Delivery charges on Scotland Delivery - Furious

[Guest]

Originally Posted by Pumpkin Pie

Why then do the working population living in London get a London allowance on salaries and why is their transport subsidised?

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I don't live in London, but what I do know is that these subsidies are paid either by the company (essentially they pay a London weighting so that people in London can be paid more but those employed else where in the country earn the same - without the weighting) and in the case of transport the subsidy comes from local taxation receipts.

London is a massive net contributor to the UK wealth in tax take from citizens, very few other cities are.

[Gally1968]

Originally Posted by Pumpkin Pie

How do you know where the delivery started? Some people on here clearly think Scotland is populated by a half a dozen people living in a wee bunch of sheds at the top of a hill.

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You’ll see I started my post with the north/south comment, from my recollection Aberdeen is in the north of Scotland hence I assumed the delivery was heading north, if I’m wrong I apologise.

My point is factual, it’s what I do for a living and know how the industry works. More freight goes into Scotland than comes out, it’s a fact.

For the record, I’m Scottish (and proud of it) so know how the make up of the country is. Yes I live in England but I’m in Scotland at least once a week on business or pleasure.

[Fuellady]

Originally Posted by Guest

I wasn't saying Aberdeen isn't civilised, far from it I love the place. I live in the north of England so certainly am not looking at this as a how far from London thing.

What I mean is that between Aberdeen, Inverness and the whole of the highlands above them has a population of about 500k.

Manchester for instance has 250k more than that in a very significantly smaller area and other massive conurbations within an hour drive.

This isn't true of Aberdeen and so transport just costs more due to the smaller likelihood of large numbers of customers.

I believe some things (health, public services) should be pretty standard prices across the country, but purely optional purchases shouldn't need to be subsidised because you chose to live in a relatively less populated area that passes the cost of delivery onto the company (or more likely the cost everyone else pays)

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Sorry if I came across as harsh in response to your reply, this is unfortunately, a real flashpoint issue for me.

Companies should at least be honest about their delivery charges, perhaps if we were treated fairly and given delivery information up front then we could make an informed choice about whether or not to purchase from a particular company. It's the sneakily adding them on, and treating us like second class citizens because of our Post Codes that make us feel victimised.

And sometimes people don't "choose" where to live, it just happens. I grew up here, as did my parents and grandparents. I have a job, a home, a life here. I've never had a reason to move to a "good" delivery Post Code area!

[Fuellady]

Originally Posted by Guest

For instance a delivery from Aberdeen to Inverness will usually involve the package going via a main hub in Glasgow if you use one of the main couriers

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That would be ridiculous. Anyone who routes a delivery from Aberdeen to Inverness via Glasgow needs to get a new job, or a map!

I live half way between Aberdeen and Inverness, you would use the A96 which connects these 2 cities.

[Guest]

Originally Posted by Fuellady

Sorry if I came across as harsh in response to your reply, this is unfortunately, a real flashpoint issue for me.

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No problem - I didn't word my first response very well so I can see how it might be taken as a southerner having a pop at the north.

[Pumpkin Pie]

Originally Posted by Guest

I don't live in London, but what I do know is that these subsidies are paid either by the company (essentially they pay a London weighting so that people in London can be paid more but those employed else where in the country earn the same - without the weighting) and in the case of transport the subsidy comes from local taxation receipts.

London is a massive net contributor to the UK wealth in tax take from citizens, very few other cities are.

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Sorry if I have misunderstood but are you saying as someone living in the north of England you are happy to be subsidised by London and the South East but those living in the Aberdeen area should be treated differently.

[Guest]

Originally Posted by Fuellady

That would be ridiculous. Anyone who routes a delivery from Aberdeen to Inverness via Glasgow needs to get a new job, or a map!

I live half way between Aberdeen and Inverness, you would use the A96 which connects these 2 cities.

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True if you where doing a point to point delivery, but most deliveries in the UK work on a "hub and spoke" system.

Each major town is essentially at the end of a spoke, there are a number of hubs, all deliveries go from a spoke to a hub and then from that hub go to a different spoke.

Now if your delivery is big enough to fill an entire van you will go direct, however if your just one box in hundreds in a massive truck then even though it makes no sense for that specific parcel for the majority of parcels the hub and spoke makes sense

Aberdeen to Inverness is 2.5 hours by road - which one way would be a minimum of 20 quid in driver wages and 45p*100 in mileage charges so before you try to make a profit or pay for the van or get home after the delivery it's a minimum of 65 quid to delivery the item. Of course that goes down if you can share the delivery with other parcels...

[Guest]

Originally Posted by Pumpkin Pie

Sorry if I have misunderstood but are you saying as someone living in the north of England you are happy to be subsidised by London and the South East but those living in the Aberdeen area should be treated differently.

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No - but then I'm not saying either approach is correct, but they have to draw the line somewhere and they have multi million pound logistics analytics software that has determined deliveries to certain locations are in enough volume to make them free options.

[Fuellady]

Originally Posted by Guest

True if you where doing a point to point delivery, but most deliveries in the UK work on a "hub and spoke" system.

Each major town is essentially at the end of a spoke, there are a number of hubs, all deliveries go from a spoke to a hub and then from that hub go to a different spoke.

Now if your delivery is big enough to fill an entire van you will go direct, however if your just one box in hundreds in a massive truck then even though it makes no sense for that specific parcel for the majority of parcels the hub and spoke makes sense

Aberdeen to Inverness is 2.5 hours by road - which one way would be a minimum of 20 quid in driver wages and 45p*100 in mileage charges so before you try to make a profit or pay for the van or get home after the delivery it's a minimum of 65 quid to delivery the item. Of course that goes down if you can share the delivery with other parcels...

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Thank you for the information. I don't wholly agree with you, but I think rather than continue back and forth, each with our own points of view, I'll bow out of this conversation now.

[DisneyPCLI]

Originally Posted by Guest

It's not the highlands but it is a billion miles away from any other part of UK civilisation. Transport and delivery costs money, it's the trade off you make by living somewhere nicer and cheaper, getting things to you costs more - why should everyone subsidise you when you're already ahead because it's such a nice place to live

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Harsh 😳