Freight operator Northwards announces £1.5 million investment in state-of-the-art vehicles
Freight, haulage and maintenance operator Northwards, which has bases in Shetland, Orkney, Aberdeen, Inverness, Scrabster and Central Scotland, has invested £1.5 million in new vehicles to support the growth of the business and to provide the highest quality service for its aquaculture sector clients.
Following on from previous investment in vehicles and containers in March, which enabled the company to fulfil a new contract with Orkney Islands Council, Northwards has had six new tractor units delivered to its Aberdeen base. Supplied by MAN Truck and Bus Ltd, the TGX 26.470 6x2s are equipped with all the latest state-of-the-art safety and environmental features.
“This is a significant and strategic expansion for Northwards,” said managing director, Michael Porter. “This latest batch of trucks will predominantly be operating out of Aberdeen and will connect the Northern Isles ferry terminal with delivery points in central Scotland. Their priority will be to service an increasing volume of daily freight handled through our pallet network into Scotland and to support our clients in the aquaculture sector.
“With aquaculture continuing to play a vital role in the economy in the northern isles of Scotland, it is a sector that is, of course, hugely important to us and is one in which we have great experience. We well understand the perishable nature of the product and how important timely deliveries are to maintaining quality, value, and customer confidence, and this latest investment is geared to support the requirements and ambitions of that sector.
“North bound, we transport significant volumes of salmon feed to Orkney and Shetland and south bound, salmon from Shetland, Aberdeen and Glasgow for onward distribution. We also carry aquaculture waste via tanker to Aberdeen.
“The need to continually innovate, create efficiencies, and solve the transport challenges faced by our customers is central to our operation. For example, the introduction of Insuliner trailers has made it possible to transport fresh fish south in state-of-the-art chilled trailers, then bring fish feed north to Aberdeen on the return journey. This is both sustainable and highly efficient for us and our customer. On board the ship, we created new ways of stowing feed, which, again, resulted in greater efficiencies for us, the ferry operator, and our customers.
“Like most businesses, Northwards has, since it was first established in 2002, been quietly going about its business, listening to feedback from the market sectors that it supports and gradually moving the business forward. In recent years we have opened new depots in Aberdeen, Inverness and Cumbernauld and entered into strategic partnerships to provide pallet delivery services throughout the UK – and also further afield through the vessels and European terminals of our parent company, Sea Cargo AS.
“As our growth plans were being realised, so our branding had to reflect our position as a leader in the freight sector in the North of Scotland. Success brings with it a need to evolve, so this brand development programme has been initiated to highlight to our customers and to our own people the status and the principles of the company as it now stands. We hope that the branding programme also captures the rational and emotional benefits of choosing Northwards – and our commitment to implementing transport solutions that add value and make the connection with suppliers and customers as seamless as possible.”
The company has also launched a new website at www.northwardsltd.com.
Post written by:
Isabel Johnson (for Northwards)
For more information, visit: https://northwardsltd.com