Shiply founder named BT Essence of the Entrepreneur by Peter Jones

Shiply founder, Robert Matthams (pictured below), was last night named as Most Outstanding Entrepreneur and overall BT Essence of The Entrepreneur 2009. Amongst hundreds of entries and 20 finalists, Shiply were awarded a £10,000 cash prize and photo shoot from world renowned photographer Rankin:

The award itself was presented by Peter Jones from Dragon's Den at the oxo gallery on London's South Bank. He said: "I wish I had known about Shiply before it was so successful, as I would certainly have been looking to invest!".

The Rankin exhibition featuring all 20 of the competitions finalists will run for a period of one month at the oxo gallery until 28th February 2009. You can also see all of the photos from the finalists online here.

Once again, we want to thank all of our members for their support with Shiply over the past 18 months and we look forward to bringing much more success to the transport industry in the time to come.

Trucker and daughter reunited after 50 years thanks to Facebook

With the help of Facebook, Frances Simpson has found her father Tony Macnauton, a retired trucker after nearly 50 years. The last time Frances saw Tony was when she was three. After that her parents split and Tony went away.

Tony and Frances' emotional reunion after 50 years

Frances has spent years trying to trace her dad without success. A friend then researched her family tree as a birthday present and Frances was surprised to know that she had a half sister Kim Macnauton.

She then looked Kim up on Facebook, sent her a message and got replied just a bit later: "Do you want to talk to dad? He's next to me."

Frances, of Market Drayton, Shrops, said: "I couldn't believe it. I started talking to him and we haven't stopped since."

Frances then organised an emotional reunion with her dad and introduced him to the family he never knew he had.

Tony said: "Even though we lost touch I never forgot Frances. I always dreamed of us being reunited. I don't know what cloud I'm on."

At Shiply we were all very happy for Tony and Frances when hearing this story. It clearly shows what a good job Facebook does in helping people reunite with old friends and family.

By the way, we just re-launched our very own Facebook fan page, feel free to come and join as a fan at:

http://www.facebook.com/shiply

Nature home delivery service

It seems that humans are not the only creature using home delivery service...

These lions are too!

Enjoy and have a great weekend!

Trucker rescues unconscious driver from burning car

A trucker was hailed a hero after jumping to a burning car to save a driver's life yesterday.

Jim Corrigan was doing his normal daily run when he saw the car accident near Coatbridge, Lanarkshire. The brave lorry driver then grabbed a heavy hammer from his cab to smash the windscreen of the crashed car. He then pulled the unconscious driver out of the car safely just before the engine exploded like what you might see in Holywood action movies.

One driver sho witnessed the amazing rescue said: "This lorry driver appeared from nowhere. He smashed the glass and was in the car in no time. You could see the flames. It was an incredibly dangerous thing to do. But it was also a very brave thing."

Former miner Jim, of Moodiesburn near Glasgow said: "There were others who had stopped and were trying to help. I just happened to have something to hand which could shatter the glass."

What a brave man he is! Unfortunately we haven't got Jim's picture to show you yet, we will upload it straight away once we get it.

A trucker and his £600 sausage

David Highham, of Irlam, Manchester, had to pay more than £600 after he was seen throwing a sausage out of his cab window.

The lorry driver was caught in the act by environmental officials throwing the half finished sausage at Ainley Top roundabout in West Yorkshire.

David was given a fixed penalty notice of £75 but failed to pay and was later found guilty in court due to his absence.

Eventually, he was fined £175 plus £429 court costs and £15 victim surcharge, totalling £619.

So there's a lesson for all of us: never waste a banger!

Haiti disaster and the importance of logistics

The emergency response to the Haiti earthquake disaster has shown how critical logistics is in recovery missions. Haulage and courier companies are the key to the emergency responses with their global network of delivery service channels which are probably greater than the military's capability.

DHL, for instance, has a "Disaster Response Team" who are working in Haiti to advise on logistics management with the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Other courier firms such as TNT and UPS are also providing teams to the UN's World Food Programme.

DHL & other courier companies are helping to deliver emergency packages to Haiti

As many main roads have been heavily damaged during the earthquake, getting the emergency supplies to Haiti remote areas is highly challenging. However, courier companies are trying their best to make sure people get food and medical packages.

And although there has been a great focus on emergency supply shipments in the last few days, strong transportation services will still be important to Haiti recovery with the massive amount of re-construction now required to get the country back on it's feet.

The super van that makes you want to go camping

From the outside, this £350,000 vehicle might look like a prison van but inside interior really shows why it's called the Rolls-Royce of motor homes.

The super van from the outside

Globecruiser is made by Austrian firm Action Mobil with "the best components and materials that have been tried and tested", said spokesman Stephen Wirths.

From the inside, Globecruiser is totally a luxury vehicle, with hot water onboard, latest chic fittings, a proper porcelain toilet and five star dining room.

Globecruiser's 5 start dining room

This luxury van is obviously not for everyone but if you are a camping fan, it might well be in your shopping list for this summer, if you've got £350k lying about that is!

Bike couriers help monitor air pollution

Bike couriers by their very nature are already very environmentally friendly. However, in Cambridge, they are contributing even more! This time by monitoring pollution levels.

The system, developed by Eiman Kanjo, a computer scientist at Cambridge University hooks together wireless pollution sensors and sends the data from mobile phones to her research lab.

A bike courier monitoring air pollution

Air-pollution sensors and GPS units are carried inside storage bins on the couriers' bikes and with help from custom software, the phones continuously report the air quality and location back to servers in Eiman's lab.

This study is part of MESSAGE, a U.K project which aims at developing new ways to collect air pollution data using sensors on vehicles and people.

UK Couriers - The unsung heroes

UK couriers have been praised as the "unsung heroes" by the Road Haulage Association (RHA) for their efforts in maintaining deliveries to different parts of the UK.

With the extreme weather conditions in the past few days, many flights, train services have been delayed and cancelled. This leads to slow deliveries to many parts of the country.

However, despite the cold weather, heavy snow and icy roads, UK courier companies still battle through to make sure supermarkets have food to sell, factories stay busy and businesses keep clogging along.

Heavy snow can't stop couriers from delivering goods

To ensure deliveries are on time, many haulage companies have had to use additional drivers and vehicles.

RHA spokesperson Kate Gibbs said: "This is an industry that works tremendously hard come rain, shine or snow. We have just been through a year that for many members has been financially clipping. Yet UK haulage companies are still delivering the UK economy."

We know that many couriers on Shiply have had to battle through the snow to deliver shipments so thank you all for your great efforts through these extreme weather conditions!

The truck that helps you brave the snow

With the snow expected to last until the end of this month, this might be the traffic solution for us!

Enjoy and have a great weekend! Stay safe if you are on the road!

UK haulage companies face increased cash reserves requirements

The Department of Transport has recently declared that any haulage companies operating for hire and reward under normal licenses must now have 30% more cash reserves compared to former requirement. This is to comply with EU requirements.

From 1/1/2010, a freight haulier is required to show cash reserves of £8,100 for the first vehicle in the fleet and £4,500 for each subsequent vehicle, compared to £6,200 and £3,400 previously. This is due to the devaluation of the pound against the Euro over the last year.

The Pound has devalued strongly against the Euro in the last year

Road Haulage Association Chief Executive Geoff Dunning commented: "This increase represents one of the biggest bombshells ever to hit UK transport operators. In the current economic climate, an increase of any kind will have a detrimental effect; this substantial hike could have a catastrophic effect on our industry."

We believe this increase in cash reserve requirement will be a challenge to many hauliers on Shiply we are really interested in your opinions about this.

Cold weather shows no sign of stopping

The cold weather is showing no sign of letting up throughout the UK with the Met Office projecting plummeting temperatures to be the theme of next week.

The cold weather is expected to continue over the coming week

Daytime temperatures are expected to drop to around 3 degrees on average and there will be heavy snow and black ice in some parts of the country.

The big freeze has continued to cause problems to motorists including courier companies throughout the UK as the weather conditions make it much harder to travel. Many trucks and lorries have been stranded due to motorways being shut down by accidents.

So if you are on the road today, please drive very carefully and keep up-to-date with the latest weather forecast. Don't forget to check out our Top driving tips in harsh winter conditions blog post also!

Shiply 100,000th shipment listed!

On New Year's Day of 2010, Shiply achieved a new milestone: 100,000 shipments listed on our site since launch in just June 2008.

We want to extend our gratitude to our members, both transport providers and users for helping us reach this milestone. A Very Happy New Year To You All!