Same-day pallet and large-item delivery by dedicated vehicle
Rapid Despatch moves pallets and large items on dedicated vehicles from four branches in Hampshire and Berkshire: tail-lift Lutons up to 18-tonne rigids, your load only, collected in as little as 30 minutes around the branches and driven direct anywhere in mainland UK.
Single pallets, multiple pallets and larger commercial consignments, on one vehicle carrying your goods and nobody else's. We aim to collect within the hour across most of the UK, sometimes in as little as 30 minutes, and never more than 90. We are not a pallet network, and where a network is the right answer we will tell you.
We don't run a pallet network
Rapid Despatch does not run a pallet network. What we do is dedicated: one vehicle, your pallets only, collected when you are ready and driven direct to the delivery address. Nothing is cross-docked, nothing sits in a hub overnight, and nothing is handled by four sets of hands between your loading bay and theirs.
If your pallet is stable, well wrapped and the delivery date is flexible, a pallet network will usually be cheaper than we are, and we will say so rather than quote you for the wrong thing. Where we are worth the money is when the pallet has to arrive today, must not be cross-docked, needs a fixed handover, or is holding up something operational. The cheapest transport price gets expensive quickly if a production line stays stopped or an event installation misses its slot.
Pallet delivery options
Same-day dedicated pallet
A dedicated vehicle collects your pallet and drives it straight to the delivery address. It never enters a pallet hub or a cross-dock network. That suits production parts, machinery, urgent stock and exhibition material: anything where delay or repeated handling is the thing you’re trying to avoid. The price reflects direct mileage, vehicle, timing, loading and any waiting.
Booked ahead on a dedicated vehicle
The same service, planned rather than urgent. You book the vehicle for a date and a window, we hold it for your load, and it still runs direct. Useful for installations, deliveries into booking slots, and anything where you know the date but the goods still shouldn’t be cross-docked.
Full vehicle
A full load reserves the whole vehicle for you. The choice follows volume, route, timing and access. Don’t book a large vehicle when a smaller one does the job.
Europe by dedicated vehicle
Pallets and equipment between the UK and Europe on a dedicated vehicle, with customs, crossings, tolls, driver hours and destination access all planned in. Air and sea freight for larger or less urgent international shipments are on our international courier page.
Large and awkward items
Not everything that needs a vehicle is on a pallet. We move machinery, furniture, cabinets, equipment, display and exhibition builds, shop fittings and single awkward items that a parcel network will not accept and a man-and-van cannot lift.
A tail-lift Luton handles most of it without a forklift at either end, which is the usual sticking point: the tail lift lowers the load to ground level and a pallet truck moves it, provided the ground is level and firm and the weight is within the platform's limit. Heavier or bulkier items go on a 7.5 or 18-tonne rigid. One driver loads, carries and unloads, so there is no point in the journey where the item changes hands.
We cover Hampshire, Berkshire and Surrey from our four branches and deliver anywhere in mainland UK. Tell us the dimensions, the weight, whether it can be tilted or must stay upright, and what is at each end in the way of access and lifting equipment.
What we need for a pallet quote
Length, width and loaded height. Don't call every pallet "standard". Overhang, unusual bases and tall loads change what vehicle and which network will accept it. Measure the widest and highest points after wrapping, not before.
Gross weight, including the pallet and the packaging. Weight drives vehicle payload, tail-lift limits, handling and price. If you're estimating, say so and tell us how you arrived at the figure.
Can another pallet safely sit on top? Non-stackable freight takes more vehicle space and gets charged differently. Only mark a load stackable if the top is flat, strong and genuinely able to take the weight.
Describe the goods accurately and declare anything fragile, hazardous, high-value or regulated. The description decides whether the service can accept the load and whether documentation or insurance needs more attention.
Tell us what's at each address: forklift, loading dock, nothing at all. A tail lift covers the gap where there's no forklift, but it has weight and platform limits and needs level ground. A pallet truck won't cross gravel, a steep slope or a decent kerb.
Height, weight, length and turning restrictions, booking slots, gatehouse procedures, loading-bay instructions. An 18-tonne rigid can't complete a delivery to a site that hasn't planned for one.
The latest time the delivery still works, plus any fixed booking. Urgent pallets justify dedicated transport.
Choosing the vehicle
Vans and larger vans
Luton and tail-lift vehicles
7.5 and 18-tonne rigids
Preparing a pallet, and choosing the route
Preparing the pallet
Goods should sit securely on a sound pallet base. Spread the weight evenly, put heavier items low, avoid overhang. Wrap, band or otherwise restrain the load in a way that suits the product. Protect the corners and stop individual boxes shifting.
Labels need to be clear and stay visible. Take old labels off and add whatever delivery reference the recipient needs. If the load covers several purchase orders or destinations, don't rely on a handwritten note that can peel off in transit.
Fragile goods need internal protection as well as pallet wrapping. Stretch film holds a load together. It doesn't cushion anything. Machinery may need blocking, bracing or a crate.
What the load is covered for
Goods in transit insurance is provided. On a dedicated vehicle up to 3.5 tonnes, cover is up to £25,000 for account holders. On larger vehicles, liability is the lesser of the value of the goods, the cost of repairing them, or £1,000 per tonne on gross weight. Cover applies in the UK and Europe and does not extend to consequential loss. Higher cover can usually be arranged on application at an additional charge, so declare the value when you book.
How a pallet quote is built
A Rapid Despatch pallet quote is built from distance, vehicle, number of pallets, dimensions, weight, timing, loading, stackability and access. There is a minimum charge, and the first miles cost more per mile than the later ones because the collection is the expensive part of any direct run. Waiting time is charged by the hour, extra drops are charged per drop, and tail-lift use and out-of-hours work are extras rather than assumptions. Possible additional costs include timed delivery, failed access, congestion charges, tolls, ferries, non-stackable space and oversize handling. The price is fixed before you book and nothing is added to it afterwards.
Pallet and freight FAQs
Yes. A single pallet travels on a dedicated vehicle, sized to the load. We don't put it into a pallet network, so it isn't cross-docked or held overnight.
Yes, where a vehicle is available, loading is safe at both ends and the road journey can meet the deadline.
Not always. A tail-lift vehicle and pallet truck work for suitable weights on level surfaces. Confirm the conditions at both addresses and we'll tell you.
Yes, subject to dimensions, weight, vehicle and route, up to about 18 tonnes. Anything larger is a specialist enquiry and we'll tell you honestly whether we can do it.
Yes, by dedicated European road, and by air or sea freight through our international service. Customs and commercial documentation are required.
Stable, secured to a sound base and protected for the handling model it's going into. Wrapping alone does nothing for fragile contents inside the boxes.
Your controller monitors the vehicle and updates you by phone. Proof of delivery follows with the recipient's name, the time and a signature. There is no online tracking on a dedicated same-day job, because the vehicle doesn't pass through scanning points.
It depends on distance, vehicle, pallet count, dimensions, weight, timing, loading and access. How a pallet quote is built.
Send both postcodes, pallet count, dimensions, weight, contents, loading equipment and deadline. Photographs help with awkward shapes and tight access.
Get a pallet or freight quote
Send us complete load and site information and we'll match the vehicle and the service without guesswork.