Warren, the UK’s leading independent carton and graphical board and paper stockist, has responded to the twin challenges of significant sales growth and the changing nature of the UK’s independent haulage sector by taking delivery of its first Warren-branded vehicles.  

Operations Manager Martin Higgins carries day-to day responsibility for the new trucks, “We are a tight-knit team at Warren and in order to get this new service model right it was important that we found experienced drivers who understand our business and our customers’ needs. Running our own vehicles gives us more flexibility and enables us to react faster to customer demand and in support of customers’ production schedules. With our next day delivery service we believe we’ve done that and so far, customer feedback has been positive and this has reflected in increased volumes. ”

The new DAF CF curtain-sided 18T rigids have been taken on long-term rental from local truck supplier Alltruck plc and are liveried with the unmistakable Warren branding that includes Warren’s distinctive rabbit mascot, Starsky. 

Operations Director, David Whitaker, explains, “From day one, forty years ago, we were known as a national rather than a regional merchant. Own-vehicle operation was impractical and instead we partnered successfully with a number of independent hauliers throughout the UK to provide customers with the service they required. In recent years a combination of factors has contributed to the fragmentation of national haulage. Very few hauliers provide national groupage services these days and depend instead on pallet networks, which don’t always suit our products or - more importantly - our customers.”

As an ISO14001 certified company, Warren takes its environmental responsibilities seriously. “Given the current controversy surrounding diesel emissions it was essential that we operated new, rather than second-hand, trucks,” commented Dave Whitaker. “Both are Euro6 compliant so meet the latest and most stringent emissions regulations and we do our best to ensure that the vehicles are loaded and routed for maximum efficiency. 

The decision to develop its own transport operation in the Midlands followed the introduction late last year of Warren’s logistics partnership agreement with North-East based Tyneside Express. Warren trunks overnight to Tyneside in order to provide its expanding paper and board customer base in the North East region with an improved next-day service and Warren’s operations team see this as a model that they’re likely to replicate in other parts of the country over the coming months.

For more information on Warren products or to receive samples or information on our range, please call our Sales Team on 0116 232 4102 or email [email protected]