May 2022
Carrying the Load...
As anyone who runs at least one vehicle will know, energy
and transport costs are spiralling. While
we’d like to add ‘at the moment’ here, it currently seems to be an ongoing
issue.
At Palmstead we face the expense of two different types of
transport: ‘transport in’ and ‘transport out’. With both, the costs have risen exponentially
and show no signs of slowing down.
‘Transport in’
covers the supplies of bulk raw materials and consumables involved in the
production of plants, including pots, fertilisers, planting media and
packaging, as well as plants and trees supplied by third parties.
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Ultimately we have little control over these transportation
charges.
‘Transport out’ is
the cost of delivering our plants. This
generally falls into two categories: our own transport fleet, and our
specialist carrier partners - the latter of which we tend to use for deliveries
further afield that will fit into a pallet box.
Aside from the initial outlay of having our trucks built to
our own specification (£79,000 each), the costs to run each of them are as
follows: road fund licence (£300 p.a.), insurance (£3,000 p.a.), mandatory periodic
inspections and servicing (£5,000 p.a.), and eventually we need to replace each
of the six tyres (£1,800).
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Then we have to fill them up with diesel every day. Although our trucks are modern and fuel
efficient, pushing up to 15 tonnes of mass through the air still uses a gallon
of fuel every fourteen miles, at a cost (at the time of writing) of £8.30.
Which means that a delivery to Brighton and back (for
example) will cost more than £106 for fuel alone. If the vehicle enters London’s Congestion
Charge zone, add an extra £20. Once you factor
in the driver’s salary and associated costs, suddenly it all starts looking
rather expensive.
So, if collecting your order from our site is an option, it
may well save us both money…
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