Essex-based Balin Distribution has switched pallet networks moving from Palletways to Palletline after a nine-year relationship, Roadtransport.com can reveal.
Balin is now covering postcodes in Essex and east London for Palletline. Director Mark Betts says the move provides access to new customers for the general-groupage haulier, while allowing it to maintain existing relationships in the SS postcode.
"We've kept the SS and RN postcodes, and now go up as far as IG and east London," says Betts, who believes diversification is the best approach in tough economic times.
Balin services around 400 customers with a fleet of 25 vehicles, ranging from Ford Transits to 38-tonne trucks. Pallet work contributes close to a third of the business's £3m annual turnover.
Kevin Buchanan, chief executive of Palletline, describes the move as "rebalancing volumes" in the region. It takes Palletline's membership to 78, with Buchanan eyeing 80 to 85 members at most.
Anglia's Steve Prince Transport in Braintree, Essex, has taken over Balin's former SS postcode for Palletways.
