May 2001

Sainsbury's has appointed Ryder to run a home delivery trunking operation, feeding product to a network of 19 satellite distribution it is building up, mainly in central and southern England. The operation is based at Sainsbury's biggest home delivery distribution centre in Park Royal, north-west London.

Sainsbury's uses a mix of purpose-built distribution centres and existing stores to run its Sainsbury's to You service, and Ryder already manages the van fleets at 34 of its stores around the country. Now it will also provide refrigerated artics for the trunking operation. Ryder is also managing local deliveries in the London area from the 17,000 sq m Park Royal base. The combined value of the local Park Royal activity and the trunking operation is put at £8 million, although it is not clear how long a period the contract covers.

The deal is unusual in that many of the multi-temperature vehicles used on home delivery operations are actually owned by Via Truck Rental. Ryder provides route-planning and management services.