Browse our FAQ’s
Yes as a 4PL with access to multiple asset pools in multiple locations we are uniquely placed to circumvent transport shortages arising from the well-publicised driver shortage which unfortunately is set to deteriorate further.
True available backhaul at marginal or minimal rates where the original delivery is funding the round trip, is becoming rarer and rarer as customers are no longer prepared to fund this level of inefficiency in their supply chains. However, we pride ourselves in wherever possible matching this marginally costed resource with our customer’s activity and passing back this efficiency within our rate structures.
Yes, in almost all cases by working with our large pool of partners and matching complementary activity with other X2 customers, we can match requirements with available resources and provide a cost effective solution based on one way rates.
A transport control tower is the coordination point which, through expert management and integrated systems, controls the inbound flow of customer orders, the optimising and scheduling of those orders, the identification and allocation of the most cost effective assets and resources to make the final delivery, the management of the execution, event management, issue resolution, post-delivery processes and the closure of the cash to cash cycle.
Where an organisation commits to providing an all-encompassing transport solution for a client by managing the physical resources of partner organisations to provide an optimal solution not constrained by the contracted parties own assets.
Transport management and co-ordination by an organisation that does not supply asset based logistical services. Rather it is an “integrator that assembles the resources, capabilities, and technology of its own organisation and other organisations to design, optimise and execute transport solutions for its customers”.
We can indeed. We provide a service to assess your current footprint using our carbon calculator and then employ our transport consultancy services to identify more efficient ways of servicing your customers. This could include moving away from a dedicated two-way solution, to a one-way or a shared user solution where you dilute your carbon footprint by working with other organisations through X2.
Yes we can. We can provide a national service for all your transport requirements from full loads, to part loads to pallets and even parcels if required. We cover the whole of the UK and Ireland and can also provide full load and part load services to and from mainland Europe.
X2 have long standing relationships with 100’s of transport companies who operate in every part of the UK. We match our customers’ specific requirements with the most efficient, available resource which allows us to be extremely cost effective and as we have customers and service providers all over the country we are also matching both outbound and inbound loads maximising loaded running which we can discount back to our customers with very competitive rates.
The vast majority of X2 partners are local, privately owned transport companies. They provide a superb and committed service for us but by their very nature cannot usually cover all the requirements for a customer across the UK. If they are locally based in the same area as you, they will be looking for prime transport rates out of their own area and then look for return loads at more marginal rates. This means in most cases a transport company which is local to you will be more expensive than sourcing multiple hauliers from the areas your customers are based in, who will be looking for return loads. X2 can provide this service for you, on a one stop shop basis.
In this scenario you have multiple points of contact to place your orders with, to agree rates, to arrange collections, to progress chase deliveries, to resolve issues, to chase POD’s and pallets and then to deal with multiple invoices. Why not have one organisation who has the resource availability to enable it to commit to covering all your volume to all your customer’s destinations at an agreed price? Wouldn’t life be a lot simpler?
X2 could build cost effective “milk runs” but on a one way basis and utilise our pallet network for any outlying stores. This would allow more frequent deliveries than could be achieved on a dedicated fleet, which in turn would free up storage space for productive retail space and potentially improve on-shelf availability.
An own fleet solution may be absolutely the right choice, certainly for an element of a customer’s transport solution, or if the geography covered is quite restricted and the assets can be intensively utilised. However with the own fleet solution comes overhead to manage the operational, financial and legal aspects and if national coverage is required servicing many parts of the UK on a dedicated own fleet will result in vehicles running back empty from a significant number of delivery areas. Subcontracting these deliveries on a one way basis would be not only more cost effective, but also better for the environment.
If you deliver your products nationwide any large provider will still subcontract a significant amount of the volume outside their business, in particular to the areas that are not cost effective for them to service or where the consignment size is uneconomic. Often if investing in assets they will seek an underwrite from their customers, which will in turn appear on your balance sheet. They will also have a significant business overhead which will need to be funded through their rates to customers. There will undoubtedly be many management levels before the decision maker is reached, which leads to unnecessary bureaucracy and protracted decision making. They will often only operate under a longer term contract where their performance would have to be very poor for a customer to be able to switch providers without incurring significant penalties. X2 pride themselves on being a lean, low overhead organisation, with flexible commercial arrangements with our customers.
We are completely independent of any external agreements or affiliations.
No, we are an entirely independent organisation so we are free to work with organisations which are the best match to our customer’s requirements.
The management team have vast experience working for a range of organisations in almost every sector in the UK and on average have over 20 years’ experience each in transport operations, gained in organisations such as Exel, DHL, UPS, Salvesen, TDG, Wincanton and Gist. Sector knowledge includes pallet networks, general haulage, newspapers & magazines, chill & frozen, fashion retailing, grocery retailing, Pub on-trade deliveries, electronics, building products, automotive, parcels and FMCG.
X2 is owned entirely by its management team.
X2 was originally formed by a number of regional transport companies who were associated through the Palletways network.
The business was formed in May 2003.
Delivery confirmation and POD’s will be managed to customer’s specific requirements. This can range from verbal confirmation at the time of delivery with scanned POD within 24 or 48 hours to X2 holding the original POD’s on behalf of the customer and providing copies or originals by exception only.
Yes we will as part of a pooling agreement i.e. CHEP, IPP and LPR.
X2 works on an extremely empowered basis as the team is integral to the success of the X2 business so are in a position to make most decisions without reference to senior management. If a customer feels the need to escalate an issue there is only one layer of management above our operators and that is directly to the owners of the business.
This is extremely rare but as the contracted party this would be with X2 and their insurers. X2 would then counter claim against the service provider but this would not affect the process for our customer.
Direct with X2’s management team.
X2 have their own Goods in Transit insurance, along with Public Liability and employer’s liability. We carry goods under standard RHA conditions of carriage and can adjust the level of cover depending on customer requirements. We then insist on back to back insurances with all our transport partners.
Yes we do on all consignments.
The majority of our transport partners have been working with X2 for a number of years. We tend to work with small to medium sized transport businesses that are both professional & committed. We have a detailed selection and qualification criteria and a standard SLA for all our operations. Where a customer has a specific service requirement then all our partners involved in that piece of business sign up to the same agreements that X2 have with their customer.
We operate Manpac3 from Mandata, the leading transport management system and a track and trace system for our pallet network activity, along with a range of business support systems. Facilities include web order entry, electronic transfer of data, enquiries over the internet and scanned POD’s available via the web.
Yes we do in both cases; hauliers who work for us regularly give us some of their customers’ work to arrange on their behalf and a number of our customers provide their core fleet out of hours for X2 to use on night trunking or customer deliveries when they are not being used.
We operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 52 weeks of the year.
Our partner locations are literally in every postcode in the UK and Ireland.
We are based in the centre of the country near Magna Park In Leicestershire close to the M1, M6 and M69 motorways.
Yes we can, either by having regular partners doing regular volumes into specific areas who can mix and match a trailer pool, or by introducing an X2 trailer pool.
Yes we can, to operate at chilled +2 to +8, or frozen at -25 and we can also provide rigids.
Yes we can, both rigid and Artics.
Yes we can.
Yes we can, with or without moffat or hiab capability.
Yes we can, with or without tail lifts.
Yes we can, with tail lifts if required, with barn doors or shutter doors.
Yes we can.
Yes we can, from 3.5cwt vans to long wheelbase sprinters and Luton vans.
Yes we can, with both boxes and curtainsiders, with tail lifts if required.
Yes we can, including 10 ton, 18 ton and 26 ton equipment, boxes and curtainsiders with tail lifts if required.
Yes we can, from lightweight 44 ton equipment down to 32 ton 4×2 tractor units.
Yes we do, where there is a particular need such as specialised equipment i.e. double deck trailers or high cube equipment, or where there is a stand trailer requirement.
We have literally 100’s of partners located all over the UK and Ireland covering every postcode.
Yes we do, operating across and between bank holidays and weekends both days and nights.
Yes we do, both deliveries and collections across weekends, days and nights as well as over bank holidays.
Yes we do, deliveries and collections days, nights, weekends and bank holidays.
This very much depends on the requirement, how large or how complicated, but much of our activity requires us covering work presented to us on the same day as it is required. In the past we have responded to quite large opportunities of up to 30 vehicles across three sites, with the request coming in at 16:30 on the Friday with everything in place and operating from 02:00 on the Monday morning.
We operate 24/7 so you will always be able to talk to one of the X2 management team.
We work with a whole range of lead times from same day emergency courier movements to day one day one and day one day two deliveries into the retail and wholesale markets, as well as more traditional day one day three movements.
Yes we can, including pallets, stillage’s, crates, cages, pallet boxes etc.
Yes we can, we have existing relationships with a number of parcel carriers.
Yes we are. At sites all over the country
Yes we can, whether it’s re-palletisation, restacking, conversion into Euro pallets or from Euro pallets onto standard UK pallets, or more complex reworking.
Yes we can, with multiple partners and strong relationships with both 3PL’s and customers, we have an unrivalled access to cross dock locations and storage facilities in every postcode across the UK.
Yes we do, with multiple partners and strong relationships with both 3PL’s and customers we have an unrivalled access to storage and cross dock locations in every postcode across the UK.
Yes we do. We endeavour to take a consultative approach when looking at any opportunity so we can put forward the optimum solution unconstrained by any single asset base, unlike other providers. The difference with our consultative approach is that given the opportunity, we can actually deliver the savings we identify.
Yes we can, to anywhere in the world.
Yes, we can collect both full loads and pallet volumes right across Western Europe to bring back into the UK.
Yes we can, curtainsiders and boxes.
Yes, we can deliver small pallet consignments from the UK to mainland Europe and likewise collect consignments from mainland Europe to bring back into the UK.
There are no parts of either the UK mainland or offshore islands that we cannot service
Yes, if the products can be palletised we can provide a home delivery solution anywhere in the UK and Ireland.
Yes, we manage a number of trunking operations on behalf of retailers, manufacturers and 3rd party suppliers.
Yes, we have extensive experience in delivering loose, palletised and caged loads to retail outlets both high street and out of town, in sectors as diverse as fashion and DIY.
Yes, from a sprinter van down to document movements by motorcycle.
Yes we deliver to all the main food and non-food DC’s in the UK and are used to working within their booking in constraints.
We can cover from ¼ of a pallet upwards, both UK and Europe
Yes we do, both UK and Europe, utilising a whole range of equipment types.
Yes we do, both UK and Europe, utilising a whole range of equipment types.
We can act as a support to your core fleet or to your main contractor, or we can be one of a number of your transport providers.
Yes we are happy to do this. On many occasions X2 has undertaken large scale stock movements due to warehouse and business relocations, one off promotional activity and new product launches.
Absolutely, we would be delighted to undertake all the deliveries your core fleet does not cover including remote areas and peaks in volume activity.
Yes, we can support and compliment either your main contractor or your own fleet in servicing areas which are uneconomic for you to deliver to. We can do this on a fully committed basis i.e. where we commit to cover all the volume into a particular area at an agreed rate, or we can supply services on an ad hoc basis.
Yes we can, either at the time of delivery or a subsequent collection. Another X2 value add is where a delivery is refused for whatever reason and is a long way from your site, we have the option of holding the stock at one of our local depots until the issue is resolved and the product rebooked for delivery, saving the return cost as well as reducing the redelivery charge.
Yes we can, scheduling both collection and redelivery where required.
Yes we can, as full loads or by individual pallet.
Yes we can, as pallets, loose product or even containers
Yes we can, from UK or European suppliers, full loads or pallets, from DC’s or port of entry.
Yes we can, to a DC a retail outlet or direct to the consumer.
Yes we can, from the smallest consignment to full loads, UK and European, finished goods, WIP, inbound and reverse logistics.
We provide services to well-known grocery retailers, non-food high street retailers, third party logistics companies, FMCG suppliers, building products companies, drinks manufacturers, automotive and industrial manufacturers.
Yes we would, as part of a wider commercial arrangement
We can operate under all the following pricing models, Load rates, pallet rates, day rates, mileage rates, cubic fill rates and case rates.
Yes we would be happy to enter into an agreement where we are further motivated to maximise the savings to our customers by sharing in the benefits we identify and deliver.
Yes we do, but these are quite rare as customers usually want a fixed price rather than a variable open book rate.
Yes we do, our relationships are predominantly based on closed book load rates or pallet rates. We also operate some on mileage rates or vehicle day rates.
Yes we do, tailored to clients specific needs.
Yes we do, this is based on standard RHA conditions of carriage. With goods in transit rates modified to suit individual client’s needs, up to £10,000 a ton.
We try to make things as simple and straightforward for our customers as possible. We are of course delighted to enter into a formal contract with clients, either for a fixed or rolling term, but are equally at home with a simple agreement to trade.
All types, including Artics with curtainsiders and boxes, rigids, vans and even some specialist equipment.
We have significant growth plans in both the UK and into Europe.
Yes we can. Many of our relationships with our haulier partners are reciprocal.
In the first instance please contact the team to discuss on [email protected] we will then complete a questionnaire with you and request references and copies of certain documents such as O-licence and insurances.
A whole range of regular and ad hoc movements, full load, part load, pallets and courier work.
The management team.
We are fully independent owned 100% by the management team, with Banking facilities with Barclays and ABN Amro.
We pay our suppliers better than industry average.
A range of well known blue chip businesses including retailers, manufacturers and third party logistics companies.
Since May 2003.