How It Works
As a member depot of the APC Overnight network, we collect locally and hand into a nationwide next-day infrastructure — giving you the reach of a national carrier with the accountability of a local depot you can actually call.
Hub & Spoke: How Your Parcel Actually Travels
Every overnight parcel moves through the same two-stage journey. Click a stage below to see what happens there, and toggle the flow on to watch the route in motion.
What a Local Depot Does
A depot like ours is the collection and last-mile point at either end of the journey — it doesn't sort parcels for the wider network, that's the hub's job.
Outbound
- Collects parcels from customers or businesses in the local area, via driver rounds or drop-offs.
- Does a rough sort — just enough to bag or cage parcels by which hub run they're going on.
- Loads them onto a trunking vehicle running on a schedule to the hub, usually overnight or early morning.
Inbound
- Receives its allocation of already-sorted parcels for its local area back from the hub.
- Drivers load up their local delivery rounds from that batch.
- Out for final delivery to addresses in the depot's patch.
The depot is really just the first-mile / last-mile point — small-scale and local, with no need for the heavy sorting machinery a hub has, since by the time parcels arrive there they've already been routed to the right depot.
What the Central Hub Does
Every depot's outbound trunking run arrives at the hub overnight. There, parcels from every depot in the network are sorted by their final destination depot, then loaded straight back out onto the next trunking run — ready to reach the right local depot before the morning's delivery rounds start.
That's really why hub-and-spoke works economically: you only need one heavy-duty sorting operation in the whole network, rather than every single depot needing the machinery and space to sort parcels for anywhere in the country.
Delivery Options
Parcel Size & Weight Guide
Most parcels fall into one of the size and weight bands below — a useful starting point when working out how your consignment should travel.
| Type | Weight | Max Size |
|---|---|---|
| MailPack | Up to 1kg | 37.5 × 29.5cm (A4) |
| CourierPack | Up to 5kg | 54.5 × 45.5cm (A3) |
| Lightweight Parcel | Up to 5kg | 45 × 35 × 20cm, boxed |
| Standard Next Day | Up to 30kg per item | 120 × 55 × 50cm, boxed — up to 20 items per consignment |
| Non-Conveyable | Up to 30kg per item | 160 × 60 × 60cm, boxed — max 2 items |
| Excess Parcel | Up to 30kg per item | 205 × 30 × 30cm, boxed — long, thin items |
Not sure which band your parcel falls into, or need something outside these sizes? Call or email us and we'll talk it through.
Specialist Handling
Some consignments need more than standard handling. Through the APC network, we can also arrange:
- Fragile Service — hand-sorted and kept in segregated cages, no automated sorting machinery involved.
- Liquid Service — for bottled goods and other liquids, hand-sorted and segregated in transit.
- Security Service — for high-value items, processed under CCTV with tracked scans at every stage.
- Limited Quantity Service — for small volumes of regulated or hazardous goods, handled in line with strict safety rules.
- Live Fish & Live Coral Service — a licensed, welfare-first service for live aquatic stock.
Track & Manage Your Delivery
Recipients aren't left guessing. Through the network's online tracking tools, they can get a narrowed delivery window on the day, follow the driver's progress, and get confirmation once it's arrived — including a timestamp, photo, and GPS location.
If plans change, deliveries can often be rearranged in transit too — a new date, leaving it in a safe place, collecting from the depot, or picking up from a nearby locker location instead.
How to Book
Get in touch by phone or email and we'll confirm the right option and a price for your consignment.
Call: 0845 2222 666 | Email: info@hec-logistics.co.uk
Ready to Book Overnight?
Call or email us directly and we'll confirm the right option for your parcel.