- F.A. Hawkins enjoys running fewer empty miles and positive environmental impact thanks to working with IPP.
- IPP’s transport planners collaborate closely with F.A. Hawkins to optimize the collection and delivery of goods.
A partnership critical to stocking household goods on store shelves and promoting environmental benefits has reached its 15-year milestone. IPP, a prominent European wooden pallet pooler based in Coventry, teamed up with F.A. Hawkins Transport, a Bedfordshire haulier, to enhance operational efficiency.
This collaboration actively contributes to reducing the environmental impact of empty running, where vehicles return to base without cargo. IPP’s transport planners collaborate closely with F.A. Hawkins to optimize the collection and delivery of items like flowers, paint, and snacks, effectively minimizing unnecessary travel distances.
Managed by the Hawkins family, F.A. Hawkins, based in Eaton Bray, has been a part of the logistics landscape since its establishment by Frederick Alfred Hawkins in 1926. The company has progressed through generations, with current Managing Director Jim Hawkins leading the way alongside his niece, Lizzie Hawkins.
The alliance with IPP has significantly propelled F.A. Hawkins’ growth, evolving from one daily vehicle dedicated to IPP work to handling between 20 and 28 vehicles. Presently, F.A. Hawkins transports approximately 88,000 pallets each week for IPP, generating employment opportunities for over 30 individuals as a direct result of the partnership.
F.A. Hawkins: relationship began with a phone call out of the blue
“We started working with IPP in 2007 after a phone call out of the blue, which has grown so much they are now one of my biggest customers,” said Jim Hawkins. “The work with IPP has played a big role in our company’s growth.
“We are fully loaded nearly all of the time we work for them, which is obviously good for the environment compared with running empty and has a significant impact on the carbon footprint of those goods.
“It’s also very varied work – we supply pallets for fruit growers in Kent to paint suppliers and crisp producers.
“Whenever we’re doing a job for IPP, we dedicate those vehicles to it, which is better for reliability as well as enabling us to backload effectively. We just run everything as efficiently as we possibly can.”
As well as supporting business success, Jim Hawkins said the partnership had flourished due to the productive working relationships he enjoys with the IPP team. “IPP is a very easy company to work with. We have a great relationship; the team is very approachable and I get on with everyone there. They are always happy to help,” he added.
“Empty running is an environmentally-damaging and costly process and leads to delivery vehicles clogging up the UK’s motorways when returning to depots without a payload,” offered David Bage, operations director of IPP.
“We work closely with our customers and hauliers to coordinate the back loading of used pallets on return journeys, eradicating the need for other vehicles to collect them for repair and repatriation.
“F.A. Hawkins is one of our most successful examples of this type of partnership, providing the essential transport link in the circular economy by delivering, retrieving and repatriating our pallets. Seeing how our working relationship has grown over the last 15 years is testament to this.”
IPP is one of Europe’s top wood pallet poolers and IPP pallets are used by customers including PepsiCo and Tayto to transport their products from factory to store.
For more information on IPP, visit www.ipp-pooling.com.