London 2012: retailers man-up for Olympic deliveries

London retailers appear to have crewed-up to ensure delivery continuity during the Olympic and Paralympic period.

Most of the major retailers and brewery groups are running night-time deliveries too during London 2012 in a bid to mitigate Olympic Route Network (ORN) restrictions.

Pallet networks, including Pallet-Track and Palletline, have made sure their haulier members have contingency plans in place too, with additional vehicles and manpower in place to address any pinch points.

TRG Logistics, which supplies agency drivers, provides a hire fleet service and also vehicle rental, says demand from retailers went through the roof last weekend as the Games commenced.

Nick Gordon, chief executive of TRG, says: “Demand for agency drivers was up by 50% as most retailers have opted to run night time deliveries through the period.”

He says the firm’s vehicle rental business has been maxed-out since the competition's start, as customers look to downsize in favour of Lutons, 7.5-tonners and Transits.

TRG also has a 64-strong vehicle fleet that it supplies with drivers to supplement customers’ own-account fleets. He says these units are now running pretty much around the clock, where they would previously have been running 12 hours a day. “It terms of volume this has been bigger than Christmas for us”.

It comes despite research from Experian suggesting that the Olympics meant fewer customers passing through the tills for most central London retails during the opening weekend of the Games.

Gordon says that while volumes are slightly down for TRG as we approach the second weekend of the Games they remain high overall. It suggests many retailers will be taking a financial hit to ensure deliveries get through, without the pay off of additional sales activity.

For more see our London 2012 Survival Guide.