Hammond Light Haulage
(and Courier Service)
Hammond Light Haulage (and Courier Service) is based in Canterbury and provides courier and transport services to customers throughout East Kent - including Canterbury, Dover, Folkestone, Ashford, Whitstable, Faversham and Sittingbourne - plus London and further afield, 24-hours a day.
We provide a friendly, efficient, and cost-effective delivery service to addresses across Britain and mainland Europe.
Our drivers are highly experienced and take the utmost care to deliver your goods on time and in good condition. Consigments are insured while in transit and prompt proof of delivery is provided.
If your company is looking for a professional delivery service at a competitive price, give us a call. We look forward to hearing from you.
Rates
All rates are for same-day deliveries and are charged per loaded mile with a £15 minimum:
- Small van (500kg):
- Same day - £1.03p / loaded mile
- Next day delivery - 93p / loaded mile
- Small packages - 93p / loaded mile
- SWB Panel van (1 ton) - £1.30 / loaded mile
- LWB Panel van (1.5 ton) - £1.40 / loaded mile
- Luton van (1.75 ton) - £1.60 / loaded mile.
There is no charge for empty mileage unless neither the collection address nor the delivery address is in East Kent.
Returns are charged at 1/3 rate, minimum £10.
There is a small additional charge for late-night deliveries, central London deliveries and waiting time.
Road tolls are charged at cost, as is the London Congestion Charge.
All prices are ex-VAT.
Regular or contract customers will receive a discount of up to 5p per loaded mile.
Account facilities are available for business customers.
New Recession-Busting Same/Next Day Service
For £12 plus VAT we will deliver small to medium sized items within East Kent, either the same day if we have a driver available or the next morning. The service can also be extended to Maidstone and the Medway Towns for £15 plus VAT.
If you are thinking of sending an item overnight within the local area why not try us; we may be able to deliver the same day for a similar price.
Fixed Rate 1-2 Day Service
£32 plus VAT
We still offer this service for items up to about 100kg for deliveries to Kent, Surrey, East Sussex, London E and SE postcodes outside the congestion charge zone and a corridor close to the M25. Please contact us for full details.
History
Hammond Light Haulage (and Courier Service) began life as Hammond Despatch, founded by Laurence Hammond in Canterbury in 1984. In the early days it was a one-man operation, with just one motorcycle.
An initial twice-weekly contract for a large building contractor got the business underway, delivering internal mail and computer tapes between Canterbury and London. As the number of customers grew, so did the number of couriers.
Over recent years demand for large-load van deliveries has increased while demand for smaller deliveries has dropped. Responding to our customers needs, we made the large load side of the business our main focus. To mark this change, Hammond Despatch was officially renamed Hammond Light Haulage (and Courier Service) on 2 January 2006.
Contact
If you need an urgent delivery or quote, please call Laurence on:
01227 458038 or 07850 207018
If you have an enquiry which is not time-sensitive, you can also contact us at:
laurence@hammondlighthaulage.co.uk
Hammond Light Haulage (and Courier Service)
20 Halstead Close
Canterbury
Kent, UK
CT2 7UD
Jobs
If you have a van and some spare time, we would be happy to take your details for occasional deliveries as and when required. We are particularly interested if you have a Luton van. We only need these vehicles occasionally but when one is needed the job tends to pay well. Officially we have ceased operating a motorcycle service, but we would also be interested to take your details if you have a large capacity motorcycle for those occasional jobs where speed is of the utmost importance.
To be eligible, you must:
a. live in East Kent.
b. provide your own vehicle.
c. be available at short notice.
d. have motor insurance which does not prohibit you from working as a courier.
If you wish to give us your details it is quicker and easier by telephone, but if you prefer to send an email please tell us where you live and provide a contact telephone number. We will only reply to emails that include this information.
It is only fair to advise potential drivers that there is no possibility of us offering you full time delivery work in the prevailing economic climate. If you are hoping to work as a full time courier you would be better advised to contact one of the large courier companies. Any work we may be able to offer will always be on an occasional basis. Please note that you will not be provided with a vehicle. We strongly advise you not to pay fees to any courier company purporting to offer you work in exchange for a fee, because this is a well known scam.
Payment is 90% of the invoice value.
We do not employ support staff in any capacity.
Notice:
Our former website domain, www.hammond-despatch.co.uk, has now been taken over by an unknown third party. This website has no connection whatsoever with Hammond Light Haulage, and we accept no responsibility whatsoever for its content.
It has also been drawn to our notice that we have been listed (under our old business name) on the website of an organisation called Logistics Link, so as to imply that we are their clients. We have no connection whatsoever with this organisation and would never use the service they purport to offer. We strongly advise anyone seeking courier work not to pay money to be placed on a database compiled by a third party.
E-Bay. We will only quote for deliveries arising from trading on E-Bay if the transaction has been completed. Unless it is a large, heavy or high value item it is usually uneconomic to use our services for such deliveries.
Other Information
Info for other Courier Companies
We are unable to accept work from any company in direct competition with us. However, if you are from another area or an indirect competitor we will help you out in an emergency, subject to vehicle availability and a 10% surcharge on our rates.
Parking Ticket Policy
Our policy is to park legally whenever possible, but some local authorities (especially in London) mark their roads in ways that make legal parking almost impossible, then employ parking contractors to issue as many tickets as possible. A parking ticket can wipe out the profit on a job, so our policy is that if we receive a parking ticket while loading or unloading, and there are no grounds for appeal, we ask our customer to reimburse us half of the penalty charge. If the customer declines we will not accept future deliveries to this address.
