Ace Express Freight celebrates 35 years
02/05/2024
Celebrating 35 years in business, Ace Express Freight is an expert at moving palletised and specialised goods to and from anywhere in Ireland and worldwide by road, sea and air, providing tailored logistics solutions supported by award-winning people and processes.
Based in North Co. Dublin, Ace Express Freight was founded in 1989 by current Chief Executive Officer Philip Tracey and his partners. It has come a very long way since its humble beginnings on Andrew Street in Dublin.
Starting as a small operation offering freight forwarding and customs clearance, the company has transformed into a multinational, multi award-winning global freight forwarding company, with world-class partners offering a range of services including customs clearance, road, air, and ocean freight as well as logistics and warehousing solutions.
The whole team at Ace Express Freight takes great pride in being an indigenous and family-owned and operated Irish company that has successfully expanded its operations on a global scale. It is now one of the leading independent Freight & Logistics companies in Ireland.
Despite the ever-changing and often extremely difficult business environment it has navigated over the years, culminating in Covid-19 and Brexit, Ace Express Freight has continued to expand and thrive. It has continuously invested in its people, facilities, IT systems, quality, and customer service, showcasing its commitment to staying ahead of the curve in a rapidly-evolving industry.
The company’s achievements were first recognised in 2008 when it won the prestigious Deloitte Best Managed Company award for the first time. It has now won this award 15 years in-a-row! Ace Express Freight was further acknowledged in 2021 when it was named winner of the 'Freight Forwarder of the Year' and ‘Covid 19 Crisis Response Award’ at the Irish Logistics & Transport Awards. These awards are a testament to its culture of continuous improvement and the hard work and dedication of the team.
Ace Express Freight once again won Freight Forwarder of the Year and the Overall Logistics & Transport Excellence Award at the 2023 Irish Logistics & Transport Awards. The company also won the Transport & Logistics Family Business of the Year at the 2023 Family Business Awards last November.
At the recent Irish Logistics & Transport Awards 2024 Ace Express won the a number of awards, claiming the 3PL Achievement Award, the Freight Forwarding Company of the Year, Employer of the Year and Philip Tracey CEO of Ace Express was also an award winner.
Looking to the future, Ace Express Freight shows no signs of slowing down. The company recently secured a 25-year franchise with Pall-Ex Ireland, further solidifying its position in the market. A long-time member of the Pall-Ex network, the Dublin-based haulier has taken the driving seat in Irish distribution post-Brexit and invested heavily in personnel to provide customers with additional support.
The partnership will deliver a permanent solution now changes to exports and imports have been finalised and will be followed by the formal launch of Pall-Ex Ireland later this year. Ace Express Freight has also expanded into home deliveries and room of choice deliveries, demonstrating its commitment to meeting the evolving needs of its customers.
In addition, Ace Express Freight has joined the prestigious WCAworld, the world's largest network of independent freight forwarders. The firm has also recently secured the ideal warehouse facility to expand our Logistics and 3PL service with a state-of-the-art logistics property in Huntstown, D11, spanning over 66,000 sq. ft.
"The success story of Ace Express Freight is a testament to the hard work and commitment of its employees over the past 35 years," says CEO Philip Tracey.
"It is a pleasure to work with such a fantastic team of people, each of whom I consider part of our Ace Express family. I believe that by working together towards our common goals, we can continue to lead the way in the Irish Freight Industry, cementing our position as the Freight & Logistics Partner of Choice for all our valued customers."
Philip fronts Ace Express Freight along with Aidan Kenny (Chief Financial Officer) and Bernard McSweeney (Chief Operating Officer). Formerly a customs clearance clerk, Philip established a freight and logistics company, in 1989. Since then, he has invested his time heavily in the development and continued successful growth of Ace Express Freight.
Philip is a highly reputable figure in the freight industry in Ireland, having developed strong partnerships nationwide. Furthermore, he has developed strong long term strategic partnerships not just on the island of Ireland but throughout the UK, Europe and globally.
Aidan is a PWC qualified chartered accountant with over 20 years Industry experience. He has extensive experience in financial, general and operations management at board level with plc groups across a broad range of industries in Europe, North America and China.
Bernard has over 20 years’ international executive level experience, leading complex operational businesses across many industries including public transport, logistics, aviation, consumer, retail and food manufacturing sectors; working with world-leading organisations and brands such as DHL and Ryanair.
As a key member of Ace Express Freight’s Senior Leadership Team, Bernard is responsible for the ongoing management and continuous improvement of our business operations, ensuring the highest levels of productivity, maintaining a safe working environment, and providing an excellent and highly cost-effective service to customers from all business segments.
Ace Express Freight provides a complete range of logistics services for companies who need to move palletised and specialist freight to and from anywhere in Ireland and worldwide by road, sea and air. The company takes pride in solving its customers' problems, delivering where others can’t.
With over 35 years of experience providing express overnight groupage and full load distribution services to and from the UK, the Ace Express Freight team are now recognised as specialists in Irish and UK Distribution.
Connected to Europe via a network of leading partners, the company operates services throughout the continent for anything from single pallets to full loads. It has fully-bonded warehouse and customs clearance facilities that ensure it can keep transit times and rates competitive while using multiple routes, catering for every scenario.
Ace Express Freight provides a seamless air freight service to and from any location worldwide, enhancing the competitiveness, speed and reliability of our clients' business. In addition, Ace Express provides Deep Sea Container Services to and from all locations worldwide, offering secure competitive rates, fast transit times and excellent customer service and reliability.
Ace Express Freight offers completely bespoke E2E service solutions for all our customers. A key aspect of this service is the full integration of its logistical & warehousing business within the company’s operations, in turn becoming a working extension to our customers’ business.
The long-established business offers complete third-party logistics services, including custom clearance, interstats, movement of bonded goods and warehousing, handling of dangerous goods, domestic or international distribution, air freight services, cool chain for the life science and pharmaceutical, along with short sea and deep sea solutions for various business sectors.
Custom Clearance and compliance are among the key services offered by Ace Express Freight. The company is located close to both Airports and Docks and has a highly-experienced in-house team and facilities on hand to minimise any possible complications.
Over the past three years, the Ace Express Freight team has grown from 98 direct employees to 135. The company has created 25 new jobs in administration, customer service and customs clearance departments, with ongoing recruitment across all areas of the business. Due to the launch of Pall-ex Ireland, the staff headcount is expected to increase from 120 to 150 by the end of the year, representing a further 20% increase in staff numbers.
In early 2022, Ace Express Freight reorganised its operations structure, allowing it to streamline its services and better meet the expectations of customers. This new structure has involved centralising the functions of Freight Bookings, Planning and Solutions, Operations and Final Mile Departments. During this process, the company promoted managers and assigned them clear responsibilities for key areas of the business. A detailed KPI suite was also established to measure their performance and ensure accountability.
The company’s new operations structure has allowed it to focus on delivering the highest level of service to its customers. By centralising its departments and promoting accountability, Ace Express Freight has been able to streamline its processes and improve our performance. It remains committed to continually improving services and meeting the evolving needs of its customers.
Here's to the next 35 years of ‘Your Freight & Logistics Partner of Choice'!
Ace Express Freight
Blakes Cross,
Lusk,
Co. Dublin,
K45 WY42.
Telephone: +353 870 2822
Email: [email protected]
Web: www.aceexpressfreight.com
First published in Irish Trucker magazine March/April 2024, Vol 27-1
