The website of a haulier, a warehouse or a parcel carrier

Whoever looks for a carrier compares quickly, and in figures. It is a logistics manager building a transport plan, a manufacturer shipping three pallets a week, a retailer who wants to deliver to customers in town. They want to know whether you go where they need, with the right vehicle, within the right lead time, and whether you are compliant. They are in a hurry: a site that talks about excellence and passion without giving a tonnage loses them in ten seconds.

What the customer comes looking for

1. The areas served: counties, regions, countries.
2. What you carry: pallets, parcels, full loads, refrigerated, bulk, hazardous goods. And what you don’t take.
3. Capacity: the number and type of vehicles, tail lifts, warehouse space, loading docks.
4. Lead times: next day or two days depending on the destination, the pickup cutoff time.
5. Compliance: registration in the transport register, insurance.
6. How to request a quote, and how quickly you reply.

The “Transport” layout

The studio offers it to hauliers, warehouses and parcel carriers: capacity and lead times read in figures.

• The full bar has an opaque background: the navigation stays readable from the first screen, whatever the image beneath.
• The centered hero, steady, gives the name, the area covered in one sentence, and the quote button.
• The accented figures show three proofs: vehicles, pallets handled per day, square meters of warehouse. Color marks only short series.
• The filling list runs through your services from 01 to 05: parcels, full loads, storage, order picking, last mile. On hover, the row fills with color from end to end.
• The split puts media on one side, text on the other: the warehouse and what to know about it, the fleet and its sizes.
• The panel contact stands out from the rest of the page: the depot address, pickup hours, the operations phone, the email.
• The columned footer sorts the areas, the services, the legal notice and your registration number.

The background is a scrolling band: a series of images that glides on its own, trucks, docks, roads, with no video to shoot. It only moves when it is on screen, and stops if the visitor has asked for less animation. The halftone lays thin horizontal lines over it, like on an operations tracking screen. It is a very strong choice, which suits a brand that embraces its technical side.

What the rules say

In France, carrying other people’s goods for payment, with a motor vehicle, requires registration in the transport register, kept by the regional prefect and managed by the DREAL. This holds whatever the tonnage, including for a vehicle with fewer than four wheels. Removals are included, as is parcel delivery in a light van or meal delivery on a motorized two-wheeler (DREAL Normandie, 2023). Carrying your own goods, known as own-account transport, is not covered by this registration.

Registration requires four conditions: an establishment in France, the good repute of the managers, the professional competence of the person managing the activity (a light transport certificate if all vehicles weigh under 3.5 tonnes, heavy transport otherwise) and financial standing. The DREAL then issues the operating authorization and the licenses: one at head office, and a certified copy per vehicle on the road. Operating without registration exposes you to a €15,000 fine and a year in prison (DREAL Normandie, 2023).

Say so on the site. A serious shipper checks who they entrust their goods to: write your registration in the transport register, the type of license and your insurance, in the footer or near the contact.

Figures that can be checked

Capacity is given with its unit and its date: “32 rigid trucks and semi-trailers, 6 of them refrigerated”, “4,000 m² of warehouse”, “12 loading docks”. A lead time is given with its condition: “next day in Brittany for a pickup before 2 pm”. An on-time delivery rate is only written if it is measured, with the measurement period.

For price, the Nielsen Norman Group, the reference in web usability, advises businesses that work on quotes to show a few typical cases rather than a “contact us”: a buyer drawing up a shortlist only wants an order of magnitude (Nielsen Norman Group, 2006). Two or three typical shipments, dated, are enough.

The “Request a quote” button

The studio doesn’t calculate any quote. The hero button leads wherever you want: your quoting tool, the sales department’s address, the operations phone. Write on the page what to include to get a quick answer:

• the pickup and delivery addresses;
• the desired date;
• the nature of the goods, their weight and volume, or the number of pallets;
• the constraints: tail lift, appointment, temperature, hazardous goods.

Also say how quickly you reply, and stick to it. More ideas for the button label in our tip on calls to action.

The mistakes that cost loads

• Round, undated figures: “over 100 vehicles”, since when?
• Vague areas: “all of France”, when next-day only applies to the West.
• No trace of the transport register registration.
• Photos of trucks that aren’t yours, in someone else’s colors.
• An endless quote form, with no price range at all.
• No operations phone number: a missed pickup isn’t sorted out by form.

For a warehouse that also serves as a factory or workshop, see also the website of an industrial company.