Services Pallet & freight
Pallet & freight
Palletised loads and part-loads moved safely across the country by road.
Pallets are where most freight goes wrong, and almost always for the same reasons: the load was not wrapped or secured well enough to survive the journey, or the delivery site could not actually unload it. Both are solved before the vehicle moves rather than at the kerb.
What it covers
The work, named
- Full loads and part-loads
- One pallet or a vehicle full of them. The count and the weight decide the vehicle and the price.
- Loading and unloading planned
- What is at each end matters: a loading bay, a forklift, or neither. It is worth establishing before the vehicle arrives.
- Secured for the journey
- Strapped and stowed so the load travels as one. Most pallet damage happens because something shifted, not because it was dropped.
- Checked on collection
- If a pallet is not fit to travel, you hear it at collection rather than after it has been rejected at the other end.
Start to finish
How it runs
- You send the pallet count and both postcodes Plus rough weights. That is enough to say what vehicle it needs and what it costs.
- Access is established at both ends A loading bay, a forklift, or neither. This is the question that decides whether a job works, and it is far cheaper to answer now.
- Collected and checked If a pallet is not fit to travel you hear it at collection, while something can still be done, rather than after it has been refused at the other end.
- Secured, moved and delivered Strapped and stowed so the load travels as one, because most pallet damage happens because something shifted.
When this is the one
Jobs that call for it
- Stock is moving between sites or to a customer
- A supplier wants goods collected and brought to you
- An order is too big for a parcel network and too small for a full lorry
- Pallets have arrived damaged before
- A delivery site has restricted access or no unloading equipment
Pricing
What moves the price
No price list, because the three things that set the cost change with every job. These are the ones that matter on this service.
- Pallet spaces, not weight alone
- Freight is priced on the floor area a consignment occupies. A light load that takes a full space costs what a full space costs.
- The footprint and the height
- A UK pallet is 1200 by 1000 mm and a Euro pallet is 1200 by 800 mm. Anything overhanging the edge, or built up past the limit for the service, is re-rated.
- Equipment at each end
- A vehicle with a tail lift costs more than one without. Sometimes it is unavoidable, and sometimes the delivery site has a forklift and nobody asked.
- Distance and the return leg
- As on any road freight job, how far the vehicle travels and whether it has work coming back.
Before you ask
What to tell us
An estimate beats a blank. The more of this you can give, the closer the first price is to the final one.
- How many pallets, and whether they are UK or Euro footprint
- The weight of each pallet, even roughly
- The height of each pallet measured from the floor, including the pallet itself
- Whether anything overhangs the edges
- Whether there is a forklift or a loading bay at each end
- Whether the load can be double-stacked, or must not be
Straight answers
When this is not the one
Sending you to the cheaper option costs us one job and earns the next one.
Questions
The things people ask
How do I know what it will cost?
Send the number of pallets, roughly what each one weighs, the dimensions if anything is oversized, and both postcodes. That is enough for a clear price. Guessing at any of those is what produces a quote that changes later.
What if there is no forklift at the delivery address?
Say so when you book, because it changes the vehicle. A tail lift and a pump truck handle most sites without equipment, but only if we know before the vehicle is assigned.
Do you move part-loads?
Yes. A part-load is one of the most common jobs in road freight: too much for a parcel service and not enough to justify a whole lorry.
What is the difference between a part-load and a full load?
A part-load takes some of a vehicle and shares the rest with other work, which is why it costs less. A full load takes the vehicle. The crossover point is usually somewhere around half a trailer, and it is worth asking rather than assuming.
Can you palletise loose goods for me?
Tell us what the goods are and we will tell you plainly whether that is something we can do for this job or whether you are better palletising at your end. We would rather say so than take on packing we are not set up for.
What happens if a pallet is refused at delivery?
You are told immediately, with the reason. Most refusals come down to damage in transit, a load that does not match the paperwork, or a site that could not unload it, and the first and third of those are usually preventable at the quoting stage.
Worth reading first
Guides for this kind of job
- Pallet sizes explained: UK, Euro, half and quarter The standard pallet footprints used in UK road freight, the height and weight limits that actually apply, and how to work out how many pallet spaces your consignment takes.
- How to pack a pallet so it arrives intact Building, wrapping, strapping and labelling a pallet for UK road freight, and the handling realities that decide whether a consignment survives the journey.
- What size van do I need? UK courier vehicle sizes explained Small van to artic: load lengths, payloads and pallet capacity for every vehicle class a UK courier runs, and how to work out which one your consignment actually needs.
Also moved by road
The rest of what we do
- Same-day courier Urgent, time-critical deliveries collected fast and driven straight to the door, with no waiting on a depot.
- Next-day & scheduled Planned next-day and scheduled deliveries, booked in, tracked and confirmed on arrival.
- Dedicated vehicles Your consignment in its own van or lorry, direct, with no other drops on the way.
- Nationwide haulage Long-distance road freight across England, Scotland and Wales, full loads and regular routes.
- Business contracts Regular collection and delivery runs for businesses, on a schedule that suits you.
Not sure which one the job needs? Send the postcodes, the load and the deadline, and we will tell you which it is. Get a quote.