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The Concept
PalletXpress is a new development in Irish road freight distribution, focusing on the movement of small consignments of palletised freight. By creating a “hub and spoke” operation, selected members (positioned throughout the country) trunk locally-collected freight to the central hub in Mullingar each night, where it is sorted into pre-defined areas and given to other members for delivery in their locality. Through this system PalletXpress can guarantee a next-day, nationwide service to all customers, while members can substantially reduce their operating costs and benefit from greater efficiencies. Furthermore, as the hub operation takes place at night-time, customers can avail of even higher levels of service (e.g. later cut-off collection times, earlier deliveries, etc.)

A Time For Change
PalletXpress has come about because of the following problems encountered by the transport industry on a daily basis:

Rising costs – spiralling fuel prices, escalating insurance premiums, etc.
Unlicensed hauliers are reducing market prices and putting further financial pressure on legitimate haulage companies
Traffic congestion increasing journey times, making distribution more difficult and creating environmental problems

The PalletXpress hub has been established in Mullingar, taking traffic away from Dublin, the traditional focal point for most freight traffic. PalletXpress members run their trailers at off-peak hours, thus reducing the number of trucks on the most congested routes in the country. Instead of clashing with other traffic at peak periods, the PalletXpress scenario requires that trucks will operate to and from the central hub in Mullingar between the hours of 20:00 p.m. and 04:00 a.m. Smaller rigid trucks are used to carry out local deliveries during the day, further reducing congestion at peak times. The positive environmental impact is yet another benefit of this system.