Online freight exchange 'fills gap in quiet times'

Hauliers are claiming that subscribing to an online freight exchange has helped them avoid job cuts by compensating for lost volumes during the recession. David Humphry, group owner of Edmonton, North London-based RA Haulage, tells Commercial Motor: "Volumes were down almost 10% in January compared to the same month in 2008, and although freight exchange is not our core business, it does fill the gap during quiet times and bring in extra income."

RA Haulage is a member of Haulage Exchange, part of the Transport Exchange Group - one of many online freight exchanges that run in the UK ('Match of the day', CM 16 October 2008). Peter Allen, company director at William Allens of Bolton, concurs with Humphry's findings: "Over the last few months we have been using the site up to three times a day and it is now accounting for 10%-20% of our client base." He adds that, as a consequence, there have been no redundancies this year.

"It is now more important than ever for hauliers to make sure they are running vehicles at full capacity as a means to cut costs," concludes Luke Davies, Haulage Exchange operations manager. Haulage Exchange is expecting its membership to more than double in size by the end of the year, as hauliers make use of every option available to them to avoid lost revenue during the recession.

Davies reveals to CM that the number of members in February was 57% higher than a year ago, and the exchange expects the number to rise another 55% by the end of 2009. Meanwhile RA Haulage says online freight exchanges are not the only cost-cutting measure it is using: "By employing Volvo's Dynafleet telematics system on three of the 10-strong fleet in November, we have seen fuel consumption drop almost 4%," says Humphry, adding that it will be rolled out to all the trucks in its fleet.