Palletline - Making the Earth Move for Dandy's Topsoil

Significant increases in internet-based business over the past eighteen months prompted Dandy's Topsoil to reassess their delivery requirements in terms of achieving optimum levels of service for direct-to-door end user customers.

Based in Chester, Dandy's Topsoil is Britain's leading supplier of a range of garden landscaping products including topsoil, soil, gravel, aggregates, bark and compost. The intrinsic weight and volume of these products necessitates professional delivery services using vehicles equipped with tail lifts and pump trucks.

Early in 2008, Dandy's Topsoil approached Wrexham-based Edge Transport Ltd to investigate delivery solutions through the Palletline network. "With business through our online shop booming, we needed a reliable, quality distribution service with the flexibility to design a direct to door service tailored to meet our very specific requirements," explained Amanda Arnold for Dandy's Topsoil.

Edge Transport and the Palletline network have been handling the business successfully for Dandy's since May 2008. With some 95% of the business consisting of direct to door end user traffic, very specific operating procedures have been established to ensure optimum levels of customer satisfaction.

Each Dandy's job is handled individually by Edge Transport. The Edge team makes contact with every single customer to check delivery conditions and verify timings in order to avoid expensive errors. Access for deliveries is always a particular issue, as ground conditions and available space will influence the delivery option. "Failed deliveries cost money and, more importantly for Dandy's, impact on end user satisfaction with the service," confirmed Amanda.

Dandy's Topsoil actively encourages customer feedback via repeat order discounts. Since introducing Palletline to the equation, the company has received some very positive comments on delivery quality,

"What's more, Edge Transport and Palletline have proved their ability to respond with energy and enthusiasm to sudden fluctuations in volumes," said Amanda. "Early this year, when the weather deteriorated suddenly and demand for de-icing salts rose dramatically, our daily pallet output rose by a factor of ten! The Palletline network coped with the sudden increase without issues and kept all our delivery promises."

Moving forward, the companies are working together to develop transit packaging to further enhance service and delivery potential.