Funny moving accident

We hope that none of the removal companies who use Shiply employ similar staff to these two!

Enjoy and have a great weekend!

The billionaire trucker

Lindsay Fox is probably one of the most famous truck drivers in the world, as he's made a fortune being a trucker. Fox, 72, dropped out of school when he was 16 and started his trucker's career.

Lindsay Fox is the 10th richest man in Austrlia

Now he's worth $1.5 billion and ranks No. 10 amongst Australia's 40 Richest Men. Fox's company Linfox operates in different industries with Linfox Logistics being the biggest division with 5,000 truck drivers.

Last year, amid the global economic downturn, it was estimated that Linfox made about $100 million profit. Not only famous for building an empire from trucking jobs, Fox has also been running a safety campaign for several years to reduce haulage accidents.

Lindsay Fox also owns Melbourne's second and third biggest airports and Armaguard, a cash-transport business with $3 billion revenue in 2009.

When being asked why he's been so successful, Fox said: "It's a people business. Personal relationships are always the key to good business. You can buy networking, you can't buy friendships."

How truck drivers drift

We bet you've seen Rally Car drivers drift many times as that's what they do for a living.

But a truck driver? Let's check this out.

Enjoy and have a great weekend!

Shiply win £40,000 in Shell Springboard Competition

Shiply were last night delighted to have achieved the runner up spot in this year's Shell Springboard competition. Out of 6 national finalists and hundreds of entrants, Shiply came in second to HiMag Solutions who innovated a planar transformer which could dramatically increase energy efficiency in electrical devices across the world.

The Shell Springboard programme has awarded over £1.6 million to 43 UK-based small businesses and this year celebrates its fifth anniversary. Eight companies have been given no-strings awards of £40,000 each at regional events in February. HiMag Solutions impressed the UK final judging panel, and out of the 6 UK finalists came top to gain the further title of Shell Springboard UK winner. The judging panel comprised Tom Delay of the Carbon Trust, Lord Oxburgh, Ben Goldsmith of Wheb Ventures and Dr Douglas Parr, Chief Scientist, Greenpeace.

James Smith, Chairman of Shell UK, said: “Over the last five years, through Shell Springboard we have provided £1.6 million to a broad range of cutting edge low-carbon projects, from turning waste distillery fumes into biodiesel, to recycling dead leaves into fuel. The winners are great examples of low carbon innovation. I wish this year’s winner, HiMag Solutions, and all the finalists every success

New feature - feedback reply

Every story has two sides and this is especially true with feedback left on Shiply. The customer isn't always right and vice verca. So, we now offer the ability for our members to reply to feedback received and for this to be displayed immediately underneath the feedback in question.

If you wish to make use of this new feature, just follow these steps:

1) Log in
2) Navigate to your profile page
3) Click on the reply link to the feedback in question
4) Type out your reply

It's as easy as that, your reply is there for all to see. It cannot be edited, so please be careful with what you write just as per normal feedback. It is always a better idea to take the higher ground and simply state the facts of a transaction than get down and dirty or make personal remarks. After all, this is your public profile and people pay a lot of attention to it, whether that is analysing whether to accept your bid or analysing whether to bid.

We hope you enjoy this new tool

The Great Lego Haul

Lorry drivers carrying known valuable goods in their trucks are most likely to be very alert to the risk that carrying such valuables brings.

However, one unlucky trucker and his HGV fell not victim to robbers who were after high-end consumer electronics or a truckload full of antiques. The unlikely stolen goods in a robbery in Northamptonshire last week were ...

Lego bricks!

As a child most of us probably wondered what we would do with a truckload full of Lego. Maybe something like this?

Don't trust the Sat-Nav!

Sat-Navs can provide a welcome help for any lorry driver navigating through unknown territory. However, it pays not to trust the friendly Sat-Nav voice too much as the following pictures show:

Two HGV drivers followed the recommendations of their navigation system and consequently found themselves stuck in narrow roads, unable to maneuver. These two incidents happened in Cumbria and Falmouth, funnily enough on the same day. It even is the second incident at the same place in Cumbria within two weeks.

Wedding Surprise for HGV Driver

When newly-wed HGV driver Andy Seller was waiting for his bride Jenny to arrive at their wedding reception in York, he probably was expecting a white stretch limousine or horse-drawn carriage.

Instead, much to the surprise of Andy and passers-by, Jenny arrived in a Scania Lorry - decorated with Siberian tigers!

Still, quite a fitting entrance: Andy proposed to Jenny inside his own lorry last year and Jenny currently aims at becoming a lorry driver herself.

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.

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!

M20 turned to a giant lorry park due to heavy snow

The heavy snow over the last few days has created huge delays for lorry drivers trying to leave the UK.

Lorries, trucks and HGVs wanting to cross the English Channel from the Port of Dover were asked to park on the coast bound carriageway due to the bad weather. This has turned the M20 into a giant lorry park.

Heavy snow has caused substantial delays on the M20

Andy Pearson shared his thoughts: "What a way to start the Christmas week - I have to go all the way to Hungary and I thought I would be back to my family in Rochdale for Christmas. Now it doesn't look as though I'll leave England by then."

In early hours of Monday the M20 was re-opened after the backlog of traffic was cleared. Ferry services from Dover also resumed but were still subject to delays.

We hope that not so many couriers & haulage companies on Shiply were affected by this but if you were, please share your stories, we believe everybody is interested to know.

Let the trucks light up your Christmas

For a long time, The Victoria Annual Lighted Truck Parade has been amongst the most famous truck parades in the world.

This year, the Parade was hosted on 5/12/2009 in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.

Below is the video footage of this year's parade. Hope you will enjoy it and MERRY CHRISTMAS!

100 times around the world and still rolling

Alton Edwards, former haulage driver, probably holds the world record (if there is any) for the distance he has logged up during the years working as a trucker.

Now 76 years old, Alton has driven about 2.5 million miles on the road. That's about 100 times around the world!

Alton Edwards has logged up more than 2.5 million miles on the road.

Furthermore, as sometimes he held two or three jobs, if we calculate his jobs separately, Alton has worked for more than 105 years.

Not only was Alton famous for his time and distance spent on the road, he was also known for being a safe driver and always keeping extra-clean trucks.

Although Alton has retired from several jobs, he still works as a fire and rescue consultant for the 911 Oversight Committee appointed by the Columbus County Commissioners.

We believe Alton's wheels will be rolling for a long time to come...

Sorry You Were Out... (well maybe)

Probably all of us are familiar with the "Sorry You Were Out" cards from Royal Mail. However, recent research conducted by Consumer Focus, the official postal watchdog has revealed that 55% of Royal Mail customers believe they have been misled by their postmen who left the "Sorry you were out" cards when they were actually at home.

Royal Mail famous "Sorry You Were Out" card

To make the matter worse, the research also found out that some postmen, in order to cut down the time to finish their rounds, were leaving parcels at their sorting office and taking out "Sorry, you were out cards" instead.

Heena Kankali, a student in Aston University, had to travel across Birmingham to the city's Newtown depot to pickup a crucial textbook after it was not delivered to her home.

Heena said:"The postmen don't even have the parcels with them. They just come to our halls and post the 'Sorry' slips through our letter boxes.'

Consumer Focus suggested that Royal Mail and other courier companies should make it easier for people to collect their parcels. This could include extending the delivery offices' opening hours or setting up banks of secure lockers, a successful system used in Germany.

Despite various complaints as well as the postal strike, the watchdog's research found that three quarters customers felt they had received a good delivery service from Royal Mail.

When truck drivers go the wrong way..

This might be how they make an U-turn!

Enjoy and have a great weekend!

Sainsbury's buys electric delivery vans

As a part of its eco logistics plan to reduce their carbon footprint, Sainsbury's have purchased 50 Smith Electric 3.5 tonne vans to operate from stores in London.

This decision follows the two year trial of 20 electric vehicles using either zebra or lithium-ion battery technology. In terms of long term cost, such electric vehicles will have lower cost than equivalent vans running on diesel.

Sainsbury's "Little green van" electric vehicles

Simon Bond, Sainsbury's delivery operation managers said: "Once you calculate the factors such as the congestion charge, lower fuel costs and maintenance costs the higher purchase cost is absorbed."

All these new eco friendly transport vans have a restricted speed of 40 mph and the drivers must be trained carefully before operating these vehicles as they are quite different from regular vans.

After the initial introductions of these vehicles, Sainsbury's is expecting to roll out more electric vehicles in other major UK cities in the near future.

Upon reading this news, we were wondering whether there are many courier companies who also are using electric vehicles in their fleet on Shiply. If you do, please share your story and experiences below, we believe everybody is interested to know.

Will your Christmas shopping arrive safely?

In recent years there has been an increase in the number of consumers shopping for their Christmas gifts online. Whilst it is convenient and cheap, there is the important question: will your Christmas shopping arrive safely?

As Christmas is the busiest time of the year of courier companies, you can expect Royal Mail, DHL, TNT and other courier firms to be full of Christmas items.

Christmas is the busiest time of the year for couriers

Kate Clipstone, a council payroll assistant from Rhayader, Mid Wales, bought a £50 hamper from Marks and Spencer's online store for her mother. When receiving the package, she found that it was left under her garden hedge and completely ruined. After several phone calls to Home Delivery Network, the courier company which delivered her package, Kate got nowhere and received no compensation.

Kate shared what she had to do: "I couldn't afford to waste £50 so I dried out the hamper and scrubbed off the mud, then unpacked the contents and repacked everything, replacing the damaged items. I was very unhappy giving it to my mum."

Recent research showed that 7 per cent of people ordering online are unhappy with the delivery service. And at this time of the year, the problem seems to deepen with millions of items ordered online on a daily basis.

Probably this is the time when people need to really consider switching to local couriers for their online shopping. Remember with Shiply, all transport providers are feedback rated regardless of the time of the year!

Play with Volvo strongest truck

To celebrate the announcement of its most powerful truck FH-16 700, Volvo has released this game so you can have a go with it whilst waiting for the real truck to be produced.

So far the best score at Shiply office was 172635 but we believe you can do much better than that. If you can beat 220536 (current record) then you're the best player in the world!

Enjoy and have a great weekend!

Truck drivers should not follow sat-nav's alone

The Freight Transport Association (FTA) has advised truckers to not just rely on satellite navigation instructions whilst driving on the road, but also pay extra attention to road signs.

The FTA believes that haulage firms should also use sat-nav units purposely designed for commercial vehicles as they have better capability in directing trucks on the road. These units, such as the TomTom GO 7000, enable truckers to avoid narrow roads, low bridges and unsuitable routes.

TomTom 7000 GO helps trucker avoid narrow roads and low bridges

No matter how good the technology is, it is always the responsibility of the driver to ensure his truck is driven safely on the road, as insisted by James Firth, road policy manager at the FTA: "However impressive the technology, there can be no substitute for common sense."

West Berkshire courier contributes to local rapid response team

West Berkshire's rapid response team has received a gift - a brand new Volkswagen car from a local courier company - Swift Couriers.

This will now enable paramedic Paul Michell to respond to emergencies across the district.

Mr. Michell said: "People know if they dial 999 I can go out if the ambulance isn't close enough, and they also know if they live in our community they can knock on my door, so this is really important to me."

West Berkshire's rapid response team with their latest vehicle

Adrian Smith, managing director of the Swift group said that the company had got involved to do something special in its 20th anniversary. "It's such a worthy cause," said Adrian.

Superlorry taken to the road to challenge size limits

Today the superlorry, which is 24ft longer than a bendy bus and weighs merely 60 tone, has been taken to the road for the first time, despite Government warning.

Dick Denby, 74, owner of Lincoln-based haulage company Denby Transport, will risk his license and potentially his liberty by exploiting a legal loophole which he claims allows the super heavy, double-articulated truck to be used on Britain's roads.

Dick Denby's 83 ft superlorry

Mr. Denby also claims that 83 ft superlorries are much more fuel efficient than conventional 54 ft, 44 tonne trucks and they can reduce carbon emissions by 16%.

This is backed by a Deparment of Transport study which confirmed that superlorries could reduce carbon dioxide emissions from road haulage as well as reduce the costs of transporting goods.

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 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?!

Shiply founder appears on BBC Working Lunch

After being crowned UK Young Entrepreneur of the year, our founder Robert Matthams was invited as guest of the day on BBC's Working Lunch.

We thought you might be interested in seeing Robert in his first TV appearance so the video is below. Hope you will enjoy it!

Shiply founder crowned Shell LiveWIRE Young Entrepreneur of the Year

Robert Matthams, founder of Shiply.com last night received the annual Shell LiveWIRE Young Entrepreneur of the Year award.

Shell Chairman James Smith handing over the award to Robert Matthams

This award offers entrepreneurs aged between 16 and 30 within the first 18 months of trading the opportunity to stand out from the crowd and receive a cash injection of £10,000 for their business. Ahead of 8 very strong finalists, Robert Matthams was selected as young entrepreneur of the year.

‘It has been very tough’, Robert confessed when he announced the news to us here in Shiply HQ. ‘All other finalists were so talented with brilliant business ideas. I really thought that this was going to be tight.’

As always, let us share the good news with you, our valued members and thank you all very much as without you, we would never have achieved this.

Firefighter turned postie to challenge Royal Mail

While Britain is facing the postal strikes, one man is doing his best to get the mail through on time.

Ken Holder, 39, spends 12 hours a day cycling about 80km (50 miles) through Plymouth delivering up to 300 letters. Mr. Holder, as the only full time employee of City Cycle Couriers, which he set up after leaving his job in the Fire Service, has to collect, sort and deliver every letter himself.

Ken Holder and his postal bike

He bough the license from Postcomm for £50 in March and as far as he knows, he is the only one-man business to do so. Mr Holder charges 32p for next day delivery service (7p less than Royal Mail first class stamp). So far he has got 15 regular local business customers and since the postal strike was announced, the inquiries have rocketed.

Mr. Holder said: ''Inquiries have certainly grown in recent weeks as more and more companies were becoming concerned. I have had a few smaller businesses start using us in the last week and I'm hoping that we will be able to pick up a few more larger businesses on the back of this.''

When being suggested to buy a van, he resisted: ''A large part of the attraction for customers is that it is just me and my bike and is as environmentally friendly as possible.''

Searches for alternative couriers to Royal Mail dramatically increase

As the latest talks between Royal Mail's management and the Communication Workers Union to stop the nationwide 24 hour strike planned for Thursday and Friday did not produce any positive resolution, the fear of a real national strike has been widely spread throughout the United Kingdom.

This is most clearly shown by the fact that there have been more and more people searching for alternative couriers as a backup should Royal Mail fail/delay post. The UK's number one search engine, Google, has seen a staggering increase of 46% in the number of searches for the phrase ''courier'' over the past 4 weeks.

The funniest signs on the road

Some of you may not seen have any of these before (like us), some might have seen one or two but the point is they are utterly funny so have a good laugh!