Hemel Hempstead based new business, Shipmore Limited, is developing a new product called ‘STAKA’ that saves money by safely stacking pallets inside freight vehicles – enabling transport operators to improve load fill in existing vehicles. Early trials with a food ingredients manufacturer have shown significant savings in reduced transport costs and goods damage.
The food industry transports lots of products in bagged form – flour, sugar, spices and many food ingredients are typical examples. Pallets of bagged goods create challenges for vehicle load fill. “There is a natural limit on the numbers of bags carried on a pallet before the bottom layer splits” says Shipmore’s founder, Philippa Bell. “Pallets of bagged goods don’t have a flat top surface making it impossible to stack pallets inside a vehicle without risk of damage to goods or potential injury to unloading staff.” With transport costs rising every year, there is tremendous pressure on transport operators to make the most of their vehicles’ freight capacity.
Launching at Multimodal 2012, STAKA is a modular double-deck solution to suit most freight vehicles. Comprising a lightweight steel frame with a wooden deck, STAKA stands over a pallet of goods enabling a second pallet to travel above. Both the extra pallet and the STAKA need to be strapped down to the deck of the vehicle but the extra handling involved is small compared to having to send a vehicle out twice.
“The flexible, re-usable nature of our product means that transport operators can equip an entire vehicle with STAKAs to create a complete double-deck, or just one or two pallet spaces – enabling them to carry a mix of tall and small pallets in the same vehicle” says Shipmore’s co-founder, Richard Malczyk. Road trials with a food manufacturer have shown that extra pallets of bagged goods can be carried in existing vehicles without problems. Drivers are satisfied their loads are safe and end customers have no difficulties with unloading the goods.
Many transport operators have already seen the cost savings of moving more pallets on double-deck trailers, but at 5 metres high these are very large vehicles with restrictions on where they can go. STAKA saves money by improving space efficiency in existing vehicles. The product pays for itself in just a few trips and continues delivering savings thereafter.
Shipmore Limited
Philippa Bell
Tel: 01442 872986
Email: info@shipmore.co.uk
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