How long trade plate delivery takes

A short local run is a morning's work and often completes the same day it is booked. The long national routes, the central belt to the south coast or Cornwall to the north east, are a full driving day, because a driver is bound by the same speed limits and driving hours as anyone else.

On the longest routes the return leg matters as much as the outbound one. A delivery into a town with good rail access lets a driver get home and be available the next morning; one without it can take a driver out of circulation for longer, which affects what else can be scheduled around it.

Multi-vehicle work is sequenced for the shortest total distance rather than handled first-come, so a batch of vehicles usually clears faster as a group than the same vehicles booked one at a time.

Almost every delayed job we see is delayed for the same reason: the driver could not get the vehicle. A missing auction release code, a gate procedure nobody confirmed, a contact who does not know the collection is happening, or keys nobody can find.

We confirm release details, buyer references and gate requirements with the site before a driver is dispatched, precisely because a wasted journey costs a day rather than an hour. That check is also why we will hold a booking rather than send someone hopefully.

The fastest thing you can do to speed up a collection is send the release details and a named contact at both ends at the same time as the booking.