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Things really have changed quite dramatically in the last five years with firewood delivery. In the old days, and still prevalent now, local suppliers would gather wood, saw and chop into logs, then deliver to local customers in a trailer, truck, van, Landrover or pick-up. Some local deliveries are now done with small crane lorries delivering logs in bulk bags, but with the onset of online sales of firewood about 5-6 years ago there is now another method of delivering logs direct to customer's homes.

Most of those advertising sales online will have their logs delivered using national pallet networks and there are now several different companies that operate such networks. The delivery process does have its limits in that everything gets delivered on a pallet and dropped off using a tail lift lorry with a small hand pump truck to help get the pallet as close to the property as possible. However, there can be issues with access, steep drives, gravel drives, gateways and health and safety, but having said that the whole network delivery system is remarkably efficient and cost effective with pallets being delivered throughout the UK direct to a home for about £40 per pallet - not bad really! 

There is now an unforeseen problem looming within the Road Haulage industry - a shortage of drivers! Several years ago the government decided that ALL bus, coach and now lorry drivers should be CPC (continual professional development) trained and undertake 35 hours of training by September 2014 and anyone choosing not to complete this training would have to stop driving. The problem within the industry is that drivers are generally mature in age and many have chosen not to do the CPC training, so there is now a shortfall of drivers and the RHA (road haulage association) is now calling on the Government to provide funding to recruit new drivers and help meet the shortfall of 45,000 drivers. The effect of this, they claim is that it could affect Christmas deliveries.

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