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Operator consortium Linq Alliance says it is now reaping the rewards of the streamlined structure it adopted around two years ago and is even taking work off established logistics firms. Current chairman Bob Terris, from Southampton-based Meachers Transport, says that its low-overhead set-up - with Linq's National Traffic Office being run from Meachers' Derby depot, with no head office or chief executive - has enabled it to offer better returns  to its members.

He says that of the current 25 shareholder members around 16 are regularly benefiting from Linq-sourced work that currently totals around £5m per year. He adds: "It's been hard work but we are growing sales and are getting more people involved on a national basis. It was slower than we thought it would be to start with but [our approach] was better than going out and buying volume."

Terris says that Linq has even managed to take a percentage of work from Eddie Stobart with plasterboard manufacturer Knauf. One operator that has benefited from membership of Linq is Scottish operator JBT. It recently secured a book distribution contract with publisher Harper Collins. JBT will handle the Scottish multi-drop distribution from its Cumbernauld site, with full-load work passed through other Linq Alliance members.

Managing director Murray Prentice adds: "We wouldn't have got the full load work without membership of Linq. The benefit for the customer is  that it doesn't have to deal with masses of hauliers, the single point of contact is with JBT."