It’s the firm you’ve never heard of, but one that’s growing in importance across the automotive sector. Why? Because Priority Freight is the car maker’s “under the radar” crisis saviour.
The Dover-based business, which has three UK and six mainland European bases, takes on a “vast” number of enquiries every day – enquiries it turns around within 15 minutes of the call coming in. Most are from tier one and two suppliers.
“We are all about speed and about winning time back for the customer,” said group operations director Andrew Austin.
“They come to us in the event of an issue, normally that their main transport contractors were unable to have the flexibility to cross borders, cross time zones with the speed that is required. We support clients in being able to get their production going.”
He added: “In reality we can be moving products from Asia and be back inbound within 24 hours. So the speed involved is incredibly dramatic.”
It’s this level of speed that has given the firm a strong reputation among those within automotive – a sector that makes up most of its business – as the reliable go-to when issues occur.
This can be by air, in the form of anything from chartered flights to a passenger courier, or by land with two drivers who “sleep and switch” so it’s only fuel fill-ups that will pause their journey. The firm has access to a fleet of more than 6000 vehicles.
In a recent commission, the firm couriered 300 semiconductors, worth £110,000, 600 miles from Birmingham to Le Mans in 20 hours. Within one hour of the enquiry, customs papers were completed and a driver was picking up the goods.
Although they're needed, they’re not always wanted. “We are sometimes the knights in shining armour, and sometimes the unnecessary expenditure clients really begrudge,” said Austin.
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