At ESSX Europe, we take pride in delivering high-quality pole vault poles to our customers. However, our biggest challenge remains shipping these lengthy goods to our customers. Most regular shipping companies will not take anything longer than 2m70, and our smallest product starts at 2m75 and ends well beyond 5 meters. This makes it challenging to find suitable transport for our products.
To overcome this challenge, we have partnered with DSV and DNA United, who do their best to get the poles over the ocean from the USA and via road and sea to our European customers. While this approach has been helpful in the past, it is not always cost-effective, and we rely on a network of pole vaulters willing to take poles to friends and fellow pole vaulters.
Another challenge we face is packaging. We currently ship our poles in cardboard and would like the tubes to be returned to be re-used. However, we have not found a cost-effective way to do this. Furthermore, we ship our poles in pole vault bags with internal HPDE tubes. To get the bags to customers, we wrap them in film and reinforce the ends to avoid damage during transport. This process generates a lot of plastic waste, which is not in line with our circular goals.
We recognize that we need to find better solutions to ship poles more environmentally responsibly and to re-use packaging. We are actively looking for alternatives that are more sustainable and cost-effective. This is an ongoing process, and we are committed to finding innovative solutions to these challenges.
Overall, shipping pole vault poles is a significant challenge for us at ESSX Europe. However, we remain committed to finding sustainable and cost-effective solutions that align with our circular goals. By working with partners, exploring new packaging solutions, and finding innovative ways to transport our products, we are confident that we can overcome this challenge and continue to deliver high-quality pole vault poles to our customers.
