How Samuel Luica Transport grew their fleet with The Exchange 

Based in Milton Keynes, Samuel Luica joined The Exchange in April 2021. 

When he first joined CX, it was just Samuel and the two drivers he employed. Samuel managed the office while his drivers completed jobs on the road.  

Now, two years later, Samuel still manages his office – but his business is bigger. To show for it, this year, Samuel made 96x his initial investment on the platform.

Approach 

Samuel first heard about The Exchange by chance. He needed a van for the day, and he ended up renting one from a satisfied CX member.  

“He had some success on CX and recommended the platform to me,” Samuel reflects. “I researched The Exchange on the internet and got on the platform.” 

He recounts that the platform was “very busy – back when I joined,” and the CX Driver app quickly helped him reduce dead miles on his return journeys.  

Results

“We started with 3 vans,” Samuel says. “And now, in 2 years, we’ve got 9 vans and one lorry.” 

He adds that he’s also “very happy” with the profit he’s made over the last two years. “We got our money back in a very short period of time – I would say within the first month.” 

Part of Samuel’s rapid-fire growth is down to a large network of clients. Samuel’s favourite thing about the platform is the huge opportunities new businesses get to work with a selection of transport companies. 

And with over 3,000 positive reviews – and no negative reviews to date – Samuel has clearly mastered the art of delivering outstanding services. 

“My goal was to become a trusted haulage company. To show people we are a company you can trust and [that we] can offer people a very good service.” 

The Exchange’s feedback system works doubly in Samuel’s favour – especially when he’s the one picking companies to collaborate with. 

Conclusion

With steady contacts and high-quality feedback, Samuel’s built his business off the foundation of hard-work and a willingness to connect. 

“To be honest, I’m surprised by how quick we’ve grown,” Samuel reflects. “I didn’t expect to grow so quick in such a short period of time, and I didn’t really expect to get a lorry within two years. It was a surprise to me.” 

When asked to think about the future of his business, Samuel is as optimistic as ever. 

And, in Samuel’s world, building a logistics business is simple.  

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Red Rocket Couriers began its journey seven years ago. Back then it was just Lee delivering loads in his trusty van.  

7 years later, Lee’s transformed Red Rocket into a UK-wide courier empire. 

With HX’s support, Red Rocket gained a new purpose – getting drivers loads. Earning accolades along the way, and consistently generating substantial revenue year after year.  

In the past year they’ve made 16 times their initial investment. 

Now the managing director, Lee talks us through his success story – one job at a time. 

Approach

In the early days, Lee started by using his van to find loads and expand his network. “To be honest with you,” he states, “when I first joined, I just needed the money.” 

Then something shifted a few years on. And Lee began to get his friends jobs off the Exchange. 

Lee adds, “I set myself a target. If I could earn £50 from each driver each day, that’s £250 a week. When I got to 4 drivers, that’s when things got rolling. That’s when I started seeing the other side of HX.” 

Results

Lee’s proud to report that Red Rocket ranks among the “top 10 out of 4491 courier companies that offer jobs on the Exchange – and that’s in the past year.” 

This comes as no surprise. Red Rocket has collaborated with big names like the BBC, NHS, ASOS, Boohoo, and more. 

Feedback is another area where Red Rocket excels. They have an impressive 1667 positive comments for delivery feedback and 7653 positive comments for payment feedback. 

“Plus,” he adds, “the app is fantastic. Easy to use and find work. And we get to be one step ahead with the integration tracker. I wouldn’t use any other platform.” 

Conclusion 

Lee’s more than proud of how far he’s come. And we don’t blame him. 

And the opportunities are endless. Red Rocket currently sponsors three kids’ football teams, professional boxers, charity raves and churches.

“All the money we’re able to give back to the community diversifies from the courier work we’ve done,” Lee explains.  “Red Rocket Couriers is my baby. It’s mine. HX has given me complete independence. It’s given me my life. What you put in you get out.”

Much like the man himself, Lee’s business advice for all new couriers and hauliers starting out on the Exchange is to-the-point and exceptionally encouraging. 

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Bulldog Trans, a family-owned haulage business, began their business on HX back in February 2022. Their aim? To scale their business quickly and in one place. 

In just over a year, Bulldog has generated a revenue of over twenty-four times their initial investment.

Bulldog’s Managing Director, Sylwia Chudzik details her journey over the last year.

Approach

Sylwia’s goals were simple: to build her business and expand her network with fellow verified industry professionals.

Since joining the Haulage Exchange, she’s achieved exactly that. A thriving business with reliable suppliers, wonderful feedback, and a scaling revenue. 

Results

Now, over a year into joining HX, Bulldog Trans have achieved a fantastic return on investment. More significantly, over a quarter of their revenue comes from direct bookings. 

Sylwia adds that Bulldog have formed significant relationships with five big suppliers and two smaller suppliers, which correlated to the 48 direct bookings they’ve had since joining HX. As of now, Bulldog also boasts 44 positive comments from happy suppliers.

Sylwia also rests easy knowing that every one of her suppliers are safe to work with.

Conclusion 

In just over a year, Bulldog Trans has successfully built a business, made a significant return on investment and formed strong relationships with reliable suppliers. Sylwia looks forward to her business’s future.

Is her advice for all considering joining. 

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After being introduced to Courier Exchange by several business partners, Andy decided to join the Exchange in February 2007 and hasn’t looked back since. The platform has given them access to over 5,400 member companies allowing them to take on more work and reduce dead mileage.

Redhead Couriers was the first member company who volunteered to take part in the trials for the combined advanced vehicle tracking with the Exchange. By integrating their existing Navman Wireless telematics solution with Courier Exchange, the company can provide complete visibility and status of their vehicles to more than 5,400 fellow operators in the UK, Ireland and mainland Europe.

As a result, Redhead Couriers are now able to better promote their available fleet capacity, match their precise vehicle locations to new load opportunities and also offer the ability for trading partners to monitor the progress of loads whilst in transit.

Speaking recently about the telematics integration, Andy commented: “We have been a longstanding member of Courier Exchange, but we were looking at ways of simplifying our internal processes while seeing where we could pick up additional work.”

“The added visibility and control from the vehicle tracking integration allows us to work closely with our partners, streamline our transport planning and boost the profitability of our business. The integration also has the benefit that we can publish our available fleet capacity without having to enter this information into the Courier Exchange website.”

The company originally adopted the Navman Wireless vehicle tracking solution in order to monitor driver behaviour, reduce fuel usage and boost operational performance. One of the main reasons for selecting Navman Wireless was its ability to integrate with the Exchange, providing an effective means of streamlining supply chain processes and optimising fleet performance.

The added visibility and control from the vehicle tracking integration allows us to work closely with our partners, streamline our transport planning and boost the profitability of our business.

Redhead Couriers uses the Courier Exchange from two sites in Colchester and London, with around 10 per cent of loads coming via the freight trading platform. By taking real-time locations of available capacity direct from the tracking software, the company has already experienced an increase in incoming job enquiries, while trading partners are now able to view the exact whereabouts and progress of their loads whilst in transit to provide added peace of mind.

Lyall Cresswell, Managing Director of Transport Exchange Group said: “We are committed to taking a partnership approach with other leading technology providers to fully integrate complementary third-party systems for the benefit of our members such as Redhead Couriers.

By accessing live operational data from vehicle tracking and transport management solutions, users of our freight exchange can take advantage of this operational insight to provide complete visibility of available resources and capacity. The automated data feed also cuts down on the need to manually update the Exchange with this information, saving time and making it easier to operate.”

Having hung up his boots at the age of 24, Jamie Boyd started the business from scratch with a loan from the Princes Trust. He had nothing but a van, a willingness to work hard and ambition. It paid off and in the first 18 months, Today Team grew substantially during which time he built a sizeable customer portfolio within his local patch, some of which had a European presence.

However, as both his customer base and their requirements grew, Jamie recognised that if he was going to compete on a level playing field and take the business to the next level he would need to have nationwide and contractor coverage.

He entered into discussions with Haulage Exchange. It was not, however, a decision he was going to take lightly. Having built his business, much of which on the basis of personal relationships, his chief objective was to find a facility which shared his commitment to putting customer service first –an ethos which he sees as being at the very core of any successful business.

Haulage Exchange fit the bill perfectly and in December 2006 Today Team became a member, and he hasn’t looked back since.

He commented: “Haulage Exchange has done a great job. It has given us the level of coverage that we needed and some of the haulage contracts we have today wouldn’t have been possible without the Exchange.

“It suits our business. The speed of pick up works well and the level of service replicates that of our own – it is a seamless operation and one in which we have total confidence to provide a level of service commensurate with our own.”

Today Team is still continuing to grow at an exponential rate – a staggering 75% in the past 12 months. They have also moved to new offices and have plans to further expand.

Jamie continued: “Haulage Exchange has been good for our business and gave us a strong foundation on which to build. We have built our business on delivering personal service. No matter what we are asked to do we always try to find a solution and the Exchange helps us deliver that.

“The Exchange feedback system offers total transparency and is immensely valuable. In fact, the Exchange is just like using one of your own drivers.”

Based in Warrington, Cheshire Today Team operates 20 vehicles, has seven full-time staff and a team of self-employed drivers.

As part of a move to better utilise its fleet operation, Today Team has recently integrated its TomTom Telematics’ WEBFLEET system with Haulage Exchange. The initial trial involving two vans and an HGV is already providing value in terms of reduced administration, increased revenue and improved customer service according to Jamie Boyd:

“We have previously used the Exchange to predominantly source capacity, but other members are now seeing the location and status of our vehicles in real-time, so we are now receiving incoming job offers. This is helping Today Team fill available capacity and create a new revenue stream,” explains Jamie.

“We are also reducing admin requirements because not only does the integration automatically update vehicle information, our partners also have live visibility of their loads which cuts down on the number of calls we receive asking for updates.”