Shiply's Feedback Lucky Draw Winner Announced

You might have received an email recently about our Feedback Lucky Draw for users leaving feedback on Shiply.

After two months and more than 10,000 feedback comments left, we have got a winner! Sue Lambert (Shiply username: keithandsuelambert), of Cheshire, was the luckiest out of 10,000 Shiply users and has received the prize of a brand new iPod Nano.

Sue shared her excitement with us when receiving the news: "Is this for real? I have never won anything like this!"

Let us thank you all for leaving your valued feedback on Shiply and congratulations to Sue on her win!

When truck drivers have a break...

They might end up doing this!

Enjoy and have a great weekend!

London to organise Bike Courier Appreciation Day

Whilst to many people, earning money through riding your bike might seem like a dream job, being bike couriers does have some obvious downsides such as dealing with the unstable weather and potential risks of serious injury while carrying out their work.

Being a bike courier is not as easy as people might think

To appreciate the contribution of the bike courier community, the London Courier Emergency Fund has planned to organise a Bike Courier Appreciation Day today, Thursday 26/11/2009.

Free coffee, home-made cakes and other freebies will be provided to bike couriers at the junction of Shaftesbury Avenue and Bloomsbury Street from 9am until supplies run out.

At Shiply we think this is a fantastic idea to show couriers how valued they are and should be expanded to other cities in the UK as well.

How fuel price hike is affecting couriers in the UK

Recently we learned that in some parts of the UK the price of fuel has risen by more than 5% per litre in the last month alone. Bearing in mind the increase in VAT from 15% to 17.5% on the 1st of January 2010, this might lead to a considerable increase in fuel costs for haulage companies.

Fuel is amongst the main costs of haulage companies

The Road Haulage Association commented on the fuel price increase: "This seems to be an absolutely ridiculous situation, bearing in mind the last time the price of diesel was this high, the price of a barrel stood $20 dollars higher than it is today."

Mulgrew Haulage, a haulier based in Dromore, announced a 14% rise in fuel costs since 2008 and said haulage companies may soon be forced to increase their prices for customers in order to stay in business.

Since fuel is one of the main expenditures for couriers, we believe the fuel price increase does have considerable impacts on your business.

So what is your opinion about this? We're sure everyone is interested to know.

How are Cumbria's hauliers taclking the floods?

As you might have heard on the news, Cumbria has been facing the worst rainfall on record which has caused devastating floods. We thought you might want to know how Cumbria's couriers have been tackling the situation.

Haulage companies in Cumbria are amongst those worst-hit by the floods as many roads were closed due to rising water levels.

Eric Nicholson, director of EW & PA Nicholson in Cockermouth said:"The major road in West Cumbria has been closed, and our major problem now is we cannot get to Workington. We are obviously trying to keep going."

The floods have created massive difficulties for Cumbria's couriers

Andrew Burridge, another haulier, shared his thoughts:"We are trying to get into West Cumbria, but have had to take much longer routes than we normally would. This means that in some cases we have to travel 150 miles to do what would normally be an 80-mile journey."

The Environment Agency figure stated that 314.4mm of rainfall was measured in the area in 24 hours from Thursday to Friday last week, a record amount in England.

If only this trucker knew Shiply...

He would never have to travel this empty!

Enjoy and have a great weekend!

Former trucker in running for Miss Universe

Renae Wauhop, a former roofer and truck driver in Perth, Australia, is on the way to become the first time trucker to win Miss Universe Australia.

Renae (far right) with other Miss Universe Australia finalists

Explaining her reason to ditch the road and enter the beauty contest, Renae said: "I've always been a tomboy, I love camping and fishing but I'm bored of seeing all these models being in it - what do they do?"

Renae is not the only out of the ordinary contestant in this year Miss Universe Australia. Stephanie Bentvelzen (second to the left in the picture), a former detective has also joined the competition for the new beauty queen to "learn something different".

Millions of unwanted Christmas gifts to be delivered

Throughout the year, Christmas is always the busiest time for transport and courier companies with an estimated one billion Christmas cards, eight million Christmas trees and millions of Christmas gifts being sent during this festive period.

However, recent research has shown that after Christmas and New Year, couriers and delivery companies will be kept busy with yet more huge demand: unwanted Christmas gifts.

An estimated 8% of Christmas gifts are unwanted

Every year Britons spend on average £435 buying Christmas presents but it is calculated that £36 of that will not be appreciated. This has led to recent increase in people selling their unwanted gifts with eBay's figure of 2 million unwanted Christmas items listed last year. This year, this figure is expected to be even higher.

Shiply awarded Startups Awards Green Business Of The Year 2009

Last Friday 13th November 2009, Shiply were awarded with Startups Awards Green Business Of The Year 2009.

Amongst 12 award categories we were nominated for two - Green Business Of The Year and Best Use Of Technology.

The award ceremony was professional, well organised and we had a great time meeting entrepreneurs from different parts of the country. Amid the current recession, it is really great to see that many small businesses with great ideas have emerged and are growing strongly.

This award is particularly important to us as it recognises the contribution Shiply has made to society and the environment through our business activities. And needless to say, our achievement could have never been this great without you all. So thank you very much!

At Shiply's office today, we were also told that Robert Matthams, our founder, was announced as one of the Future 100 Young Entrepreneurs Of The Year 2009. So, more good news to share with you!

Express delivery using Metro - a good idea?

We find this story from Dubai very interesting and we think it could be a potential business idea for couriers in the UK.

After the Dubai Metro was launched in September, courier company TSC Express Worldwide has been using the train to beat the extremely busy traffic on Dubai streets.

TSC Express Courier company using the Dubai Metro to deliver important parcels

With this new delivery method, TSC Express has saved a lot of time as well as money on finding and paying for parking. Parking tickets can cost up to Dh 200 (£32) whilst a return trip from the nearest station to the company depot to city centre costs just Dh 4.60 (75p).

Mohamed Robel, the head of marketing for TSC Express said: "It's a good difference and there are no parking charges and we are mainly paying for parking fines".

Customers are also benefiting from the service too, as the courier has improved its delivery service times. Recently TSC Express has delivered a package from its depot to city centre in just 25 minutes.

With the scale of rail networks in the UK, we think it is highly possible to deliver mails and parcels expressly through the tube or train. It is also more eco-friendly than using cars. However, reliability wise, we're not so sure!!! Signal failure on the district again, oops, sorry!

Unemployed lorry driver is UK biggest lottery winner

Les Scadding, mechanic and haulage driver of Newport, lost his job last Christmas and has been helping out as his wife Samantha's driver for her business.

However, the life of this 58 years old man has changed forever when he and his wife won £45million - Britain's biggest lottery jackpot.

Les and Samantha's happy smiles when receiving the lottery prize

Les said: "When I went to the cashpoint before going to Tesco to buy two lucky dip EuroMillions ticket I was £68 overdrawn. I went back to the store to check the ticket while buying some groceries on Saturday because we had no food in the house - we were starving. Now I've got £45million in the bank."

Mr. Scadding, who is now amongst the UK richest people, is going to replace his old Citroen C5 with a Range Rover Sport.

He said: "This Christmas is going to be fantastic. I've never owned a new vehicle in my life and the Range Rover is my dream car. I want it to be black with ivory interior."

We bet after this Les is not going to drive his lorry any more. Are you looking for a second hand lorry? Contact him, you might get a very good deal!

Bride arrives at wedding in HGV

Whilst fancy Rolls Royce's and Horse Drawn Carriages might be many couples' dream for their wedding; Michelle and Matt Gregory, of Scunthorpe, had their own ideas.

Matt, who runs a haulage company in Messingham, took his bride Michelle to the wedding in a Volvo FH12 articulated lorry instead!

Since Michelle dressed in a traditional wedding gown, she had to use a step ladder to get in and out of the lorry on her big day.

Michelle said: "I never dreamed I would arrive at my own wedding in a lorry but it was what Matt wanted. I can certainly say it was very different - we got a lot of waves and pips from passing motorists."

Happy newlyweds Matt and Michelle with their wedding lorry

Mr. Gregory explained his idea: "It is the industry that I work in and that's why I chose the lorry. I wanted to show lorries can be used for lots of things - not just road haulage."

Congratulations to the happy couple from all at Shiply!

Professional haulage

We just stumbled upon this video on the Internet and thought it was brilliant! The trucker in this clip really knows how to make such a difficult haulage job as easy as a piece of cake.

Hope you will enjoy it and have a great weekend!

Royal Mail Strike Update - 06/11/2009

As Royal Mail industrial action is a very hot topic at the moment, we thought we would keep you updated on the proposed strike.

Latest movements of Royal Mail Postal Strike:

Updated 06/11/2009

Good news everyone! The Royal Mail strike were last night postponed until at least the new year.

It means Royal Mail services will be free of any disruption up to and during the Christmas period.

The Royal Mail and the Communications Workers Union (CWU) have agreed on an agreement of a "period of calm" in which both parties could hold further talks to reach a long-term deal.

The agreement means the planned walk-outs today and on Monday will not go ahead. The CWU also put on hold legal action against Royal Mail over the employment of temporary workers.

Updated 04/11/2009

There is no sign of an ending to the postal strike, with planned walk-outs on Friday (6 November) and Monday (9 November) involving all 121,000 members of the Communications Workers Union (CWU).

The CWU is in the process of taking Royal Mail to the High Court, claiming the company breached employment law by adding 30,000 temprorary workers to handle the mail backlog.

This week it was disclosed that Adam Crozier, Royal Mail's CEO, was given 26pc pay rise last year, taking his total annual salary to £1.25m.

Updated 02/11/2009

The talks between union leaders and Royal Mail will resume today to find a solution to the dispute over jobs, pay and modernisation.

The third round of 24 hour national strike is planned for Friday (6 November) and the following Monday (9 November). It is expected to involve all 121,000 members of the Communications Workers Union.

Updated 30/10/2009

Today, 400 workers who deal with badly addressed mails have walked out and will be followed by 77,000 delivery and colletion staff tomorrow.

The Convervative party is keen on the plan to entirelly privatise Royal Mail rather than the 30 percent stake that Business Secretary Lord Mandelson wants to sell. It also believes that more investors will be attracted if the union is to be defeated in the postal strike.

Updated 29/10/2009

In the early hours today, postal workers began three more days of national strikes after discussions in the last three days failed to provide a positive outcome.

• Today 43,700 mail centre and distribution staff walked out
• Tomorrow, Friday 30/10/2009, 400 workers who deal with badly addressed mails will walk out
• Saturday 31/10/2009, 77,000 delivery and colletion staff will follow

Mark Higson, managing director of Royal Mail said: ''The union's leadership appears to be split, with London members at odds with the rest of the country and unable to reach any decision.''

Updated 28/10/2009

Communication Workers Union (CWU) leaders will meet today to decide whether a new potal strike is to go ahead, only hours before the action is set to start.

Royal Mail and CWU have been negotiating for the past two days under the chairmanship of Trade Union Congree (TUC) and the talks were described as ''useful'' by TUC general secretary Brendan Barber.

If the postal strike is to go ahead, its schedule will be:

• Thursday: 43,700 staff in mail centres, drivers and garage staff
• Friday: 400 workers who deal with badly addressed
• Saturday: 77,000 delivery and colletion staff

Updated 27/10/2009

Royal Mail and the Communication Workers Union (CWU) will recommence discussions at the Trade Union Congress today to try to reach an agreement before Thursday's planned second round of postal strikes which is expected to last over three days.

A CWU spokeswoman said it expected to decide today on whether to take legal action against Royal Mail in using 30,000 temporary workers to help with deliveries.

Royal Mail said yesterday that the volume of delayed mail caused by last week's strike was expected to have fallen to 5m items.

Updated 26/10/2009

The talks between Royal Mail and the Communication Workers Union (CWU) are due be held today through the Trades Union Congress, which assisted the 2007 pay and modernisation agreement.

Billy Hayes, CWU general secretary, warned the talks could be difficult: "If Royal Mail attend the talks and just simply reiterate their previous position, that won't help. But if they come there genuinely seeking agreement, then I'm sure we can go forward."

Updated 23/10/2009

About 42,000 mail centre staff and drivers walked out yesterday and 78,000 delivery and collection workers began the action at 4am today.

The next round of strikes is expected to last for three days at the end of next week with participation from different worker groups. This means more service disruptions and further increase in backlogs in the run-up to Christmas.

Updated 22/10/2009




The first part of a two-day national strike has started in the early hours of today, with Mail Centres and Network Distribution Units workers walking out.

Experts said that the strike will create a three week backlog for Royal Mail to clear before postal services get back to normal.

Barely a quarter of Royal Mail's 30,000 temporary workers will be able to start next week as Roya Mail is forced to make sure that all these workers are vetted carefully before they are allowed to handle any mail.

The current backlog of 9 to 30 million mail items is expected to jump up to 100 million after the strike.

Updated 21/10/2009

Final attempts to halt the nationwide post strikes have failed which means the Royal Mail strike will start at midnight tonight.

The strike will last for two days (Thursday and Friday), but the backlog means it will take the postal system much longer to recover.

Updated 20/10/2009

Union sources say there has not been any sign of a breakthrough ahead of the first of two 24 hour walkouts on Thursday.

Royal Mail says it is willing to proceed with the conciliation service Acas but only if the CWU call of their national strike.

CWU call for independent mediation has been backed by about 100 MPs and the Business Secretary Peter Mandelson.

The Ministry of Defence said they might lay on extra aircraft to make sure in-the-field troops get their Christmast post.

Updated 19/10/2009

The last ditch talks to avoid a national postal strike look quite hopeless as both parties refuse to give ground.

The CWU said it was considering legal action against Royal Mail's plan to recruit 30,000 temporary staff for the coming Christmas holiday as well as to clear the backlog of undelivered post from this week national strikes.

TNT CEO Nick Wells said that the company would be keen to provide a rival service if it was financially viable. Up to now, the main obstacle which kept rivals out of the playing field for Royal Mail was the fact that it was exempt from paying VAT.

Updated: 16/10/2009

The Communication Workers Union has announced the intention to proceed two national strikes next week, following their recent ballot:

Thursday 22/10/2009: Mail centres, network distribution units and collection hubs around the country will be affected, resulting in limited process, movement and collection of ordinary mail.

Friday 23/10/2009: Delivery offices in all areas will be affected, resulting in limited collection and delivery services and of all ordinary mail.

We will add to this blog post as news develops.

The unlikely return of the telegram

As people seeking for alternatives to Royal Mail, thousands have started to use telegrams again for their urgent messages.

For those who are not aware of telegram, it is one of the earliest forms of long distance communication and was first used in 1845. A telegram is message sent by an eletrical telegraph operator using Morse code, or a printing telegraph operator using plain text. The main benefit of using telegram is the ability to individually deliver a message door to door.

So far the majority of recent demand for telegrams has been from banks and employers desperate to ensure that important news reaches customers and staff in writing within a few hours.

The Queen, together with the heads of other European royal families, is a very regular user of telegrams.

Rob van Hoof, a spokesman of Telegramsonline which has The Queen as a customer said: "She is one of our good customers. These strikes are very important to us. They are always of benefit to us,"

Although telegrams are very efficient, the main barrier to the popularity of the service is the cost. Telegramonline, for instance, charges its customers £40 for the first A4 page and £5 for each following page.

By now we guess you understand why The Queen and the banks are using telegrams and not us.

The last postal birds in the world

With the modernisation of the postal system, we probably only see postal birds in movies. However, in some special circumstances like the one below, can they really be the best delivery solution?!

This pigeon team (nicknamed Pigeon Express), from the US city of Fort Collins, Colorado are believed to be the last delivery birds in the world. They fly 20 to 40 miles from the top of the Cache La Poudre River down to the base at the bottom to transport images of intrepid white water rafters to be processed.

One Pigeon Express member ready for action

As it takes the pigeons just 20 minutes to fly this distance, it is much quicker than driving down from the river. Therefore, the birds have been trained for this special delivery service and normally fly five times everyday.

There's only one problem for the pigeons: since the pickup location is high on the mountain, they run the risk of being KIA because of hawks and eagles!

David Costlow, the head pigeon keeper said: ''We lose five on average every year. But we've only lost seven digital chips in the last 14 years.''

Amid the current postal strike and with thousands of pigeons out of work since the famous Trafalgar Square banning, could this be the future of express delivery solutions?!