Mon-Fri 6 AM - 7 PM
Few towns in south-east England occupy a position as strategically useful for road haulage as Ashford. Sitting where the M20 meets the high-speed rail corridor and the approach to the Channel Tunnel, the town has evolved into a logistics node that serves industries well beyond Kent's borders. Automotive component suppliers, pharmaceutical distributors and construction-material merchants all operate within the borough, generating consistent demand for lorry transport from Ashford that connects local businesses to customers across the UK and continental Europe.
Ashford's logistics sector accounts for a significant share of local employment – a reflection of how central freight movement has become to the town's economy. Warehousing complexes along the orbital road handle goods ranging from retail stock and food-grade packaging to precision-machined parts for the aerospace supply chain, all of which need onward haulage under defined time constraints.
zipmend provides road haulage from Ashford through an online booking model built for that kind of operational pace. You enter your freight details, choose a vehicle class and receive a binding price within moments. zipmend assigns a lorry to your order, coordinates the collection and tracks the journey from loading through to confirmed delivery.
For Ashford's commercial tenants and industrial operators, access to immediate haulage capacity is not a convenience but a competitive requirement. When an urgent load of automotive sub-assemblies needs to reach a plant before a line stoppage or a pallet of medical supplies must arrive at a regional distribution hub by a contractual deadline, the time between booking and collection defines the outcome.
The small van is ideal for transporting packages or documents. It has space for up to 2 Europallets. The vehicle can only be loaded from the rear, has no dock height, and no tail lift.
The small van is ideal for transporting packages or documents. It has space for up to 2 Euro pallets. The vehicle can only be loaded from the rear, has no dock height, and no tail lift.
Capacity
Max. shipment weight
up to 400 kg
The medium van is suitable for up to 4 Europallets. The vehicle can only be loaded from the rear, has no dock height, and no tail lift.
The medium van is suitable for up to 4 Euro pallets. The vehicle can only be loaded from the rear, has no dock height, and no tail lift.
Capacity
Max. shipment weight
up to 800 kg
The large van can carry up to 5 euro pallets. The vehicle can only be loaded from the rear and has no dock-height access and no tail lift.
The large van can carry up to 5 euro pallets. The vehicle can only be loaded from the rear and has no dock-height access and no tail lift.
Capacity:
Maximum shipment weight:
up to 1,200 kg
The curtain-side van is suitable for heavy shipments and can carry up to 8 euro pallets. The vehicle can be loaded from the side and from the rear and has no dock-height access and no tail lift.
The curtain-side van can carry up to 8 euro pallets. The vehicle can be loaded from the side and from the rear. The vehicle has no dock-height access and no tail lift.
Capacity:
Maximum shipment weight:
up to 1,000 kg
The van with lifting platform is suitable for heavy shipments and can carry up to 8 Europallets. The vehicle can be loaded from the rear, it has no dock height.
The van with tail lift is suitable for heavy shipments and can load up to 8 Europallets. The vehicle can be loaded from the rear, it has no dock height.
Capacity:
per package up to 200 x 150 x 200 cm
Max. shipment weight:
per package up to 500 kg
up to 800kg in total
The 3t partial load is suitable for up to 14 pallets. The tarpaulin truck can be loaded from the rear and the side and is at dock height. A tail lift is available as an additional service.
The 3t partial load is suitable for up to 14 Europallets. The tarpaulin truck can be loaded from the rear and the side and is at dock height. A tail lift is available as an additional service.
Fits inside
Max. shipment weight
up to 3,000 kg
The 5t partial load is suitable for up to 14 pallets. The tarpaulin truck can be loaded from the rear and the side and is at dock height. A tail lift is available as an additional service.
The 5t partial load is suitable for up to 14 Europallets. The tarpaulin truck can be loaded from the rear and the side and is at dock height. A tail lift is available as an additional service.
Fits inside
Max. shipment weight
up to 5,000 kg
The 12t partial load is suitable for up to 18 pallets. The tarpaulin truck can be loaded from the rear and the side and is at dock height. The vehicle does not have a tail lift.
The 12t partial load is suitable for up to 18 Europallets. The tarpaulin truck can be loaded from the rear and the side and is at dock height. The vehicle does not have a tail lift.
Fits inside
Max. shipment weight
up to 12,000 kg
Our standard truck can carry up to 33 pallets. The tarpaulin truck can be loaded from the rear and the side and is at dock height. The vehicle does not have a tail lift.
Our standard truck can carry up to 33 Europallets. The tarpaulin truck can be loaded from the rear and the side and is at dock height. The vehicle does not have a tail lift.
Max. shipment weight
up to 24,000 kg
The prices for our freight forwarding services include 120 minutes for loading, unloading, and other waiting times. Each additional started hour costs 60 € net. No loading or unloading assistance from the driver. We do not conduct pallet exchanges. Island transports are generally only possible on request. Invoicing is done via email.
| Vehicle | Price | Dimensions | Payload |
|---|---|---|---|
| Small van | from 49 € | 2 Europallets 160 x 120 x 120 cm |
Max. 400 kg |
| Mid-Sized van | from 69 € |
4 Europallets 320 x 130 x 160 cm |
Max. 800 kg |
| Large van | from 119 € |
5 Europallets 420 x 135 x 180 cm |
Max. 1,200 kg |
| Curtainside van | from 149 € |
8 Europallets 420 x 210 x 210 cm |
Max. 1,000 kg |
| Tail lift and pallet truck | from 179 € | 8 Europallets 420 x 210 x 210 cm (200 x 150 x 200 cm per package) |
Max. 800 kg (500 kg per package) |
| Vehicle | Price | Dimensions | Payload |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3t Partial load | from 159 € | 14 Europallets 600 x 240 x 230 cm |
Max. 3,000 kg |
| 5t Partial load | from 189 € |
14 Europallets 600 x 240 x 230 cm |
Max. 5,000kg |
| 12t Partial load | from 249 € |
18 Europallets 720 x 240 x 270 cm |
Max. 12,000 kg |
| Standard-Truck | from 279 € | 33 Europallets 1,360 x 245 x 270 cm |
Max. 24,000kg |
The prices for our freight forwarding services include 120 minutes for loading, unloading, and other waiting times. Each additional started hour costs 60 € net. No loading or unloading assistance from the driver. We do not conduct pallet exchanges. Island transports are generally only possible on request. Invoicing is done via email.
Kent's position as a gateway between the UK mainland and continental Europe creates freight volumes that few English counties can match – and Ashford sits at the centre of that corridor. zipmend's haulage network draws on transport partners positioned throughout the south-east, enabling rapid vehicle allocation for orders placed from Ashford's industrial parks and distribution sites.
Whether your freight is heading north toward the Midlands, west into Hampshire or south to the Channel ports, zipmend confirms vehicle availability and a fixed collection window as part of the booking. Updates accompany every load from the point of departure, giving you full visibility over the transport.
A manufacturer in Ashford dispatching automotive sub-assemblies to a plant in the West Midlands faces different constraints from a construction supplier moving steel fixings to a development site on the south coast. Both need road haulage, but the vehicle class and timing are distinct – and neither has time to negotiate terms with a carrier before the load is ready. That range of requirements defines what lorry transport from Ashford needs to deliver.
The town's geographic position amplifies the demand. Canterbury, barely fifteen miles to the east, combines a university research cluster with a concentration of technology firms and advanced-materials companies that draw in laboratory equipment, specialist components and high-value sub-assemblies on compressed timescales. Maidstone, the county town to the north-west, supports a broad industrial base spanning paper manufacturing, packaging and food processing – sectors that generate regular outbound freight volumes and depend on inbound raw materials arriving to schedule.
Beyond Kent, Ashford's proximity to the Channel Tunnel and the Port of Dover makes it a natural staging point for freight moving between the UK and mainland Europe. Cross-border haulage to distribution hubs in northern France, Belgium and the Netherlands forms a routine part of the commercial activity radiating from the town, particularly for automotive, pharmaceutical and retail supply chains. zipmend handles these international orders through the same booking process as domestic loads – fixed price, confirmed vehicle, documented collection and delivery milestones.
That cross-border reach defines Ashford's freight character as much as its domestic connections. A single business here may need a full load heading north to a Midlands assembly plant one week and a part-load to a distribution hub in the Benelux region the following day. Your commercial reality is variable demand across variable destinations – and the haulage model has to accommodate that without volume commitments, pre-agreed lanes or long-term carrier lock-in. For Ashford's logistics operators, flexible access to vehicle capacity means haulage scales with the order book rather than constraining it.
A full truck is too big for what you want to send? No problem, because we also offer express journeys with smaller vehicles and a maximum payload of 1200kg.
