News bulletin – tanks and logistics

NEWS BULLETIN

TANKS & LOGISTICS

HOYER’S BAG OF CASH

The Hoyer Group is planning to nearly double its investment budget next year to a record level of €173m. “The sustained positive business development enables this financial tour de force,” says CFO Gerd Peters (above). “We have identified promising investment projects in all business areas. This has resulted in a comprehensive investment package spread across the business development, property, plant and equipment, acquisitions and replacement investments business areas.”

Around one-third of the budget will go to modernising and expanding Hoyer’s tank container fleet, with its IBC rental business also to be developed further. Hoyer will continue to equip its fleet with innovative telematics system and is also looking at expanding warehouse activities in Germany and the Netherlands. At least €10m is earmarked for potential acquisitions and joint ventures, the company says.

Hoyer says it is allocating investment “primarily in business areas with attractive future prospects”, not least in response to rising order volumes in its Supply Chain Solutions (SCS) business. “In the coming years, on-site logistics activities in particular will be driven forward and – initially in Germany and the Netherlands – the construction of a dangerous goods warehouse and an enlargement of the filling operations for small containers will be implemented,” Hoyer says.

The announcement followed the reappointment of Gerd Peters as CFO of the Hoyer Group, less than a year after leaving the position to take over as head of one of the group’s operating companies. He replaces Dr Philip Nölling, who joined Hoyer as CFO in February 2018 and is leaving the group “to devote himself to another task”.

In the UK, meanwhile, Hoyer Petrolog is expanding its truck fleet, adding 26 new Scania P450 units early in 2019. Further additions are planned as part of the company’s continuing growth programme.

“We are pleased to announce the arrival of new additions to our Scania fleet,” says Allan Davison, operations director at Hoyer Petrolog. “Scania have always offered an exceptionally reliable vehicle whilst also bringing the environmental benefits of returning excellent fuel economy and, importantly, this vehicle is always a popular choice with our driver workforce.” www.hoyer-group.com

ALL CHANGE AT WASCOSA

Following the expansion of its rail wagon fleet through the acquisition of 4,400 units from Nacco, Wascosa has restructured its operations and management structure, trimming the organisation from seven divisions to five.

A new management team reflects that restructuring, with Yann Bonguardo, formerly head of sales for Nacco, appointed as chief sales officer and a new CFO, Stephan Kellmann, who arrives from Von Roll. Markus Vaerst has been added as COO. They join CEO Peter Balzer amd CBDO Irmhild Saabel on the management board under chairman Philipp Müller, who says: “By restructuring the organisation and recruiting new specialists to strengthen our management team, we have created the necessary conditions to ensure we can deliver innovative and top-quality services to customers and respond flexibly to changing market requirements.”

At the same time, a number of senior personnel have decided to leave the firm during 2019. www.wascosa.ch

PROMOTION FOR PARR

Suttons Tankers has promoted Roger Parr as its new commercial director, in recognition of his “successful leadership in a series of continuous improvement projects” in his role as operations director west. That position will now be taken by Gary Oliver, who joins Suttons from DX Network Services, where he has been a regional director and operations director since 2010.

“I’m pleased to welcome Gary to the business and look forward to benefiting from his vast experience in senior roles, enhancing customer

relations,” says Michael Cundy, managing director. “And congratulations to Roger who is making a natural progression having been an integral part of our Commercial Leadership team since joining in 2015. These two appointments highlight our UK strategy to continually improve the customer experience and add value at all points in the delivery chain.” www.suttonsgroup.com

EVANS GETS RECERTIFIED

Evans Distributions Systems, a full-service third-party logistics provider based in Melvindale, Michigan, has achieved certification to the ISO 9001:2015 quality management system standard. The company originally obtained ISO 9001 certification in 1999 and has held the certification continuously since then.

“The success that we have had in maintaining and enhancing our quality systems over the past couple of years has proven to be beneficial to both our external and internal customers,” says Karen Toth, quality systems manager at Evans. “2019 will bring exciting new challenges to Evans and our team will be ready to ensure we are always exceeding our customers’ expectations.” www.evansdist.com

VOS ADDS TO PORTFOLIO

Vos Logistics has agreed to take over the family-owned transport company Gehlen Schols Logistics, based in Kerkrade, the Netherlands. Gehlen Schols is active in the full- and less-than-truckload transport sectors in the Benelux countries and Germany, in the automotive, construction, chemical and paper sectors. In addition, it has a 10,000-m2 warehouse facility at its headquarters location.

Gehlen Schols has a turnover of some €20m and 120 employees, who will continue to work under the Gehlen Schols name within the Vos Logistics Group.

“With Vos Logistics we can better facilitate our customers in their growth and anticipate developments such as digitisation and further sustainability,” says Marc Schols, operations director at Gehlen Schols. “On our side, with our strategic location in Kerkrade and strong position in the area of part loads in Germany, Belgium and the south of the Netherlands, we expect to be able to offer added value to Vos Logistics customers.” www.voslogistics.com

PIA INTO RAIL

La Petrolifera Italo Albanese (PIA) has operated the first block train from its bulk liquids and gases terminal in Vlore, Albania. The 80,000-m3 terminal handles LPG and refined products and is designed to supply both the local market and neighouring countries in the southern Balkans via the European Corridor VIII rail and road link.

“We trust that the development of the railway modality will improve the environmental sustainability and the safety of the transports of the goods from/to PIA terminal,” the company says. PIA is part of the PIR Group, based in Milan, Italy. PIA was established in 2000 specifically to take advantage of the opening up of new rail corridors in the Balkan EU states. www,gruppopir.com

GROWTH PLANS FOR ALBATROSS

Albatross Tank-Leasing is now offering T75 cryogenic tank containers suitable for the transport of LNG, carbon dioxide, ethane, ethylene, nitrogen, oxygen and argon (below). Albatross notes that the move supports its customers at a time when the markets for LNG and other cryogenic gases is growing rapidly.

Albatross also reports that it is actively targeting the Russian market, having participated in the Khimia-2018 exhibition in Moscow at the end of October. Albatross is offering local shippers domesticated tanks, maintenance and repair through a number of partnering depots, and the use of its GPS tracking and route analysis systems. www.albatross-tanks.de