APC Overnight's new hub to be fully operational within weeks

APC Overnight expects to have its new £15m Cannock facility up to full operational effectiveness within the month.

Cannock will replace the company’s existing facility in Essington, Staffordshire, and at present about 35% of the network’s business volumes have been shifted across to the new facility.

Sid Ziaullah, chief executive of APC Overnight, told Motortransport.co.uk: “The new conveyor system that’s been put in place is working well, and we hope to get it fully signed off within the next three to four weeks.

“We are in the luxurious position of being able to wait until it’s all running as well as possible before making the move as we are not time-bound,” he added.

Both Essington and Cannock are freeholds, and Ziaullah confirmed a decision on the future use of the former was yet to be finalised.

APC Overnight recently added four longer semi-trailers to its fleet, and Ziaullah admitted disappointment that the business had not been allowed to run more as part of the DfT trial, having requested 30 at 15.65m length but received an allocation for four.

“We tend to run out of volume in our trailer rather than [come up against] the weight limit,” he said.

“We’ve found no negatives running the longer semi-trailers we’ve been granted on our trunking route and would have loved to have had more.”