Letter from the Editor

EDITOR’S LETTER

Those of us fortunate to have come of age in the 1970s may (if we try hard) remember a time when anything felt possible. We had our own music to listen to, much of it unlike anything else heard before – reggae, glam, Krautrock and, perhaps less successfully, prog rock. We also had colour TV and it was a time when colour was everywhere, thanks in no small part to the efforts of the petrochemical industry in coming up with new synthetic fabrics and dyes.

This freedom of expression was only made possible by the struggles that many young people had gone through in the 1960s, protesting against governments that they saw as square and old-fashioned, holding them back from being themselves or taking their part in a society they wanted to change.

Change was happening anyway, not least in the high-hazard industries. But immense growth in chemical manufacturing and other process industries was coming at a cost to the environment and to the safety of personnel. After a succession of high-profile accidents, governments started to take action: the 1970s saw the formation in the US of the Environmental Protection Agency and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration; the UK’s Health & Safety Executive started work in 1974, and other European countries were putting similar agencies in place.

All this brought with it more regulation and industry had to adapt in order to comply. It is perhaps no coincidence that several of the industry’s leading trade associations were also formed during what we might call the ‘long 1970s’ – the period from 1968 to 1980 – as industry became keenly aware that it needed to have a voice in the development of new regulations.

It was around this time that Storck Verlag, which had begun publishing Gefärhliche Ladung in the late 1950s to keep the German chemicals sector up to date with the changing transport regulations, decided it would be a good idea to offer an English-language equivalent so that professionals who did not speak German could benefit from the same service.

That set the stage for Hazardous Cargo Bulletin (HCB), which was established towards the end of the decade and sent out its very first issue in January 1980. This year, then, marks 40 years of continuous publication – extended now to include online and electronic versions – and in this issue we have reached out to some other organisations of a similar age to give us their views on how things have changed over the past four decades and, perhaps, where we are going in the coming years.

Trying to think about the future is still difficult: many of us are still working from home and not getting together with our colleagues, except on one of the new meetings apps. Conferences and training are increasingly going online during the lockdown and one has to wonder whether we will ever get back to doing things the old way. If we don’t, I certainly won’t miss all the hours sitting in airports, but I will miss the chance to get out and hear directly from industry and regulators.

But, as we keep hearing, today’s young generation are apparently already geared up to working that way. They may end up having the future to themselves, just like we wanted way back in the 1970s.

CONTENTS

VOLUME 41 • NUMBER 07

UP FRONT Letter from the Editor 30 Years Ago Learning by Training How was it for you? Labelmaster survey results 01 04 05

06

40TH ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL Golden years NACD hits 50 next year 08

Fellow celebrants ILTA gets to 40 too 11

Prime mover Seaco and the tank container business 12 Change is a challenge Exis and its roots in HCB 14 Who calls the tune? TT Club and the role of insurers 16

DIGITISATION All over the world IMT’s solar-powered solution 20

On a mission Chemical Express rides the digital wave 22 Get connected Implico links truck to terminal 23 Keep on tracking Savvy extends connectivity 24 Caps get smart Packwise ready to roll 26 Get with the program ICHCA wants port harmonisation 28 Right on time Gebrüder Weiss offers ETA 29

TANKS & LOGISTICS Down the hatch ITCO advises on tank entry 30

Over the hills Hupac ups traffic despite problems 32 News bulletin – tanks and logistics 33

STORAGE TERMINALS Dedicated to fuel Inter improves Gothenburg terminal 35 Building resilience Oikos responds to diesel changes 36 News bulletin – storage terminals 38

SUSTAINABILITY Pulling together Antwerp cluster targets CO² reductions 41 Deep in data Abbey finds the upside of lockdown 42 Better get ready ABS looks at the future for fuels 44 Flex those specs Stena Bulk reduces emissions again 45 Green river Batteries for barges 46

CHEMICAL DISTRIBUTION Rebooting Responsible Care Fecc offers tools for implementation 48

Editor–in–Chief Peter Mackay, dgsa Email: peter.mackay@hcblive.com Tel: +44 (0) 7769 685 085 Campaigns Director Craig Vye Email: craig.vye@hcblive.com Tel: +44 (0) 208 371 4014

Commercial Director Ben Newall Email: ben.newall@hcblive.com Tel: +44 (0) 208 371 4036 Production Manager Binita Wilton Email: binita.wilton@hcblive.com Tel: +44 (0) 208 371 4041 Empty quarter CBA survey reveals the worst 50 News bulletin – chemical distribution 52

COURSES & CONFERENCES Eyes in the skies DGOT offers online alternative Conference diary

SAFETY Incident Log 58

Master plan Labelmaster gets the data straighter 60 News bulletin – safety 62

REGULATIONS Testing, testing GHS experts stay in line

BACK PAGE Not otherwise specified

NEXT MONTH North America special issue - Storage terminals - Land transport - Inland waterways - Regulations

Managing Editor Stephen Mitchell Email: stephen.mitchell@hcblive.com Tel: +44 (0) 208 371 4045

Designer Jochen Viegener

Cargo Media Ltd Marlborough House 298 Regents Park Road London N3 2SZ ISSN 2059-5735 www.hcblive.com

HCB Monthly is published by Cargo Media Ltd. While the information and articles in HCB are published in good faith and every effort is made to check accuracy, readers should verify facts and statements directly with official sources before acting upon them, as the publisher can accept no responsibility in this respect.