Transport of Dangerous Goods

Air freight transporter Connection Couriers has launched a new business dedicated to the transport of specialist goods such as radioactive materials and explosives. Called Connection Couriers Specialist Services the new subsidiary is also approved to transport firearms (Section 5).

MD Tom Ryan tells MT the new division has been created in response to customer demand. “We’ve noticed that other carriers are backing away from transporting specialist cargo owing to the training and costs required for it,” he says. “However more and more products are being classified as dangerous goods, so this is definitely a good market for us.”

 Driver CPC, ADR and Dangerous Goods Awareness Training

The new company is also the umbrella business for Connection Couriers’s training programmes, including Driver CPC, ADR and Dangerous Goods Transport Awareness Training.

Connection Couriers fleet director Nick Hedderly will manage the division. He says: “Changes in regulations are ongoing and the ADR is updated every two years, so companies hauling specialist goods need to be on the ball. The course we’ve been approved to deliver is mobile, so we can also take it to third parties if required. Since we deal with dangerous goods transport on a daily basis we bring our operational expertise into the training to make it practical for the drivers.”

Connection Couriers Investment

Elsewhere in the firm turnover has returned to above pre-recession levels says Ryan. “Our target is to reach £50m turnover in the next few years [currently it is around £25m]. We couldn’t have foreseen the economic downturn, so it will take us a little longer than originally planned. However, the recession prompted us to be smarter and leaner, and business has really picked up.”

As a result the company has invested in a 4000ft2 depot in Aberdeen, which went live on 14 June. Three HGVs and three vans are dedicated to the site.