Arrow Blog

Transporting your rowing boat

Rowing boats are quite easy to transport via the roof rack of your car.

You have to have help lifting it onto the roof rack, and provide support down the sides, but generally you can move the rowing boats with ease, without a trailer.

We can also move these in the back of our luton vans. This service is ideal for those who want their boats without the hassle.

If the boat is fiberglass, make sure it’s going to sit upside on a padded surface, and has a strap or two to hold in place. Be careful not to over tighten or you can crack the hull.

We can deliver to your local marina, mooring or house, what ever option is easiest for you.

If you have a rowing boat or similar to move, give us a call and we will happily advise you of the options available.

Regards

Kevin

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E-Juba, a new type of courier service

E-Juba is an electronic pigeon that is being trialed to courier medical samples to labs from remote locations in South Africa.

Clinics in remote areas of South Africa can only be reached on unpaved roads that are impassable in rain. Even in good weather, the trip to the nearest lab is a long one for the couriers, taxis, or ambulances transporting samples, producing long delays in diagnosing and treating diseases like tuberculosis.

“The implications of these delays are huge for the individual and for the community,” says project leader Barry Mendelow of the South African National Health Laboratory Service. “The patient is waiting for treatment, and in the meantime they could be passing on a very contagious disease.”

Electric pigeon

Inspired by carrier pigeons, the UAVs (uncrewed aerial vehicles) are designed to be launched from clinics and pilot themselves along a pre-programmed route to the nearest lab, using GPS and microelectronic gyroscopes to guide them.

They drop their cargo at a predetermined spot, or on directions from the ground, and return along their flight path. The UAV can land automatically, or under remote control by staff.

The pilot project has successfully test-flown two different UAVs originally designed for military surveillance. Both could launch, fly and drop dummy samples in wind speeds of up to 45 kilometres per hour.

The results come back by SMS text messages.

I wonder if similar applications could be used in the UK to deliver samples from remote areas of Scotland or Wales.

Sarah

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Kerbside to Kerbside delivery- what does it mean?

Often when you book a courier you are told it’s a ‘Kerbside to Kerbside’ service. What does that actually mean?

It’s a term most commonly heard when delivering furniture or large items that require a two person team.

As a customer it means your goods are not delivered to your doorstep, but onto the kerbside. The driver is under no obligation to help you move it through the garden gates or even through your doorway. This can leave you feeling pretty miffed off at the delivery company and the company where you bought your sofa, Aga or fridge freezer.

At Arrow Light Haulage, the Essex based courier company, our drivers will help you decide where you want your products delivered to. We also deliver at a time convenient to you, even if thats after 6pm or at weekends, we don’t mind – we know what it’s like, taking a day off of work. Waiting, waiting and when you ring up you are told it’s either AM delivery or PM delivery, and you are left wondering whether you have time to pop up the shop for a pint of milk…

We phone all customers the day of delivery and give them an estimated time of arrival. The driver will them call or text your mobile an hour before the delivery is due, so that you can get home (if you work nearby) or pop out for that pint of milk.

Our drivers are not insured to enter your house when making a delivery, but if you are happy for them to assist you, then they will help. They would not dream of leaving your new sofa on the kerbside, unless you wanted them to.

When you buy a large item, whether it has ‘free’ delivery or is charged, be sure to ask where it will be delivered to, and whether the driver will assist you. If the answer is no, then give us a call or drop us an email, and we will be happy to collect and deliver on your behalf.

Email for a parcel / distribution quote by clicking here

Regards,
Kevin

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Kerbside to Kerbside delivery- what does it mean?

Often when you book a courier you are told it’s a ‘Kerbside to Kerbside’ service. What does that actually mean?

It’s a term most commonly heard when delivering furniture or large items that require a two person team.

As a customer it means your goods are not delivered to your doorstep, but onto the kerbside. The driver is under no obligation to help you move it through the garden gates or even through your doorway. This can leave you feeling pretty miffed off at the delivery company and the company where you bought your sofa, Aga or fridge freezer.

At Arrow Light Haulage, the Essex based courier company, our drivers will help you decide where you want your products delivered to. We also deliver at a time convenient to you, even if thats after 6pm or at weekends, we don’t mind – we know what it’s like, taking a day off of work. Waiting, waiting and when you ring up you are told it’s either AM delivery or PM delivery, and you are left wondering whether you have time to pop up the shop for a pint of milk…

We phone all customers the day of delivery and give them an estimated time of arrival. The driver will them call or text your mobile an hour before the delivery is due, so that you can get home (if you work nearby) or pop out for that pint of milk.

Our drivers are not insured to enter your house when making a delivery, but if you are happy for them to assist you, then they will help. They would not dream of leaving your new sofa on the kerbside, unless you wanted them to.

When you buy a large item, whether it has ‘free’ delivery or is charged, be sure to ask where it will be delivered to, and whether the driver will assist you. If the answer is no, then give us a call or drop us an email, and we will be happy to collect and deliver on your behalf.

Email for a parcel / distribution quote by clicking here

Regards

Kevin

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Delivering satisfaction, from an envelope to an elephant

Delivering everything from an envelope to an elephant is a very powerful marketing phrase and it stays in peoples minds. When discussing website copy with Jeff at Rienne Business Consulting he suggested this line, but only if we had actually delivered an elephant…

Well actually, Arrow Light Haulage has delivered an elephant, not a living one, as couriers are not allowed to carry livestock, but a wire framed one for an artist client of ours.

The call came out of the blue, could we go and collect an elephant? If we hadn’t of known her, we would have thought it was a wind up! Could we collect a wire frame of an elephant?  Of course we could!

The artist was going to plaster to it and make it look lifelike as something that would go in the garden to surprise her family.

We got the dimensions, it was huge, but our since retired Luton could take items up to 17 feet high, at 16 feet the elephant just got in. The Elephant had to be carefully strapped to the sides, so that it didn’t slide and covered in felt blankets to protect it in case the unexpected happened.

200 miles later, it was delivered safe and sound, we had a few tricky moments unloading. It is awkward moving an elephant backwards onto the tail-lift but we will know for sure how to do it next time!

As to envelopes, we are delivering blueprints and documents all the time as part of our confidential delivery services. These services are often used by Essex based law firms, courts, doctors and architects.

Next time you read “we deliver everything from an envelope to an elephant”, don’t forget to ask about the elephant, and don’t forget we really have done it.

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Packing a Chandelier to send by post or a parcel company

Firstly, I wouldn’t send a chandelier by post unless I really had to, with a high value, fragile item I would always opt for a dedicated courier vehicle. These carry higher insurances and have nothing else on the vehicle except for your item, making it less likely to get damaged.

Sometimes, you need to send it via the post or an Essex, Kent, East London parcel company such as Arrow Light Haulage.  So to get it there in one piece, find a box big enough for the chandelier and the packaging.  You will need to remember if the item is over 25kgs it will need to be lifted by 2 people – HSE rules.

Wrap all the loose parts with bubble wrap and tape securely. Place gently onto a polystyrene base and then fill with polystyrene chips or popcorn. Place another polystyrene bad gently on the top of the Chandelier, taking care not to damage the item. before you secure the box, check that the item isn’t ratting around in the box, if it is add more chips and perhaps pad out with scrunched up balls of newspaper.

When the Chandelier is secure, tape the box closed and write on the box in marker pen, the address. Why not a label? because a label may get torn, or damaged and your item may get ‘lost’ in the system.

If you don’t want to pack it yourself, we can do this as part of our premium services. Just give us a call on and we will discuss how we can help you.

Kevin

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Transporting a motorbike?

Well, we don’t do it like this!

2 people are required to load a motorbike safely, but one person can unload it. Firstly the bike is lifted on to our vehicle via a tail lift. The bike is moved so the front wheel faces the rear shutter of the van. Close the shutter (with yourself still inside), apply the front brake, push down hard on the suspension. Your assistant will will strap the bike to the floor hook, wrapping it around the handlebars and then securing it to the other floor hook, making sure its extremely tight.

Release the brake and with another strap, secure the passengers hand grip. This will stabilise the bike ready for transportation. It doesn’t need to be covered as its securely strapped.

To do it any other way risks damage to the indicators and the engine. You will need a transit sized van or above.

If it seems to much hassle, give us a call, we happily transport Motorbikes, Quadbikes and similar items through out the country.

Regards

Kevin

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Same Day Courier Delivery for your Snooker Table

And Same Day Courier Delivery for your Pool table.

As a discerning Snooker or Pool player, you have decided to buy yourself a table to practice on. You cannot wait for the shop to send it (sometimes a 30 day wait!), or you have grabbed a bargain on Ebay, and now you would like the item delivered.

Firstly, the Pool or Snooker table will be wrapped in soft felt furniture blankets and then loaded onto the vehicle via tail-lift. It takes two people to do this, sometimes three. We can supply a two man team or you can help (this is the money saving option ).

The Pool/Snooker table will be laid flat on the bottom of the van. It’s important that your courier does not try and co-load items with this, as items put on top may crack the slate bed. For the same reason, it’s best not to use an economy service courier, because they again co-load items, and this can cause some nasty damage.

At the end destination, we will happily help you unload your table and take away the packaging, if any. We like to recycle the packaging, it helps keep things greener.

If you have any queries or questions we are happy to advise, just give us a call on 0844 884 3331

Kevin

PS – We also deliver Billiards tables 🙂

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When is a XLWB van not the van you want?

Do you know why you want your Extra Long Wheel Based (XLWB) van?

  • Do you want it for the weight?
  • The bulk?
  • The extra .3 of a metre?

Knowing what you want your van for means you can get the correct one for your delivery.

The Iveco is 4.5 metres long but can only carry 1100kgs, the Citreon XLWB is 4.2 metres long (loading length) but carries 1500kgs.

When booking your courier service and ordering your XLWB vehicle explain what you are needing it for and they will book you the correct vehicle. Simple sharing of the vehicles use will see you get the correct one every time.

Sarah

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