umpiring career continues to go from strength to strength too. As we say in the game “over, and time gentlemen please.”

The more I used CX, the more I discovered that it wasn’t just a platform for backloads. With a consistent source of hotshot loads, I realised after my first month that I could rely on the platform for my entire living.

Terry Price

Becoming a member of CX has made growth easy for Eezehaul. In fact, they give us the credit for achieving ISO 14001 status. With our help, they’ve been able to increase their back loads which, in turn, has cut down on waste and reduced their carbon footprint during deliveries. Go green!

Mark believes being a member of Courier Exchange has played a vital role in the phenomenal growth of Eezehaul by allowing them to accept more more loads as it expanded. Access to the network of 6,000 plus CX member companies gave the Sussex-based company the ability to meet customers’ demands at short notice – even at its busiest times.

CX vets its members, giving us reassurance that we can be confident doing business with any of them.

It has also helped the company achieve the coveted ISO 14001 status, which it was awarded recently, by ensuring that wherever possible vehicles do not run empty on return journeys, thus cutting down on waste and reducing the average carbon footprint on deliveries.

“At Eezehaul we have always had a clear idea of what we wanted to achieve, and CX has certainly helped us on our journey,” said Mark, who acts as Managing Director. From the beginning we could see the benefits of CX and it hasn’t let us down. There are other exchanges out there but I’ve never found anything that matches the overall offering of CX.”

“It’s easy to use, well thought out and, most importantly, offers security. CX vets its members giving us reassurance that we can be confident doing business with any of them.”

CX has grown to become one of the world’s largest trading hubs for the sameday courier and express freight industries, enabling its members to fulfill orders and complete journeys in the most efficient way possible.

“It’s invaluable, as here at Eezehaul we often need to make things happen at short notice,” said Mark. “CX’s offering is getting stronger and stronger. Developments are progressive and user-friendly.”

“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. Eezehaul is also proud of its green credentials and using CX means we’ve reduced wasted journeys. It’s a win-win – good for customers and good for the environment.”

CX has helped us to serve our customers well, and I am certain it will continue to do so.

Customer service is paramount for Eezehaul, which moves an average of 5,000 consignments a day. Working to high standards also gives staff job satisfaction – the company prides itself on having a low turnover of employees.

“We are also picking up a lot more work for our vehicles. It does however need drivers to remember to make sure they show themselves as available and equally to change their status when they become unavailable.”

The new App gives him the confidence to accept smaller jobs, secure in the knowledge that if a larger job comes up he can juggle priorities by using Courier Exchange’s Mobile App to find a sub-contractor at short notice to carry out the smaller job, who is already in the right location to pick up.

The fact that Courier Exchange vets its members is very important to him. “If you are delivering a ‘line-stopper’ consignment to an automotive company, for example, you don’t want to sub-contract that job out to someone unknown. If you hold up a production line for even three or four minutes, it’s your reputation that’s on the line.”

Go2Day has recently taken the decision to integrate the TomTom Telematics WEBFLEET system, used by all of its 3.5-tonne curtain side and tail lift vans, with Courier Exchange to access live vehicle data via the freight trading platform.

“We recognise the benefits of both TomTom Telematics WEBFLEET and Courier Exchange, so it made sense to make the most real-time tracking data to help make the most of our vehicles,” explains Andy Littlewood. “We now possess complete visibility of our vehicles through the exchange in terms of location, status and availability, which will help increase completed jobs and boost revenue.”

HSP Couriers carry everything from tractor and engineering parts to staging and lighting equipment for movie sets on blockbusters such as Twilight. They first joined CX just one month after the business started in August 2008, and even won the Transport Exchange Group’s Best Newcomer Award in their first year as a member.

It’s a business which has gone from strength to strength having first joined the Exchange just one month after the business started in August 2008. It even won the Transport Exchange Group’s Best Newcomer Award in its first year of becoming a member. Then three years later the firm got the top accolade – the ‘Company of the Year Award’ at the annual Transport Awards.

Before launching HSP Couriers, Hiten Patel worked as a Marketing Executive at 3663. It was then that he recognised that there was a market for sameday courier operation which was driven by high levels of customer service. Hitten started out as an owner driver and has since grown the business substantially and the company now operates a fleet of 13 vehicles ranging from small vans to long wheelbase sprinter and has 11 employees.

There is no denying that the Courier Exchange has made a massive difference to our business and has played a pivotal role in our continued growth.

Hiten Patel

He puts much of this success down to joining the Exchange. He said: “having just launched the business I took the decision to join the Exchange as not only as a means of gaining work but also to provide me with a greater insight into how the business worked.”

It was a formula that worked as within just a short period of time Hiten built up a reliable network of drivers through the Exchange, giving him nationwide coverage.

Hiten commented: “The fact that we had access to thousands of member businesses gave us a huge kick start. Even though we had customers based around Northants, they have connections all over the country and the Exchange has allowed us to handle these on behalf of our customers.”

“We often have vehicles across the UK but can’t always call them off route if a new job comes in. So we simply post the job on the Courier Exchange – it’s a win win for all concerned. The facts speak for themselves. In the early days of joining the Exchange the work generated represented 60% of turnover. It gave us the lifeline we needed and provided a strong platform on which we have continued to build.”

ICD is a great example of how our platform can help you to expand into new niches in more locations across the country, using features such as the Live Availability Map. Take a look at their story.

Life started in 1984 when Europe’s oldest and largest consular agent, Blair Consular Services, decided to set up its own in-house courier service to deliver documents to consulates around the world.

Starting with just one man and a car, ICD, as it is popularly known, rapidly expanded. Today it manages a number of other specialities, including exhibition logistics, hanging garments, and warehouse and storage.

While delivering documents to consulates and to their agents at airports is a mainstay of the business, the company ships anything from single envelopes to helicopter blades, and can move loads of up to 10 tonnes in weight.

Whatever we do is based on trust, and with Courier Exchange we can trust the members. That’s important.

Guy Dodds, Managing Director

The company provides the highest levels of training, and drivers have Aviation Security Level 4 (Air Cargo Agents) that enables them to deliver directly to an aircraft’s steps if necessary.

Their first driver, Guy Dodds, has risen to become Managing Director of the company, and is in charge of logistics for its fleet of four vehicles and pool of around 25 sub-contractors. ICD joined CX after he recognised its potential to help find sub-contractors for individual jobs.

Guy said: “We use the Live Availability Map to look for carriers. If we have a job, say, in Liverpool, we’ll look at the map and see where all the carriers who are in Liverpool are, then ring them and ask if they’re available, and get quotes.

“I put work on the Exchange that I can’t cover. It gives us an extended field. The majority of our work is in London, but we cover the whole of the UK.”

Logistics is Vincent’s passion – and the CX app is helping him do what he loves most in the world (not to mention find the most fulfilling and interesting work). He can get his goods to their destination and find his next job quick as a wink… perfect for the man who owns Jet Speed!

Logistics has always been my passion. I’ve never wanted to do anything else and it’s what I do best. There’s something very satisfying about moving goods – particularly when I know that the parts in the back of my van serve a higher purpose.

A few years ago, for example, I began working for a contractor which supplies emergency parts to the RAF’s fleet of Search and Rescue helicopters. And while I’m only a small part of the supply chain, every time I switch on the TV and see a brave crew scooping a sailor up from angry seas, it gives me a thrill.

I remember the phone call that woke me at 3am on a Saturday morning, the one asking me to travel down to Truro, pick up a part and take it wherever it was needed. When I’m on the road, it’s quite humbling and inspiring to know that when the vital component I’m delivering is fitted to the helicopter it will be back in the air saving lives.

But if you’re a courier, how do you find interesting and fulfilling work like this? Firstly, having a good support network around you it crucial. In this respect, I’m particularly grateful to D.W Cook Transport, who really helped me to find my feet in the early days.

Secondly, while I’ve always been fairly resourceful, and pride myself on having quite a large network of contacts, there’s no way in the world that I could have found these opportunities off my own back. As an owner driver, I’m fully focused on getting goods from A to B and then finding my next job.

To win a plum contract like this, requires time – and it’s time that I don’t have. For instance, I’d have to be vetted by the contractor, by the Ministry of Defence and my skill set and suitability assessed. That process could take weeks or even months and all the face-to-face meetings would take me off the road.

Just as well then that Courier Exchange allows me to have my cake and to eat it too. It’s one of the biggest freight exchanges in the UK and in my view the best because it gets me access to some of the largest logistics companies in the UK. They can see all the feedback posted about my same day delivery business, Jet Speed Couriers.

In fact, they can examine the feedback for every job that I’ve completed in the seven years that I’ve been a member of Courier Exchange. If you treat every job as if it’s your first as I do, and your feedback from those companies you work for backs this up, then you maximise that opportunity to work with interesting people, on exciting projects that would be virtually impossible for an owner driver to secure on their own.

As well as putting me in front of some of the largest transport businesses in the country, CX gives them access to businesses like mine. You may think big logistics operators with dedicated despatch teams don’t need the little guy. But believe me they do. It’s reliable and trusted SMEs -that’s small and medium-sized businesses to you and me -that give them the confidence to take on large contracts in the grocery or manufacturing sector.

Why? Because by using the Live Availability Map (LAM) they know exactly where we are and when our vehicles are likely to become empty. They take it for granted. But imagine if suddenly that visibility was taken away from them. Imagine if they were unable to access the extra capacity and experience and professionalism that we provide.

It’s fair to say that some of them wouldn’t be able to operate, and those still able to would most likely incur much higher costs. But the Exchange ensures that we all get our fair share of loads.

Another point worth mentioning is that the Exchange lets me be me. In other words, it allows me to run my business the way I want it to be run. Working through the Exchange means that I can choose who I work for, and who works for me when I post loads, which I do around thirty times a month.

And while I love the flexibility that CX gives me – in that I can work the hours that I want – it also allows me to create a profile telling my customers who I am and what I do best.

In my case, before joining the Exchange I spent many years working in warehouse distribution Before the recession hit a decade or so ago, I was a warehouse manager for a large manufacturing company. So when I moved into freight in 2011, I was able to use that experience to my advantage.

Leicestershire, where I’m based, is a hotbed for logistics. Two of the largest distribution centres in Europe – Magna Parkin Lutterworth and Dirft in Rugby – are close by and much of the work filters through them. But they can be confusing places to be for inexperienced couriers, as they’re as big as small towns.

So to know them inside out like I do gave me an edge. Why? Because I had a good understanding of their layout, and how they worked, I was always able to guarantee that that collection or delivery -which is the single most important part of a job -was always smooth and efficient. It may seem a small thing, but first impressions really count. Proving that I could deliver a professional service really helped me to build my reputation in the early days.

Nowadays, that’s not so much of a concern. I’ve built a large network of clients that I trade with, and win around 70% of my loads from direct bookings. If you’re not familiar with the term, that’s loads that go from member to member without ever touching the Exchange. For me, they show the Exchange and those who belong to it at their most dynamic. For those who benefit most from direct bookings are also the most agile members and most trusted members.

Okay – so CX’s tracking technology can greatly improve your chances of being in the right place at the right time, but on the other hand, no amount of technology can build a reputation. That’s up to you. And so when contractors place direct bookings, it’s feedback record that counts. That means demonstrating energy, enthusiasm and commitment for every job.

As the famous saying goes, you don’t have to love logistics to deliver a professional service. But to do it well, it certainly helps.

I know if we can’t cover a load at short notice, we can post it on the Exchange and make sure it gets done.

Kevin Matchan, Co-owner