M6toll reliability helps reel in APC Overnight’s deliveries

APC Overnight was formed in 1994 when a group of delivery companies joined forces, committed to providing excellent service in the UK overnight delivery market. With more than 100 locations, it’s now the UK’s largest independently owned delivery network, providing an exclusive delivery service to the UK SME Community.

Surjit Ram, APC Overnight’s Head of Transport, discusses how the M6toll helps meet the time critical demands of their customers including specialist live fish and live coral deliveries that must go swimmingly at all costs.

As an overnight delivery service, timely delivery is important for APC Overnight. However, for its specialist live fish and coral delivery service APC Overnight provides, any delay or disruption can end up landing the delivery in deep water.

Surjit said: “We are one of the few parcel delivery services with authorization to safely transport live fish. As well as the measures we have in place to safeguard the fish’s welfare whilst in our care, we also need to ensure that processes are in place to reduce any delays or disruption to its journey.

“The M6toll provides us with that time critical route and in a wider sense plays a similarly vital role in how we distribute across our network.”

“We can often save 30 or 40 minutes per journey using the M6toll and that’s important for both the time sensitive items we carry and more generally across the whole business.”

As well as providing a quick and efficient route through the Midlands, the M6toll also offers proven reliability essential to APC Overnight’s business model.

Surjit said: “We are constantly looking to save time within our business, whether it’s time saved in the delivery process, the sorting process or in the overall supply chain.

“As a society, there is a demand now to do everything without delay and the last eighteen months has accelerated that even more. We experience it from our customers, and they experience in turn from their customers.

“If we don’t meet expectations, then we aren’t able to honour our commitment to our customer base who as small to medium sized businesses can’t afford that to happen. The M6toll’s reliability gives us a comfort factor, in that it provides us with the comfort of knowing we can keep our promises to our customers.

“It’s part of our efficiency model using the M6toll, it’s sewn into the fabric of what we do and is embedded into our business solutions.”

Another key benefit to using the M6toll comes from the positive experience it provides to APC Overnight’s driver team.

Surjit said: “Our drivers prefer the M6toll to other routes because of the pleasurable driving experience it offers. It’s reliable, it’s hassle free and saves vital time on their journey.

“With the time saving, they can get back to the depot, have a well-earned rest and go out that bit more refreshed for their next journey. It’s great for driver welfare and the fact that our drivers feel well rested and more relaxed is hugely beneficial to us as a business.”

As well as being an aid to driver welfare, the M6toll has also proven a reliable rescue route for APC Overnight when facing an operational crisis.

Surjit said: “We had an incident recently when one of our trailers experienced a technical. The trailer was full of medical supplies and time sensitive goods, and we had an hour and a half to meet our delivery target.

“We sent another vehicle down the M6toll road to pick up the load but without that quick, reliable option, we would not have made the delivery deadlines. It’s the reliability of the M6toll that makes it so cost effective to use. The costs of using it are hugely offset by its ability to come to the rescue when we experience a disruption like this to our operations. It’s when we see the real value in using the M6toll road”

With the surge in deliveries accelerated by the pandemic, the M6toll has never been so vital to APC Overnight’s operations and its SME customer base.

Surjit said: “We are the only parcel carrier so close to the UK SME business community and with 35,000 customers and still growing, it’s vital we are able to provide the best service possible.

“When we moved to our new depot in Cannock, the feasibility study we carried out beforehand was driven by its proximity to the M6toll. The M6toll remains as important to our business operations now as it did then and will continue to do so moving forward.”