Motor Transport 10 July 2017

Sharp ■ Informed ■ Challenging

10.7.17

the NEXT GENERATION SCANIA

PREMIUM REDEFINED Well Done to our 2017 Winners Date for the Di ary 4 July 2018 MTAWARDS.CO.UK #MTAwards2017

NEWS INSIDE Teething troubles

Major Road Network plans get thumbs up

By Chris Tindall

Habitat contract causing problems for Panther p3

Lights out

Operators still in the dark over TfL’s direct vision p4

Snail’s pace

O-licence reform in the slow lane, says FTA

Councils to get access to billion-pound funding pot for roads

p6

The government is to effectively double the number of roads and motorways given top funding status by creating a new Major Road Network (MRN).

It will use vehicle excise duty (VED) to pay for highway upkeep in a move welcomed by industry groups.

The plans, which will go out to consultation later this year, form part of the new Transport Investment Strategy.

This includes a proportion of the VED-funded National Roads Fund, which will be allocated to pay for the upkeep of the most important local

authority A-roads.

Transport secretary Chris Grayling said the MRN would mirror the success of the Strategic Road Network (SRN) and enable improvements such as bypasses to be built around congested towns and villages.

It would form a middle tier between the SRN and the remainder of the local road network.

The RHA said the proposals would reduce journey times across the country and bring relief to those disrupted by HGV traffic on main roads in rural areas: “Unlike the many thousands of motorists who use the road

network every day, the UK’s roads and motorways are a haulier’s workplace,” said RHA chief executive Richard Burnett.

The Local Government Association said: “This funding could help improve existing local roads for which there is a £12bn repairs backlog. However, this can only help if it is new money, and not a substitute for existing funding.”

The FTA welcomed the news. “The government focus on investing in roads, which will deliver improved performance, economic growth and reduce bottlenecks, is correct,” said FTA head of national policy Christopher Snelling.

All MT Awards images: Tom Lee/Karen Hatch

YOUR MOVE: Comedian John Bishop wowed the 1,500-strong audience at the Motor Transport Awards last week (5 July), handing out 23 trophies to some very happy winners.

DPD picked up three awards – Customer Care, Innovation and Home Delivery Operator of the Year. Wincanton was named Haulier of the Year, McCulla (Ireland) took the Temperature Controlled Operator of the Year title, Expect Distribution received the Business Excellence Award, the Apprenticeship of the Year trophy went to Cemex UK, and Hermes walked away with the Operational and Compliance Award.

Gabby Logan auctioned off three interns, Des Evans, Richard Burnett and Gary Forster, which raised £15,250 on top of the £9,177 made on the charity casino for Transaid.

■ See page 23 for full details of all the 2017 awards winners.

Birds losses are laid bare Birds Transport and Logistics made a pre-tax loss of £2.4m last year, according to recently published accounts. The accounts for the year to 30 September 2016 reveal turnover had slumped from £20.8m in 2015 to £14.8m last year.

Owner Ballyvesey confirmed the haulier’s demise in May (MT 8 May), with its remaining transport operations transferred to sister company Montgomery Transport.

The directors expressed their disappointment at the performance in the accounts, citing the loss of key contracts as the reason for mounting losses.

They said: “We continued to cut costs and tried to improve efficiency but post-year end we decided to restructure the organisation to focus on warehousing opportunities in Oldbury and less on road transport.

“With that in mind the company name was changed to Midlands Warehousing on 13 December 2016.”

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Wincanton hits trading troubles Wincanton has said it experienced “trading profit headwinds” in April, May and June, but pre-tax profit will remain in line with expectations.

At its AGM, shareholders were told: “In the period since the year-end, we have seen year-over-year growth in revenue primarily driven by organic growth in the retail and consumer sector.

“The group has experienced weaker than expected performance in some of its transport contracts and these have created some trading profit headwinds in the first quarter.

“These are expected to be largely mitigated by continued operational efficiencies across the business during the remainder of the year.”

Downton signs deal with Smiths News CM Downton has secured its first contract with Connect Group’s Smiths News.

Smiths News, Tuffnells Parcel Express sister company, has a 55% market share of the news distribution industry.

Downton will perform multiple daily trunks of magazines between a Smiths News magazine hub in Hemel Hempstead and depots in Stevenage and Hornsey.

Panther Warehousing customers complain after software switchover creates issues

Habitat contract causes problems for Panther

By Emma Shone

Disruption to retailer Habitat’s home deliveries has put Panther Warehousing in the firing line of its customers.

Teething issues with new warehousing software after it moved site have caused what Habitat described as disruptions to customers, leading to poor reports of Panther on reviews site TrustPilot about failed deliveries and misleading estimated delivery information.

One dissatisfied customer, Dave Young, told MT: “It took four failed attempts and eight fruitless hours waiting at home before I got my furniture.

“Habitat eventually sorted out my problem, but many other unhappy customers are still awaiting goods they’ve paid for. Panther’s staff are on the frontline taking flak and the brand risks being dragged down by its client.”

Panther MD Colin McCarthy said the two-man delivery firm was doing all it could to support its customer “in this difficult period”.

“During the past four

months [Habitat] has been transferring to a new warehouse and introducing a new computer system.

“We’ve been supporting Habitat through its changes and challenges.”

McCarthy said he could not confirm the technological fault lay with Habitat, but added: “Our computer system has not had any downtime for the past four years.

“We are working with Habitat to clear the problems it may – or may not – have.”

Habitat is part of the Home Retail Group, which was bought by Sainsbury’s last September.

Habitat said its separation from Homebase, which was sold to Australian firm Bunnings Warehouse in February 2016, had required it to have to move to a new warehouse.

A Habitat spokesman told MT: “Following the sale of Homebase to Bunnings, as part of an IT separation project between brands it has been

necessary to migrate Habitat onto its own warehouse management system.

“As part of this separation, Habitat has been required to appoint a two-man home delivery partner in Panther.

“The large-scale warehouse transition and integration of Panther has led to a minor amount of disruption and delay in terms of deliveries to customers but has been publicised on our website to make customers aware before purchase.”

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The London policy has left operators unsure whether to buy new or retrofit fleets

Operators in the dark over TfL’s direct vision

By Hayley Pink

Operators continue to face frustration and uncertainty over what the Direct Vision Standard (DVS) will look like when applied to the truck market.

TfL’s proposed DVS will rate trucks over 12 tonnes on a scale of zero to five depending on the level of visibility the driver has from his seat.

By 2020, all zero-rated trucks will be banned from the capital, and by 2024, only those with a three-star rating or above will be permitted entry.

The aim of the scheme, proposed last year by London mayor Sadiq Khan, is to improve safety for vulnerable road users and remove what he terms “dangerous lorries” from the capital’s roads.

But a vital component of DVS – the star rated list of models – has still yet to be published.

Both the FTA and RHA have warned the lack of detail avail-

able to the industry is delaying what the London’s ultra-low emission zone (ULEZ), now planned for April 2019, is hoping to achieve.

Natalie Chapman, head of policy for London, South East and East of England at the FTA, said: “This is causing a huge amount of frustration and uncertainty.

“The point of the ULEZ is to increase the uptake of Euro-6. But this lack of clarity is having the opposite effect because people aren’t buying new trucks.”

She added with only two and a half years until the deadline, manufacturers may struggle to meet demand once vehicle lists are published, particularly if specialist bodybuilding is needed.

The RHA, in its official ULEZ consultation response, published last month, said the lack of DVS vehicle information has “placed the industry in an almost impossible posi-

tion” to start adapting to the ULEZ proposals.

Tottenham-based haulier O’Donovan Waste Disposal said the misalignment of the two London consultations has “without a shadow of a doubt” stalled the company’s fleet purchasing plans.

“How can we place an order when we don’t know what the standard looks like?” asked MD Jacqueline O’Donovan.

The good news for the industry is that TfL has confirmed the data gathering is complete, with Euro-6 truck

lists due imminently.

Ben Plowden, director of surface strategy and planning at TfL, said: “It took longer than anticipated to gather all the required direct vision data.

However this has been completed and the first DVS look-up list will be published as soon as possible.”

TfL is due to complete an impact assessment this autumn. By spring 2018 a statutory consultation on the appropriate regulatory measure, to enable a ban or restriction, will be launched.

TNT operations down after systems hit by Petya TNT was still working to recover normal operations, as MT went to press, after its IT systems were hit by a widescale cyber attack.

In a statement, the Fed-Exowned group said: “TNT continues to implement contingency plans to mitigate

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the impact of the virus.”

The virus hit the operator last month (27 June), causing disruption to TNT’s operations and communications systems.

The operator said there had been no breach of data.

The statement said it was continuing to pick up and

deliver shipments and team members across the globe were working to help customers. It warned that despite this, “customers may still experience some service delays and restrictions in the short term”.

TNT added it had no measure of the financial effect of

the attack, but thought it could be “material”.

The cyber attack is believed to have been part of a Petya malware outbreak that hit software worldwide on 27 June.

Bullet Express had four customer consignments in the TNT network as MT went to press, and MD Dave McCutcheon said he had no idea where they are or when they will be delivered.

“Customers are going bananas,” he said, “and we have no way of knowing or finding out where the freight is. It must be one of the biggest issues I’ve ever known in transport. You’d think a company the size of TNT would get it back up in a couple of days. But a week? That’s getting out of control.”

Hub and spoke network saves the day for BCA The introduction of a hub and spoke network has helped offset the cost pressures being felt in road transport, BCA Automotive Services said.

BCA Automotive Services, the logistics division of BCA Automotive, incorporates the business that was formerly Stobart Automotive. In January BCA, which runs more than 700 vehicle transporters, restructured its supply chain operations following its acquisitions of Paragon Automotive and car preparation firm Ambrosetti last year.

For the year ending 2 April 2017 turnover in its Automotive Services division stood at £303.5m, compared with £102.9m in the year-ending 3 April 2016, incorporating a full year of Stobart Automotive and other acquisition activity.

Adjusted EBITDA stood at £17.2m, up from £4.2m in the previous year.

BCA executive chairman Avril Palmer-Baunack said: “In July 2016 we acquired Paragon Group, the leading provider of de-fleet and refurbishment vehicle services in the UK, and an important component towards achieving our vision to be the leading, integrated, automotive services business.

“In March 2017 we acquired an alloy wheel refurbishment business, Supreme Wheels Direct, adding to our range of in-house services. These acquisitions are consistent with our strategic aim to provide a seamless and efficient onestop shop for the passage of vehicles throughout their life cycle,” Palmer-Baunack added.

In its preliminary results it told investors the cost pressures experienced in UK logistics in the previous financial year were addressed “largely through greater stability of the driver team”.

It added a change in the business model at BCA saw the roll out of a hub and spoke network, a process that enabled the use of the in-house fleet for longer distance moves.

Profit, it said, improved as a result of these actions.

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FTA says the government has failed to act on the suggestion of a single UK-wide O-licence

O-licence reform in slow lane

By Ashleigh Wight

The FTA has accused the government of dragging its feet over O-licence reform, two years after a review into the traffic commissioners’ (TCs) work was published.

James Firth, the FTA’s head of licensing policy and compliance information, said it was disappointed that a review of the legislation governing the O-licensing regime was not announced in the Queen’s speech.

The DfT identified a review of road transport licensing legislation as an area that needed taking forward in its

response to the Triennial Review of the TCs in 2015.

Firth said: “The TCs are telling us that a lack of reform of this legislation is the key barrier to improving licence processing times.

“The system has failed to keep pace with the dynamic nature of the logistics industry and is stifling progress and growth. Our members have customers waiting but their business is paralysed until the licence is granted.”

The FTA claimed its members often wait up to nine weeks for a decision on an O-licence application. One

reason behind the delay is the requirement for operators to place an advert in a newspaper circulating in the vicinity to the operating centre within 21 days of the application being made.

Former senior TC Beverley Bell also identified the newspaper advert requirement as an area she hoped to see abolished.

Firth said the government has also failed to act on the suggestion of a single O-licence covering all UK traffic areas. “A national operator with eight O-licences [one for each traffic area] has to go

through seven more applications than it should,” he said.

He suggested that the O-licence disc could also be abolished as the system becomes digitised. “We saw the abolition of the vehicle excise duty disc a few years ago. A lot of people are asking whether the O-licence system should go that way.”

A spokesman for the Office of the Traffic Commissioner (OTC) said TCs face three key challenges: fee reform; recruitment; and legislative reform.

He said: “TCs recognise that meaningful improvements to the regulatory approach can

only be achieved through legislative change, which requires continued engagement with the DfT to support those reforms going forward. While this work continues, TCs have made progress in reviewing their working practices and procedures – in conjunction with senior managers in the OTC – to further improve the service to operators and the industry, particularly regarding processing applications.”

He said that since April, the OTC has been working towards making a decision on an O-licence application in approximately seven weeks.

ASCG boosts fleet with 56 Mercedes Actroses Advanced Supply Chain Group (ASCG) has refreshed its fleet with 56 MercedesBenz Actros with 450hp and StreamSpace cabs, in a deal valued at £5.7m.

The vehicles, which have Vision Techniques’ anti-roll away BrakeSafe system, were provided by Hexagon Leasing under a three-year contract.

The two firms have been working together for more than 10 years.

ASCG chief financial officer Glyn Rogan said that while it had considered the recently launched Scania and Daf models, Mercedes-Benz still offered the best product.

“Mercedes-Benz trucks are excellent quality, they’re driver friendly and extremely reliable.

“We are not brand loyal but we are loyal to fuel efficiency, reliability and a good environment for drivers, and Mercedes-Benz delivers that.”

Each unit is fitted with rearview, side- and forward-facing cameras. Rogan said: “We chose the cameras for driver safety and to monitor incidents, but mainly to protect drivers.”

The firm has recently restructured several operating divisions under a single parent company – Advanced Supply Chain Group – creating a business with an annual turnover of £44.9m in the year to 30 November 2015 and a pre-tax profit of £1.6m, with interests in transport, warehousing, freight forwarding

and consultancy.

As part of the restructuring, ASCG has appointed two directors and a financial officer: Ben Balfour; Mohsin Chohan; and Sandy Hunter respectively.

Rogan said: “We are a rapidly expanding firm. The new directorships were made to strengthen the senior management team. Ben Balfour [recently promoted head of operations and to the board] has been with the business for 20 years.

“It is our policy to promote and develop from within the business, and these promotions have created more strength, helping Mike [Danby CEO] and I to develop the business.”

Norman appointed freight minister in election rejig Jesse Norman MP (left) has taken on the role of secretary of state for roads, local transport and devolution at the DfT. The MP for Hereford and South Hertfordshire’s responsibilities include road freight, Highways England and transport technology, replacing John Hayes MP. Norman previously worked as an under-secretary of state at the Department for Bus6 MotorTransport MTR_100717_006.indd 6

iness, Energy and Industrial Strategy. He made his first appearance in the role last month when he met Transport for the North’s chairman and chief executive. Following the visit, he said: “The great towns and cities of the North have a proud history of pioneering transport developments, and an exciting future as part of the northern powerhouse. I look forward to working with

Transport for the North as it identifies its transport priorities to drive economic growth.”

Former roads minister Hayes – who it was previously thought would retain his freight role – remains at the DfT, responsible for transport legislation following a reorganisation of duties after the general election. His role includes liaison and co-ordination with parliament. He is

also responsible for skills in the transport sector.

The remaining DfT ministerial team, working under transport secretary Chris Grayling, consists of Paul Maynard MP and Lord Callanan, who became a life peer in September 2014.

Maynard has the rail brief, including HS2, while Callanan’s role include aviation and transport security.

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Road, sea and air businesses likely targets as Europa Worldwide eyes operators with £20m to £60m turnover

Baxter on acquisition trail

By Christopher Walton

Europa Worldwide has outlined an acquisition strategy that would see it target operators, as well as air and sea interests, as MD Andrew Baxter plans to build the biggest business he can.

Financed by a combination of profit and borrowing, Europa will look at road freight operators with an annual turnover between £20m and £60m as Baxter adds to a business that, he told MT, had seen turnover rise 25% for the yearending in May. Baxter said: “We don’t want to do things too small because it is too much of a distraction for the level of turnover; we wouldn’t want to do anything above £60m. We would acquire those operators, integrate them and move onto the next acquisition. If we make an acquisition we can get to a £200m turnover by the end of next year.”

For the year ended 31 December 2016, Europa recorded a turnover of £116.4m (2015: £96m) and pre-tax profit rose to £2.3m from a loss of £1.6m the previous year.

Baxter told MT that the busi-

ness was on track to finish 2017 with a turnover north of £140m, and that was before the recruitment of 28 sales people.

“Ideally we would like to do one acquisition a year,” Baxter

said. “We are open-minded in terms of those acquisitions.

We could do something from an air and sea perspective. And from a road freight perspective we are interested in acquiring regional companies, integrat-

ing them into our network, running a daily line into our facility and giving them access to our network. There are a lot of companies of that nature.

We believe this is a model we can replicate.”

Europa trunks all UK freight into its 290,000ft² hub in Dartford, which it opened in 2015, having closed its facilities in Erith and Birmingham.

While caveating the statement by saying “I may be talking rubbish and I might never get anywhere near it” Baxter said he hoped to get Europa’s turnover to £1bn in the UK. “We might fail. But if we get to £200m with a reasonable level of organic growth and acquisitions [by 2018], can we get from £200m to £400m in three or four years? We will see.” n To listen to the full interview with Andrew Baxter, go to the Motor Transport podcast at motortransport.co.uk.

Pall-Ex opens Bulgaria network Pall-Ex is continuing its drive into Europe with the launch of a network in Bulgaria.

The operation, a partnership with Bulgarian logistics firm Econt, is based at a central hub in Plovdiv and has an 18-strong membership.

Bulgaria is the latest addition to Pall-Ex’s European network, which includes the UK, Italy, Spain, Portugal, France, Romania and Benelux territories.

The network reignited its push for European expansion last year after a lull.

Pavel Penchev, Pall-Ex Bulgaria MD, said the network is creating more structure in the Bulgarian freight market.

“Compared with other countries in Europe, the domestic market is fairly unstructured and we often see freight being delivered through courier networks or long-distance multi-drops, which can be slower and more expensive.

“We see the demand for pallet services increasing in the region and we are keen to revolutionise the market with Pall-Ex Bulgaria,” he added.

Connect completes care sector sale to RM Tuffnells owner Connect Group has completed the sale of its care and education division to education resource provider RM. Connect’s sale of the division for £64.4m, including £56.5m cash and a deficit of £7.9m relating to the business’s pension fund, was announced in February.

In April the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) launched an investigation into whether the deal would lead to a “substantial lessening of competition” in the sector. However it received unconditional clearance from the CMA earlier this month.

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Movianto fleet refresh kicks in with 32 Daf CFs Healthcare specialist operator Movianto has taken delivery of 32 Daf CFs in the first stage of a fleet refresh over the next 12 months.

The CFs were supplied by Close Brothers Vehicle Hire and will be used to trunk product around Movianto’s UK network as well as completing wholesaler deliveries.

The next stage will see the replacement of its rigid fleet, which it uses for hospital deliveries, followed by its van fleet,

which it uses for deliveries to pharmacies and GP surgeries.

David Tinsley, regional vicepresident at Movianto, said the UK healthcare market was changing rapidly following a combination of increasingly stringent supply chain legislation; pressure on the NHS meaning suppliers must do more when supplying to hospitals; greater demand for just-in-time deliveries; and a proliferation of delivery points needing to be serviced

with pharmaceuticals.

“Our investment in vehicles, systems and our people will ensure we continue to connect the world’s leading life science companies to the point of care to enable better patient outcomes,” Tinsley said.

The refresh programme follows a two-year period at Movianto that has seen it invest in telematics; forward-facing cameras; on-board temperature monitoring and new PoD handhelds for drivers.

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Department to work alongside industry to speed up transition

These articles first appeared on MT’s sister site freightinthecity. com. You can sign up for our free, fortnightly newsletter there for all the latest on safe, sustainable, deliveries in urban areas.

Fleet power switch could save the capital £900m Switching 10% of London’s truck and van fleet from diesel to electric by 2021 could save the capital £900m in reduced health effect and abatement costs, researchers have claimed.

The shift would also remove 402 tonnes of NOx, 3.8 tonnes of particulate matter and 284,000 tonnes of greenhouse gas from the capital’s streets.

The results were presented at the final Frevue conference last month (21 June) after a fourand-a-half year EU scheme to assess the viability of urban electric freight vehicles.

Professor John Polak, director of the Urban System Laboratory at Imperial College London, undertook research to assess the environmental effect of electric trucks.

This included direct results from the Frevue vehicles taking part in the trial, traffic modelling to assess future effect depending on electric freight vehicle uptake levels, and the resulting cost savings to be realised.

He surveyed hundreds of participants from the eight

Frevue partner cities: Amsterdam, Lisbon, London, Madrid, Milan, Oslo, Rotterdam and Stockholm. This included feedback from drivers and fleet managers, through to end customers and infrastructure providers.

Polak’s findings include: ■ drivers found electric vehicles to be a positive experience, enjoying the instant power, quietness and simple operation; ■ only 15% of drivers reported any range anxiety; ■ fleet managers found the electric vehicles integrated easily into existing depot routines, with good reliability reported for electric vans and improved reliability for larger electric trucks after an initial trial and error period; ■ approximately half of logistics firms surveyed said they have committed to more electric freight vehicles in the short-term due to positive experiences; however, 30% said there is no plan as “better products are needed”.

■ Polak’s research presentation is available at frevue.eu.

Charge wins backing for Robopilot Charge Automotive has won Innovate UK backing to develop autonomous driving functionality for its new range of electric freight vehicles.

Dubbed Robopilot, the project will see Charge leading a consortium to bring autonomous racing technology to the LCV market.

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Robopilot combines input from sensors around the vehicle – such as radars, cameras, ultrasonics and lidars (light sensors to measure the distance to a target object) – with mapping, artificial intelligence and fleet information, which is then acted on by autonomous software.

DfT sets eyes on future fuels

By Emma Shone

The DfT sees electric and hydrogen vehicles as the fuels of the future for the freight industry and wants to work with it to “get this sector moving up to speed”.

Vicky Edmonds, deputy director for environmental strategy at the Df T (right), said the department was not clear on how it will make freight a zero-emission industry, and asked whether more could be done in the short-term while it looks for the answers.

She asked: “Are we really at the limit of what we think the industry can do when it comes to emissions behaviours and technologies, and how can we in government support that?

“Long-term we think the future is a mixture of electric batteries – battery technology is improving fast and we hope we could see 44-tonne trucks running on batteries – and hydrogen fuel cells. There’s a

problem with supply but how can we handle that?”

She added that the government wants to think more on dynamic charging on motorways. “We’ve not done much with it in the UK and we need to start thinking about our role in that.

“Are we going to have tram lines running along sections of motorways and city centres?

Or are we going to have inductive loops under the road?

Does industry think it’s a good idea or a bad idea?

“These are the conversations we’d like to start having with you, about how we get this sector moving up to speed.”

One of the big obstacles to getting electric trucks on the road is the size of batteries versus the height and weight restrictions HGVs have to meet in the UK. However, Edmonds said the DfT will not change these to encourage electric vehicle design. “The discussion is that the batteries would be enormous; the idea is that technology and the development of batteries is going to improve so much that you won’t necessarily have that problem. It’s about what the future looks like for the industry and how we get there, not to tackle an immediate hurdle,” she said.

■ Read more at freightinthecity.com.

Cargopod trial comes to an end A trial of a fully autonomous electric-powered vehicle – dubbed the Cargopod – conducting last-mile deliveries for Ocado in Greenwich concluded this month (3 July).

The vehicle (pictured), which has a payload of 128kg and requires two employees to accompany it at all times, has delivered groceries to more than 100 customers. Its use, however, has been limited to the Royal Arsenal development in the London borough, which has no public highways.

It was developed alongside Oxford-based artificial intelligence firm Oxbotica and is part of a trial led by the Transport Research Laboratory (TRL) and its Gateway project (Greenwich Automated Transport Environment).

David Sharp, head of Ocado’s 10x department (which aims to make things 10 times better), said the trial was designed to take autonomous commercial vehicle technology to the “edge of what is practical”.

He said the technology behind the Cargopod – particularly its software platform Selenium – could be scaled up to larger CVs to improve payload capacity. n See Highwayman, page 14, for more on Cargopod.

MotorTransport 9 05/07/2017 14:40:26

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The 1.2 million ft2 Bristol hub creates 1,000 jobs for DHL Supply Chain, which delivers to 140 stores

DHL opens £100m DC for The Range

By Christopher Walton

DHL Supply Chain has opened a £100m, 1.2 million ft2 distribution hub in Avonmouth, Bristol, for The Range.

The site was funded by The Range founder Chris Dawson, and creates 1,000 jobs at DHL, including shift managers,

stock controllers and picking personnel.

Dawson said: “This innovative DC will allow us to expand in Europe while evolving our e-commerce division and providing a better service in store and online to local and global customers. It will deliver

long-term service contracts for local suppliers and inject millions of pounds into the Bristol economy, having already supported local firms during construction.”

DHL and The Range have worked together for five years, with DHL delivering to 140

UK stores. It also runs the e-commerce DC in the Midlands for The Range, which plans to open a further 30 stores this year.

John Boulter, MD for retail UK and Ireland at DHL Supply Chain, said: “We are delighted to build on our rela-

tionship with the management of the Avonmouth DC, the fifth site under DHL’s management.

“This DC is set to substantially improve the logistics infrastructure and reduce mileage and carbon emissions by 30%.”

Pall-Ex adds to European network New, KRONE ISOWALL ü

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Pall-Ex is continuing its drive into Europe with the launch of a network in Bulgaria.

The operation, launched in partnership with Bulgarian logistics firm Econt last month, is based at a central hub in Plovdiv and has an 18-strong membership.

Bulgaria is the latest addition to Pall-Ex’s European network, which includes the UK, Italy, Spain, Portugal, France, Romania and Benelux territories. The network reignited its European expansion last autumn after a lull.

Pavel Penchev, Pall-Ex Bulgaria MD, said the network is creating more structure in the Bulgarian freight market.

“Compared with other countries in Europe, the domestic market is unstructured and we often see freight delivered through courier networks or long-distance multi-drops that can be slower and expensive.

“We see the demand for pallet services increasing throughout the region, and we are keen to revolutionise the market with Pall-Ex Bulgaria,” he said.

FTA holds May to Severn Crossing vow

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The government must guarantee it will scrap the Severn Crossing tolls as promised, the FTA has said.

Prime minister Theresa May pledged to scrap the charge last month as part of her election campaign.

The FTA wants the govern-

ment to uphold that promise, now the election is over. It costs £20 to cross the bridge in an HGV and £13.50 in a van.

The bridge is due to enter public ownership at the end of the year or early 2018 but lower tolls are to be introduced, rather than scrapped.

LETTERS: Write to: Motor Transport, Road Transport Media, Chancery House, St Nicholas Way, Sutton, SM1 1JB. Email: chris.druce@roadtransport.co.uk. Please include a name, position, address and contact details. Letters may appear on our website: motortransport.co.uk. MT reserves the right to edit letters.

In your article ‘Come what may’ by Tony Pain (MT 19 June), he talks about the Ford Model T dealing a blow to electric cars and how cheap oil saw electric vehicles disappear, with diesel displacing steam for road freight between the 1930s and 1950s. However, I remember Bordon Dairies was using them [electric] into the 1960s. They were powerful and took a load as well as a Transit.

■ Arthur W Rudd, Passfield

10 MotorTransport MTR_100717_010.indd 10

10.7.17 04/07/2017 16:31:23

News extra

motortransport.co.uk

The rocky road to van regulation The use of vans to transport goods is on the rise, partly fuelled by the growth of internet shopping and the HGV driver shortage.

Latest DfT figures show that there were nearly 3.9 million vans under 3.5 tonnes on UK roads in 2016, up 74% on 1996 levels. Contrast this to the 15% rise in HGVs in the same period. Van numbers are also increasing faster than any other vehicle on UK roads, up 4.1% in 2016 compared with a 2.1% rise in HGVs in the same period.

In 2015, the DVSA warned that the sector posed the greatest threat to road safety after revealing that a staggering 88.5% of vans had been found to be illegally overloaded, compared with 84% the previous year. That level of performance, combined with surging van numbers, has led to calls for stronger regulation of van operators who, unlike HGV operators, are exempt from operator licensing rules, Driver CPC training and specialist driving licence requirements.

Continental problem

Nor is the problem confined to the UK, with the European Commission (EC) reporting a similar surge in vans across mainland Europe. This has prompted the EC to propose greater regulation of the sector as part of its mobility package of legislative measures on

10.7.17 MTR_100717_011.indd 11

transport, published last month (MT 26 June).

The proposals on vans require firms operating vehicles under 3.5 tonnes for hire and reward to be subject – for the first time – to O-licensing rules on financial standing and establishment (see box).

However van operators will remain exempt from the other two key principles of O-licensing – the requirements of good repute and professional competence. Nor are own account van operators included.

Wrong solution

Announcing the plans, the EC said the proposals aim to “contribute to the professionalisation of the sector”. But do the proposals go far enough?

RHA deputy national policy director Duncan Buchanan believes the EC has grasped the problem but come up with the wrong solution. He said: “The EC is trying to address a growing problem across Europe of the increasing use of a class of vehicle that is competing with hauliers in the transport of goods, but that is not subject to the same regulations and that is evolving into a grey market. But these proposals are not the answer to that problem.”

He argued that the EC has failed to tackle a number of key issues. “I believe repute is far more important than financial standing, which is just about bureaucracy. Exempting van operators from the requirements of repute is a serious omission. Without that requirement, how can DVSA properly enforce this sector?” he said.

Buchanan also criticised the lack of any proposal to require van drivers to use tachographs.

“We have a class of van going around Europe carrying

goods long-distance, some of which are equipped with sleeping areas and possibly operated by drivers working excessive hours, but they are not subject to any enforceable rules. That has not been addressed,” he said.

Existing rules

James Firth, FTA head of licensing policy (below left), said: “Our basic position is that we don’t need new rules. We need to better enforce the existing rules for vans on overloading and roadworthiness. The extra burden of monitoring these new regulations will further prevent the DVSA from effectively enforcing those existing rules.”

Firth also criticised the exemption of operators using vans for own-account work.

“Many of our members also operate vans and, as responsible companies, will comply with these regulations, but they see it as more unnecessary paperwork. However, these proposals don’t apply to small operators such as painters, plumbers and builders, and yet this is a sector that we know has problems with compliance,” he said.

Vehicle renting association BVRLA echoed these concerns. A spokesman told MT: “These proposals would add a significant administrative burden to UK operators and government agencies and we know that there is little appetite among UK policymakers to bring the van sector in line with operator licensing.”

Like the FTA, it calls for a more targeted enforcement of existing rules, particularly on overloading and roadworthiness.

Simon Baker, head of compliance at CitySprint, said: “We welcome legislation that

Press Association

As figures reveal a surge in overloaded vans across Europe, Carol Millett examines EU proposals to bring greater regulation to the sector and their potential effect on the haulage industry makes UK roads safer places.

However, we already operate rigorous, ongoing driver and vehicle checks to ensure the safety of our fleet and believe any new regulations must avoid punishing self-employed couriers and van drivers in other sectors.

“These individuals often do not have the resources of large companies to accommodate an additional administrative burden, and in many cases are already complying with high standards of the companies by which they are sub-contracted.”

Interpretation

There is also confusion on the proposal’s interpretation of the rates of equity required to demonstrate financial standing. On the RHA’s interpretation, hauliers running fleets of vans are in danger of having to meet much higher rates.

Buchanan said: “According

to these proposals, while those firms that solely run vans will be subject to a financial standing rate of €1,800 (£1,578) for the first vehicle and €900 for each additional vehicle, firms that run both trucks and vans will be subject to a rate of €9,000 for the first vehicle and €5,000 for each additional vehicle used.

“That has huge financial implications for companies that run both HGVs and large fleets of vans, and will come as a nasty shock to most. I can only think that this is careless drafting.”

However, the FTA believes the wording is ambiguous. “If we are going to interpret this proposal as a two-tier system, we must interpret that it is already the case that such vans are not currently exempt from the Access to the Occupation rules, which, demonstrably, they are,” said Firth.

EC PROPOSALS ON VAN REGULATIONS Financial standing ■ Financial standing and establishment requirements will apply to all operators of vans undertaking hire or reward operations but not own account.

■ Financial standing rates for firms that solely run vans are set at €1,800 for the first vehicle and €900 for each subsequent vehicle.

■ Depending on interpretation, financial standing rate for companies that have both fleets of trucks and vans could be €9,000 for the first vehicle and €5,000 for each additional vehicle used.

■ Operators do not have to pay these funds but must be able to demonstrate they have them available.

■ Member states will be required to monitor the new regulations and report on them annually to the Commission.

Establishment ■ Van operators must have premises at which core business documents are kept.

■ The proposals will also require that the following data is collected on the Electronic Register of Road Undertakings: the registration numbers of vehicles at the disposal of the operator; number of employees; assets, liabilities, equity and turnover in the last two years; risk rating.

MotorTransport 11 06/07/2017 15:10:04

Focus: Business barometer

motortransport.co.uk

Patchy growth, cheap fuel and a contrary labour market

Confusion reigns

10 8 6 4

GDP

2 0 -2 -4

Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1

% change, latest quarter on previous quarter

GDP DATA

2012

2014

2013

2015

2016

2017

3 2 1 0 -1 -2 -3 -4

Oil and fuel

-5 -6

Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1

% change, latest quarter on previous quarter

HAULAGE RATES

2012

2014

2013

2015

2016

2017

OIL PRICE 50.33

Apr

May

45.80

52.31

51.59

54.87

54.58

44.73

$ per barrel

50

53.29

60

40

The preliminary estimate of UK gross domestic product (GDP) for Q2 2017 will be released on 26 July. It is keenly awaited: we’ve seen surprising results in the last two quarters. GDP growth (compared with the previous quarter) in Q4 2016 was a healthy 0.7%, higher than many analysts expected. But growth of 0.2% in Q1 this year was lower than most forecasts. Maybe Q2’s data will provide a clearer picture of the economy.

There is little reason for optimism.

Q1’s weak growth is blamed largely on slow household spending, attributed to rising prices due to the pound’s loss of value. With inflation gathering pace in Q2 – retail price index (RPI) inflation hit a five-year high of 3.7% in May – the outlook for household spending is poor.

When you add uncertainty stemming from the general election result and Brexit negotiations, the odds appear stacked against robust GDP growth.

The UK economy will have had its slowest first half since 2012 if the Q2 figure is 0.5% or less.

30 20 10 0 Nov 16 Dec

12 MotorTransport MTR_100717_012.indd 12

Jan17 Feb

Mar

June

The average price of Brent crude oil fell for the second successive month in June, dropping to just under $46 (£35.50) per barrel, the lowest since last November. Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) members – and non-OPEC Russia – agreed in May that a six-month production cap that was due to end in June will continue until next March.

The cap should have firmed up the oil price but seems ineffective, largely because global oil stocks remain high.

The median value of many forecasts made six months ago indicated Brent would average $57 in 2017. The actual average in the first half is only $51.60.

Last month the US government’s Energy Information Administration (EIA) – which has a reasonably good forecasting record – reported that it expects oil stocks to fall quite quickly in the next few months, pushing up Brent’s Q3 average to $54. By then, says the EIA, the market will anticipate that the higher price will trigger more production in countries not bound by OPEC’s cap, so Brent will slip back to $52 in Q4. If that scenario proves correct, bulk diesel is likely to average around 93ppl in the remainder of 2017,

providing the pound-dollar exchange rate does not shift significantly. The EIA says Brent will rise next year, from $52 in Q1 to $58 by Q4.

Haulage rates

Haulage rates have been edging up in the last couple of quarters, according to provisional figures gathered from hauliers supplying data to the government’s Services Producer Price Indices (SPPI). Rates in the first quarter of this year were 0.3% higher than the previous quarter. This is exactly in line with the aggregate quarterly rise for all the services in the SPPI, ranging from cleaning and security through to accountancy and waste disposal. But the longer-term picture for road haulage rates is rather different. Whereas the annual rise (Q1 2017 versus Q1 2016) across the whole SPPI is 1%, haulage rates in Q1 2017 were exactly the same as the previous year. This stagnation in rates has occurred despite the 15% hike in the diesel price during that time and the need to offset even very modest wage increases.

Earnings and employment

The labour market is not going the way most expected. Late last year, when the unemployment rate had dropped to just 4.9%, most projections suggested unemployment would rise during 2017 to reach 5.7% by Q3. In fact, it has continued to fall. The latest data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) shows the unemployment rate stood at 4.6% in the period from February to April 2017. It has not been lower since 1975. ONS data shows there were 464,000 more UK jobs in March than a year earlier.

Manufacturing jobs are down by 0.5% but transport and storage is one of the stronger growth areas, up by 3.1% – 52,000 new jobs.

This level of employment typically is accompanied by strong wage growth, but this is not the case. The ONS data reveals average regular pay (excluding bonuses) in February to April 2017 was only 1.7% up on the same period a year earlier. In real terms, taking account of inflation, earnings have dropped by 0.6%. This tension in the labour market will only increase if Brexit uncertainty continues to restrain wages in the face of the gathering pace of inflation.

10.7.17 03/07/2017 11:55:48

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06/07/2017 09:37:26

Highwayman

motortransport.co.uk

Transport journalist turned author reveals all

If you have a story for Highwayman, send it to highwaymanMT@ gmail.com

An example of model behaviour Some of the more enthusiastic truck-spotters among you will be familiar with the output of Hatton’s – makers of fine model trucks (and trains for that matter).

In fact, there are many examples of its fine handiwork adorning MT Towers, at least the ones that haven’t made their way to eBay. However, Hatton’s has shocked the world of modelling with an adult range. That’s right, miniatures of a risqué nature to offset your eyecatching display of model trucks.

Among the range you will find ‘Lovers in action on office desk’ (£8.50); ‘Sexy ladies x 6’ (£9.50) and the true trucking staple ‘Ladies of the night’ (£9.50).

And if that doesn’t do it for you, there is always ‘Assorted cemetery plots with headstones’ (£9) for a gothic look to your modelling creation.

14 MotorTransport MTR_100717_014.indd 14

“The door creaked. He slipped inside, easing it part way shut.”

No, this isn’t the start of some erotic fiction – but the start of the third Mike Stanhope mystery, Denial of Credit (tagline: don’t ask if you won’t like the answer).

For those of you not familiar with the first in the series, Deficit of Diligence (make no assumptions) and the second, Alternative Outcome (where fact and fiction collide), you will not be familiar with its author Peter Rowlands.

The Newcastle-upon-Tyne author was formerly a logistics and transport journalist before turning his hand to Kindlebased self-publishing.

One of the major characters is Alan Treadwell, the logistics executive at the heart of the story, says the press release.

He is a towering figure – brusque in manner, unwilling to suffer fools, and feared as much as he’s admired by former colleagues… remind you of anyone you know?

Highwayman spoke to Rowlands about his logisticsinspired opus: HWM: Who is Mike Stanhope?

PR: Is this question meant to be philosophical or factual?

Existentially, Mike Stanhope is everyman: well-intentioned, self-doubting, sometimes impetuous, on the lookout for his soulmate but unsure how to recognise her.

In practical terms, Mike is a freelance journalist who has moved to Cornwall to be with his girlfriend, but he is worried by cracks in their relationship, and is not sure how to keep up his income so far from the centre of things.

HWM: Does he work in logistics?

PR: That depends whether writing is work! Mike would say yes, but you need to judge for yourself. He has never worked in logistics, but he has written about it in the press for 15 years.

He feels he is an expert, but is the first to admit his knowledge is somewhat skin-deep.

HWM: Is logistics executive Alan Treadwell based on anyone we would know?

PR: Definitely! But I would face a libel suit if I named anyone in particular. He’s a composite of several people who once worked in the

express parcels and logistics fields, with added features that I never encountered in anyone I met in the real world.

HWM: Does the dramatic tension of an on-time delivery lend itself to a thriller?

PR: It does if I’m waiting in for a home delivery that never arrives! A lot of murderous intent can arise. And when it does turn up, I’m thrilled.

HWM: The tag-line for Denial of Credit is: “Don’t ask if you won’t like the answer.” Have you ever had an answer to a question you didn’t like?

PR: “As it’s Friday afternoon, could I leave early just this once?” I didn’t like the answer to that. “Would you like to advertise in our magazine?”

That’s one I had trouble with as a magazine co-owner. Oh, and here’s a particularly tricky one: “Would you like to publish my book?”

HWM: What did you enjoy writing about as a journalist?

PR: Buses – but that got tricky when MT stopped covering them in around 1840. I also liked writing about technology (and latterly computer technology), and doing interviews –

trying to tease out what made people tick. People like Alan Treadwell, for instance.

HWM: What’s better – writing books or writing about the transport industry?

PR: Books are more fun because you can make it up. I would never do that in journalism. But at least writing for a magazine guarantees you some sort of readership. Writing books is like casting your words to the wind, and hoping they will settle somewhere. n Intrigued? Go to peterrow lands.com or search for Denial of Credit on Amazon.

Yes, but what’s the point?

Last month Highwayman had the pleasure of seeing the fruits of a trial of a fully autonomous electric-powered vehicle – dubbed the Cargopod – conducting last-mile deliveries for Ocado in Greenwich.

It generated a huge amount of buzz (despite those rogues at The Guardian totally ignoring the 3 July embargo – put in place to mark the actual end of the trial – and publishing everything on 27 June). I mean, it was on the BBC so everyone must have seen it.

Aside from questioning the bag of free stuff given to the gathered press pool containing such offensive items as fruit tea and muesli, Highwayman’s biggest query was – what on earth is the point?

Firstly, this self-driving vehicle requires two people to sit in it at all times for safety.

Including one poor chap sat behind the wheel literally twid-

dling his thumbs. It did make you wonder why he wasn’t driving it in the first place.

Secondly, the trial vehicle has a payload of just 128kg –

which is about the average weight of a member of staff at Motor Transport once they’ve eaten the meal at the MT Awards.

This equates to eight boxes of four Ocado shopping bags.

It might be handy as a milk float, but they already exist.

Thirdly, people who have placed an order have to come out of the house and pick it up themselves from the vehicle, which rather ruins the point of the door-to-door delivery. It also makes you wonder what the second chap actually does.

Finally, it can’t run on a public road legally yet. So a hub and spoke model doesn’t really apply in getting the goods from A to B. (It’s more a case of from A to B to C and an autonomous 25mph to D).

Highwayman came away with the impression that a safer and more environmentally-friendly option would have been a horse and cart.

You’d be able to deliver more with a well-trained animal than a well-programmed robot with wheels.

10.7.17 03/07/2017 14:07:53

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06/07/2017 09:46:13 27/04/2017 12:55

Viewpoint

motortransport.co.uk

HGVs could become the heroes H Darryll Finch Product owner O2 Smart Vehicle

GVs do not have the best reputation on today’s roads – dangerous, defective and the cause of many accidents. Government data shows 11% of HGVs and 24% of LCVs were found to have Category 1 defects (including a serious brake or tyre defect) in the last year. TfL took 95 dangerous commercial vehicles off the road in one month alone.

For some hauliers this could mean replacing and upgrading scores of vehicles. However, many of the safety faults are easily avoidable because they have external causes that can be addressed with early intervention. For example, failing brake systems tops the list of Category 1 defects, yet brake failures are easily prevented by improving driving styles and monitoring air pressure in the brake line.

While monitoring driver and vehicle performance across an entire fleet might seem

like a mammoth task, smart telematics can provide a simple solution that can give fleet managers complete real-time visibility. Smart data analytics can be easily attached to HGVs and used to spot the early warning signs of vehicle problems, bad driver behaviour or worn out vehicle components, and red-flag them to operators or maintenance providers.

Telematics can turn HGVs into much safer vehicles. As the internet of things becomes the norm, smart data from hauliers could be linked with highways agencies, weather forecasters and police forces to create smart cities where traffic accidents are predicted and prevented, and vehicle repair services are always in the right place at the right time.

Combining smart data from a variety of these sources could turn HGVs from villains into life-saving vehicles.

the NEXT GENERATION SCANIA

PREMIUM REDEFINED

The customer is the winner at MT Awards 2017

L

Steve Hobson Editor Motor Transport

ast Wednesday night saw another packed Great Room at the Grosvenor House Hotel in London’s Park Lane for the Motor Transport Awards. The audience laughed, cried, cheered and booed as the 23 bronze trophies were collected by the emotional winners from host John Bishop before being whisked off to be interviewed

by Gabby Logan.

The big winner on the night was once again parcels hero DPD – shortlisted in five categories, it won three awards for Home Delivery Operator of the Year, Customer Care and Innovation.

Wincanton marked its remarkable turnaround in performance in recent years by picking up Haulier of the Year, while Temperature Controlled Operator of the Year went to McCulla Ireland and Fleet Van Operator was awarded to Speedy Services.

With 18 awards wins, DPD is chasing TNT’s record 33 wins since 1986. One common theme from the MT Awards winners roster over the past 31 years is the number of Customer Care awards both TNT and DPD have picked up.

There are many elements in running a successful transport company, all of which are reflected in the awards categories. Running an efficient and compliant operation, having a clear

16 MotorTransport MTR_100717_016.indd 16

and sustainable business strategy, staff training and retention, cutting carbon emissions and many other factors are all vital.

But it is no coincidence that successful businesses keep such a clear focus on customers.

And if there is one thing that judging the MT Awards shows, it is that customer care is not having a customer service department and a complaints procedure.

Part of the reason for DPD’s multiple successes is that it understands that the most important person in a parcel delivery isn’t necessarily who places the business with the carrier. It is the end recipient who often gets no say in who makes the delivery but who is most affected when the carrier gets it wrong.

Customer care starts at the top and has to run right through the organisation, especially in those who actually get to meet the end customer, which is often the driver.

Congratulations to all our winners and finalists and thank you to our sponsors for supporting this celebration of excellence in road transport.

The newspaper for transport operators

To contact us: Tel: 020 8912 +4 digits or email: name.surname@roadtransport.com Editor Steve Hobson 2161 Group managing editor Christopher Walton 2163 Group news editor Chris Druce 2158 Group technical editor Colin Barnett 2141 Aftermarket editor Roger Brown 2168 Vans editor George Barrow 2156 Urban editor Hayley Pink 2165 Editorial team Ashleigh Wight 2167

Emma Shone 2164 Group production editor Clare Goldie 2174 Chief sub-editor Rufus Thompson 2173 Layout sub-editor Grace Wood 2174 Key account managers

Andrew Smith 07771 885874

Richard Bennett 07889 823060 Display telesales Barnaby Goodman-Smith 2128 Group sales manager Julie McInally 2122

rtmclassified@roadtransport.com Vic Bunby 2121 Sales director Jane Casling 2133 Head of marketing Head of events/MT Awards Kelly Farley 2135 Head of product Andrew Chilvers 2138 Andy Salter 2171 Managing director Editorial office Road Transport Media, Sixth Floor, Chancery House, St Nicholas Way, Sutton, Surrey SM1 1JB 020 8912 2170 Free copies MT is available free to specified licensed operators under the publisher’s terms of control. For details, email mtsccqueries@roadtransport.com, or call 01772 426705 Subscriptions Tel 0330 333 9544 Quadrant Subscription Services, Rockwood House, Perrymount Road, Haywards Heath, West Sussex RH16 3DH Rates UK £125/year. Europe £160 (€235)/year. RoW £160 ($329)/year.

Cheques made payable to Motor Transport.

Apply online at mtssubs.com Registered at the Post Office as a newspaper Published by DVV Media International Ltd © 2017 DVV Media International Ltd ISSN 0027-206 X

Got something to say?

If you would like to contribute to MT’s Viewpoint, email steve.hobson@roadtransport.com 10.7.17 06/07/2017 11:36:21

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06/07/2017 09:50:34

Hall of Fame

motortransport.co.uk

Best of the best MT – in association with Scania – selects three more of road transport’s finest characters to be inducted in the Motor Transport Hall of Fame Derrick Potter, chairman, Potter Group

The sale of Potter Logistics to WH Bowker in October 2016 saw the end of the Potter family’s involvement in road transport after more than 50 years. While this was the end an era as Potter Group relinquished its transport fleet and moved into property development, for chairman Derrick Potter the key fact was that the deal secured the future of the company’s 280 staff.

“I feel happy that in my tenure I’ve had colleagues around who’ve been able to achieve what we have and made this wonderful transition. We have a great future to look forward to,” he says.

While giving up control of the chemical, food and rail freight transport and warehousing firm he founded in 1965 and built into a highly profitable £26m a year business must have been a hard decision, Potter says the sale to Bowker was the best option for all concerned. “Potter Logistics had expanded very successfully, but it had grown in a number of areas, and had become a complex business,”

to distribute them. We work with partners in other parts of the country. There are a lot of family businesses that are particularly good at knowing their own area, and their own customer base.”

Key to Potter’s success has been his caring attitude towards his staff, especially his drivers. Giving a special award to Potter in the 2015 UKWA awards, chairman Tony Mohan said: “When touring one of the company’s sites, I witnessed the fact that Derrick knew 100% of the staff. He understands that people are the most important part of a successful business. Over the 50 years, Derrick’s energy and enthusiasm has not waned at all.”

Potter is a farmer’s son, and he has always lived by some good advice his father gave him in the early days after he founded the firm with a single truck in 1965. “He used to say to me, ‘it’s your responsibility to look after your employees’. He always believed in that. He’d say: ‘if you want something from somebody, give them something. You might give them your time, your expertise, you might even give them some money. Then you have a right to ask for something back’.

“I remember to say please, thank you, to say well done, and hopefully with a smile. They cost nothing, but they mean everything.”

William Stobart, former chief executive, Eddie Stobart Logistics

William Stobart is the fourth and last of Eddie and Nora Stobart’s children – and younger brother to John, Anne and Edward. Although he was the youngest by seven years in a family dynasty that has dominated UK haulage and logistics to this day, he shared a passion with his older brother Edward for all things trucks.

While his older brother Edward was fast-tracking his way up the management chain to become chief executive officer of his father’s business, William kept himself busy driving tractors, cement mixers and eventually a full-blown wagon – passing his test just a week after his 21st birthday. His first truck was a Scania 112 intercooler – and he spent the next three years driving for his brother before he started working on the traffic desk. ➜ 20 he says. “There were a lot of tears shed by the family, about all our colleagues who are in the business. Bear in mind, they’d been with us a long time, and equally customers as well, a long time. We decided we needed to find a likeminded company that saw the world like we did. Bowker came along and its vision was the same as ours.”

Naming Potter Logistics Motor Transport Haulier of the Year in 2015, the judges said it was a family business with a customer-centric ethos that had secured some very loyal, long-standing clients. “We have a quite distinct structure,” says Potter. “We have shareholders, the operating board, and then we have an advisory board in the middle that helps make the decisions for the long-term.

Are we different? I hope so.”

A leading light in the Transport Association, Potter has been a great believer in collaboration with other like-minded family hauliers. “We used to bring 200,000 tonnes to our rail terminal at Ely,” he says. “We would use UK haulers 10.7.17 MTR_100717_019-020.indd 19

MotorTransport 19 03/07/2017 10:32:01

Hall of Fame From Stobart the man starting gainful employment at the firm that bears his surname in 1977, Stobart the business went from strength the strength over the next three decades under the leadership of his brother. He’s carried out pretty much most roles at the business during this time and he developed an in-depth understanding of the business on every level during that time.

He left the business in 2001 to join WA Developments – a civil engineering and rail infrastructure business run by his school friend and former brother-in-law Andrew Tinkler. But he wasn’t away from transport for long. In 2003 WA Developments bought Eddie Stobart Group – with Edward stepping down and William becoming MD. In 2007 Eddie Stobart Group was sold in a reverse takeover to the Westbury Property Fund, creating Stobart Group, and was listed on the London Stock Exchange. Following the float, William became chief operating officer of Stobart Group. Over the next two years it would make three acquisitions: container haulier O’Connor Group; James Irlam & Sons; and the chilled operation of Innovate Logistics out of administration.

In 2011 William (alongside David Irlam) stepped down from the board at Stobart Group to give him more time to focus on the core transport business – but that would pale in comparison to the sad events of that year – when his brother Edward died on 31 March.

Despite the family tragedy, the firm motored on: it entered a joint venture with fellow Cumbrian firm Jenkinson, now known as Stobart HALL OF FAME ALUMNI AW Biomass. This joint venture has often been at the forefront of Stobart’s vehicle procureMike Williams Chris Hanson-Abbott ment strategy – leading on major orders with Ray Grocott Scania (there have been five such deals since Glyn Davies 2010 – most recently for 2,000 units in 2016).

Theo de Pencier In 2012 Stobart acquired automotive logisDes Evans OBE tics provider Autologic. However, 2013 proved Peter Carroll to be a rather more turbulent year for the Nikki King OBE business, with the former Innovate chilled Stewart Oades network closing and a boardroom struggle Dick Denby over the performance of the group.

Robbie Burns In 2014 William made a return to the board Ken Irlam (deceased) at the newly formed Eddie Stobart Logistics.

David Batty Stobart Group sold a 51% stake in the John Parry company to private equity firm Douglas Bay Capital – effectively taking the transport business into private hands with William as chief executive. A year after that deal, William stepped up to executive chairman, with former Tesco distribution director Alex Laffey taking chief executive responsibilities.

2014 was a pivotal year for William, with his son Edd setting up his own haulage firm – WS Tranportation – entirely separate to the Eddie Stobart Logistics business.

Stobart has never been afraid to lead with technology too: William has been a vocal advocate of the longer semi-trailer trial, and has also rolled-out aerodynamic kits for its fleet developed in partnership with Wirth Research – the aerodynamics company founded by former Benetton Formula 1 chief designer Nick Wirth.

Eddie Stobart Logistics put in a strong financial performance under William and Laffey, disposing of the former Autologic business to BCA Automotive in 2015 and in the year ended 30 November 2016, revenue from continuing operations was £549m (2015: £468m) with adjusted EBITA of £41m (2015: 36m). In April it floated on the Alternative Investment Market in a blockbuster listing that valued the business in excess of £550m, and just before the IPO William stepped down as a director.

motortransport.co.uk

here at the port for three years, and Securicor and DHL for five years, container transport is what I know.

“I wanted to get back to that, and so this opportunity came along to buy this transport company called Maritime Haulage, and I succeeded in buying it on 4 September 2001.”

At the time it had 136 trucks and an annual turnover of £18m.

“But I don’t think it was making any money,” he recalls.

“It was in poor shape, and a week later we had the appalling attack in New York. We were out seeing customers and we were in a pub in Liverpool. I thought ‘I’m 43 years old and I’ve just mortgaged my house to provide the security to buy Maritime Haulage’. I don’t think I slept that night.”

By 2009, Maritime had expanded to a £70m annual turnover, without making any acquisitions – but that was about to change.

The credit crunch and subsequent collapse in container volumes brought two “spectacular opportunities”, says Williams. “DHL decided to withdraw from the container transport market. We were the only people with the capability – and courage – to acquire it because the market was still rough.”

That was followed by the 2014 acquisition of Roadways, reinforcing Maritime’s position as the UK’s largest container haulier and completing its UK network of 23 depots.

“Container transport has always been seen as a really hard place to succeed, and a pure container transport company, operating on the old model, would become extinct pretty quick,” says Williams. “So in 2010, we decided to break into distribution with curtainsiders. We learned so much about utilisation, double-shifting, weekend working, bank holiday working and cross-utilising container trucks and distribution trucks and equipment. I think we are one of the few companies that has pulled this off on the scale that we’re doing it. I hate to use the word ‘game-changer’; it’s over-used, but it certainly was for us.”

According to Williams, running a successful transport business doesn’t have to be complicated. “We’ve concentrated on the simple things,” he says. “The essence of a transport company is the driver, the truck and the people who put the two things together. We focus specifically on that, so in terms of the drivers, we have what we believe is a strong driver culture. We spend an awful lot of time with the drivers, getting to know them, listening to them.”

Williams has a policy of using only employed drivers and has more than 1,400 on the books. Despite his reputation as a tough boss, Williams believes strongly in treating drivers fairly and providing the best possible facilities, rather than paying over the top wages, is the way to keep a loyal, committed workforce. The driver rest and recreation areas at the Felixstowe head office would put many a five-star hotel to shame, and Williams aims to upgrade other sites too.

“We’ve invested in great facilities and we’re doing the same in Birmingham, Nursling and Leeds. We want safe, secure, spacious parking for our drivers so that they can get a proper rest and a proper shower,” says Williams. “We give them a smart uniform and a death-in-service benefit. I think we look after our drivers as well as we can, and they believe that we look after them and care for them.” ■

John Williams, group MD, Maritime Transport

If Maritime Transport group MD John Williams secured his place in the Hall of Fame for his innovative approach of successfully combining container haulage with retail distribution, he cemented it with a pragmatic yet caring approach to drivers.

The rise and rise of Maritime started when Williams led the deal to acquire Maritime in 2001. “I had this burning ambition to be my own boss, specifically to own a transport company, because that’s really all I know,” he says. “Apart from working 20 MotorTransport MTR_100717_019-020.indd 20

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18/04/2017 11:28 06/07/2017 09:58:17

More than 1,500 guests packed the Grosvenor House Hotel last week for the 2017 Motor Transport Awards, where Des Evans was auctioned off for ÂŁ7,500 in aid of Transaid.

Premier night

Over the next 44 pages we highlight all the winners on the night

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06/07/2017 10:03:53

Safety in Operation Award Palletline The winner of this award had to show either an exceptional commitment to all-round operational safety or describe a specific successful initiative designed to improve safety in a particular are of the operation

Winner profile sponsored by

Left to right: host John Bishop, Palletline health and safety manager Ken Bell; Palletline MD Graham Leitch, Palletline operations director Richard Gutsell; CVL sales director Eric Burns; and MT editor Steve Hobson Palletline described its operation as “truly gold standard” in terms of safety, which our judges agreed with.

It designed its central hub in Birmingham around safe operation by removing pedestrians from operational areas; implementing a strict one-way traffic system; putting a driver viewing area with physical barriers in place; and implementing driver key control when vehicles are being loaded and unloaded to prevent them moving.

It was also the first pallet network to introduce a 750kg pallet weight limit for tail-lift deliveries, and forklifts are equipped with weighing systems to measure the weight of pallets to an accuracy of within 1%.

This enables it to ensure vehicles are always loaded with lighter freight on the top deck to improve stability.

It takes the safety of its forklift

truck drivers seriously and has issued them with electronic key fobs to allow an additional safety measure to be implemented for less experienced or agency drivers.

Forklift trucks are tracked to identify abnormal behaviour, which may indicate that the driver requires retraining or suspension from operating the equipment. The company said that, as of 1 March, it had 470 days without an accident.

The judges were won over by its audit system, which involves recording issues that arise during day or night operations. The audit includes the health and safety co-ordinator taking another employee across the site for a 30-minute audit, which Palletline said has increased awareness of health and safety issues among its workforce through hands-on involvement. The audit

includes: checking employees are wearing personal protective equipment; checking mechanical handling equipment is functioning correctly; the condition of pallets; quality of lighting; presence of hazardous substances; and the safety of walking surfaces.

Various training packages are undertaken by staff, including: forklift truck retraining every 12 months, despite HSE guidance suggesting every three years; manual handling training; ADR awareness training; and first aid training. The company revises its health and safety policy annually and incorporates employee feedback into its systems when they are reviewed on an ongoing basis.

More than 4,000 high-vis vests were purchased from its online portal, Palletline Club, by the network’s members last year.

“This is absolutely brilliant. The biggest thing is that this is the third time Palletline have won this award. It’s absolutely fantastic” Graham Leitch, MD, Palletline

24 MotorTransport MTR_100717_024 SAFETY.indd 24

10.7.17 06/07/2017 13:20:27

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06/07/2017 10:00:18

Innovation Award DPD This award is for operators and product/service suppliers that showed outstanding innovation in developing a product, service or operation. Judges wanted evidence of how creative thinking was applied to solve a problem, what the problem/issue was, how the innovative solution was arrived at and how it delivered significant benefits

Winner profile sponsored by

Bob Mason, TruckForce business manager at Goodyear, second left, presents DPD director of IT Steve Mills with the trophy In 2016 DPD launched its app that allows customers to set up their own profile, set delivery preferences and track deliveries in real time. Thanks to GPS technology, customers can use the app to notify the driver when they are in and can take delivery. The company also introduced DPD Precise, which lets online shoppers select an exact one-hour delivery slot on the day of their choosing, dramatically improving the delivery experience.

DPD develops all its products through its programme office, a team of project managers who work with all areas of the business to deliver on a project’s goals and KPIs.

Throughout the design phase of the app there was constant dialogue between this team and customers to ensure the process went exactly to plan. The company repeatedly tested the design and within a few weeks of its launch reported more than 100,000 downloads.

DPD also has a data management system, universe, which houses all its operational data and is the brains behind the app and Precise. In it, DPD has mapped out a matrix for every UK postcode and depot in its network, which includes the available timeslots in which deliveries can be made. The universe data determines for each depot how many one-hour

time slots they can make available.

This allows DPD to plan the availability of slots, by day, by driver (route) and by postcode, so it knows how many delivery timeslots can be made available to the consumer.

On the day of delivery, DPD applies the chosen one-hour Precise window to a parcel window to a parcel that is passed to the driver’s handheld device and optimised in their route.

The judges described DPD as “industry leading” in the field of innovation and said it is focused on the requirements of its customers.

They praised the firm for its commitment to constantly measure, monitor and improve its products.

“Innovation is at the heart of everything DPD does. To improve on getting parcels delivered first time, is the core of our objectives at DPD” Steve Mills, IT director, DPD

26 MotorTransport MTR_100717_026 INNOVATION.indd 26

10.7.17 06/07/2017 14:24:46

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06/07/2017 10:11:58

Fleet Truck of the Year Volvo FH The winner of this award was chosen by an independent panel of fleet operators, who based their decision on factors including productivity, reliability, fuel efficiency, driver acceptance and dealer support

Winner profile sponsored by

Volvo commercial director Mike Corcoran receives the trophy from Chevron Lubricants area business manager, Europe, Rene Huting At the time of its launch in 2012, the fourth generation Volvo FH raised the game in terms of comfort, safety and driveability, and it continues to set new standards today.

It features an entirely new cab, with low sleeper, sleeper, Globetrotter and Globetrotter XL guises. The Euro-6 13-litre engine is offered with a choice of four power ratings: 420hp, 460hp, 500hp and 540hp. It can be matched to either a manual gearbox, Volvo’s hugely respected I-Shift automated manual transmission, or a dualclutch version – a world first in the truck industry. And this isn’t the only innovation that features in the FH, as the options list is packed with new technology. This includes I-See intelligent cruise control, independent front suspension (left-hand-drive only) and Volvo’s Dynamic Steering.

But UK truck operators are a

conservative bunch, and are often wary of new technology.

Consequently, most of the above are rarely specced. And it’s this cautious approach that probably explains why it has taken five years for the ‘new’ FH to be crowned Fleet Truck of the Year.

“The FH has finally come of age,” declared one judge, summing up the opinion of many. “Really early examples had some niggling faults, but these have definitely been ironed-out now, resulting in a fantastic fleet truck.”

Although none of our judges had experienced the dual-clutch gearbox, most were familiar with I-Shift, and had only good things to say about its performance. “It’s arguably the best gearbox on the market,” declared one, “and the drivers love it.”

Others spoke highly of the 13-litre engine, with its ability to sip fuel getting a few mentions. The

Globetrotter cab was heaped in praise too, the general consensus being that it helps to recruit and retain drivers. “I’ve never heard a single complaint from any of them and they’re away for three or four nights at a time,” announced one judge.

And it wasn’t only the truck itself that won admiration from the panel, the dealer network in the main getting positive comments. “There’s no such thing as a bad truck these days, and quite often it boils down to how well you are looked after by the dealers. My local Volvo dealer is great,” said one judge.

When the first Volvo F86s arrived on these shores in 1967 they immediately won friends with UK operators, putting domestic trucks to shame, and quickly becoming fleet favourites; 50 years on, the FH continues to do the same.

“We are massively pleased and very excited. We celebrate 50 years in the UK this year and to win this award tonight is extra special” Mike Corcoran, commercial director, Volvo Trucks, UK and Ireland

28 MotorTransport MTR_100717_028 FLEET TRUCK.indd 28

10.7.17 06/07/2017 12:48:09

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06/07/2017 10:13:14

Temperature Controlled Operator of the Year McCulla This award was for operators working in temperature controlled distribution able to show a strong record in on-time, in-full delivery, energy and environmental performance, excellent management of the cold chain, an effective hygiene control system, appropriate use of the latest vehicles and technology and financial stability

Winner profile sponsored by

From left: Enterprise Flex-E-Rent sales director Mark Hewell, McCulla operations director Brian Beattie, finance director Carol Thompson and MD Ashley McCulla McCulla (Ireland) was established in 1969 by David McCulla, and on the cusp of its 50th anniversary is now under the ownership and direction of the second generation of the McCulla family. Brother and sister Ashley and Carol took joint control in 1992, seeing it increase turnover from £700,000 to £21.7m. That growth has been particularly strong over the past four years, when it rose from £14.1m in 2013 to £21.7m in 2016.

It has two facilities, one in Lisburn in Northern Ireland, 30 minutes from Belfast port, and one in Ballymount in Ireland, close to Dublin port. Both sites are maintained to the highest recognised standards, including ISO 9002; British Retail Consortium food safety standard – higher accreditation and European Goods Distribution Practice approval. It’s all part of a business that embraces change and invests in its facilities.

McCulla prides itself on its

innovative, comprehensive and flexible service to the frozen and chilled sector – offering product collection, storage and picking to order, as well as transport from Ireland to the UK; Ireland to Europe and Europe to the UK. As well as offering regional DC to store supermarket work, it also delivers to restaurants and retailers and a hotel and restaurant chain in Northern Ireland.

The business has embraced a range of technology, including a transport management system; telematics system; warehouse management and stock system; and PoD data capture system. The combination of all this technology means customers can be provided with real-time location data and fridge temperature recordings, as well as geofencing data that shows the exact location of the order.

Customers have full visibility and

peace of mind at all times. This technology is also in use in the warehouse, where the stock management system provides one supermarket customer with 99.75% delivery accuracy across 1,500 product lines.

McCulla runs a fleet of 100 artics and 150 trailers, as well as vans and rigids, and employs 200 people. Staff turnover is very low (less than 3%) with five drivers with more than 15 years’ service, and five members of office staff with more 20 years’ service. Its in-house training academy focuses on bringing young people into the business, and is responsible for seven younger members of staff joining the business.

The judges were impressed with a “highly flexible, innovate, service-led” operator with high levels of compliance and a “great environmental performance”.

“We show the way we are trying to go. It is the staff who do the job; from drivers to loading bay staff, administration staff and traffic planners” Ashley McCulla, MD, McCulla

30 MotorTransport MTR_100717_030 TEMP CONTROL.indd 30

10.7.17 06/07/2017 14:43:28

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06/07/2017 10:17:56

Low Carbon Award John Lewis Partnership Judges were looking for an operator that has made significant progress in reducing carbon emissions by improving the efficiency of its operation and/or by the use of alternative fuels and drive trains. They wanted to know the operator measured its carbon footprint; what initiatives were taken to improve it; and what the outcomes were

Winner profile sponsored by

Second from left, CNG Fuels CEO Phillip Fjeld and fourth from the right, Justin Laney, John Lewis Partnership receive the award from Scania specialist sales executive David Burke, third right In January 2017, John Lewis Partnership (JLP) introduced a 10-strong fleet of long-distance, dedicated biomethane Scania trucks to its Waitrose operation.

The rollout formed part of a long-term strategy to see the entire JLP tractor unit fleet fuelled by biomethane; however much development work was needed to enable them to carry out the same work as diesel trucks. This called for a range of 500 miles, 150 miles more than the standard 200-bar Scania CNG tanks could deliver. To achieve its aims, JLP bought 10 vehicles without fuel tanks and initiated an independent project to develop higher capacity and higher pressure 250-bar

tanks. This was a major venture that included certifying US-sourced tanks for use in Europe and sign-off from truck maker Scania.

The 10 trucks already in operation with Waitrose will be joined by a further 35 units this year and more than 100 are planned for 2018. By 2025, JLP intends to have renewed the entire 500-strong HGV fleet with dedicated biomethane-fuelled models. The operator chose biomethane following collaboration in 2011 with researchers at Imperial Colleague, London, who undertook a project to find out the most suitable fuel for the operation. At that time, biomethane was not readily available and JLP lobbied hard independently

and with industry to get government support for the fuel within the framework of the EU Renewable Transport Fuels Obligation.

Transport is responsible for 30% of JLP’s total CO2 output, with HGVs accounting for approximately 70% of that figure. The tractor units were therefore selected by JLP’s transport team as a logical starting point for a low-carbon project.

JLP has also led two further low-carbon projects: one to develop aerodynamic trailers, which reduced drag by 14%; and a second that sees additional alternators driven by the biomethane engines used to deliver clean and quiet power to on-board refrigeration units.

“We’re absolutely delighted. It has been a very long journey to get to where and we are delighted to be recognised for it” Justin Laney, general manager fleet, John Lewis Partnership

32 MotorTransport MTR_100717_032 LOW CARBON.indd 32

10.7.17 06/07/2017 14:31:24

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06/07/2017 10:19:37 24/03/2017 17:26

Training Award Samworth Brothers Supply Chain Finalists in this category had to show they had improved the performance of their operation through workforce training. Judges wanted to know how training needs were identified and what training was implemented as a result, what resources, whether in-house or external, were allocated to it, and how the training benefited the operation

Winner profile sponsored by

Mark Taylor, National Driver Academy manager, Samworth Brothers Supply Chain, and team receive the award from Steve Agg, chairman of the Governance and Standards Advisory Group, Fors (second right) Samworth Brothers Supply Chain opened its Driver Academy in 2014 with two aims in mind: first, to ensure its driver workforce kept performing at a high level; second, to tackle the shortage of qualified drivers across the industry with a number of routes into a driving career for new entrants.

To achieve its first aim, the firm decided to create and deliver all Driver CPC training in-house, with a focus on safety and fuel efficiency.

As a result, the company has seen a reduction in accident damage and improvements in fuel economy across the fleet, as well as industry recognition for its individual drivers through national competitions.

Samworth Brothers wanted to address the effect of the industry-

wide driver shortage on its workforce, recognising this as a critical business challenge: 72% of the company’s drivers were over 45 and 16% over 60.

It recognised there were a number of potential barriers to entry for new drivers, such as the cost of obtaining an HGV licence and the difficulty in securing employment without sufficient on-road experience.

To combat this, the academy is structured to mentor both qualified novice drivers who may find it challenging to obtain insurance or on-the-road experience, and train existing staff from elsewhere in the business for a driving position.

Four routes of entry are available through the academy – Warehouse to Wheels, Car to Lorry, Bakery to

Wheels and the Newly Qualified Driver Programme.

Through these, an 11-strong driver training team is able to take a car driver through to a category C+E licence, resourced with two dedicated rigid training vehicles and two articulated combinations.

In 2016, 20 new drivers were developed through the academy programme and now work as HGV drivers in the business, with a further 51 drivers to be developed this year.

The judges said the strategy identified the need to tackle the driver shortage. They liked the multiple routes made available towards a driving career for internal and external candidates, with evidence of an upturn in the driver workforce.

“Samworth Brothers is investing in helping people get involved in an industry that historically they’ve had difficulty getting involved in.

We’re really proud to win this award” Mark Taylor, National Driver Academy manager, Samworth Brothers Supply Chain

34 MotorTransport MTR_100717_034 TRAINING.indd 34

10.7.17 06/07/2017 14:19:25

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06/07/2017 10:21:26

Fleet Van Operator of the Year Speedy Services This category was open to operators of 11 or more vans up to 7.5-tonne GVW. Operators needed to show they had achieved outstanding standards of professionalism, productivity, customer service, health and safety and training

Winner profile sponsored by

With trophy: Speedy Hire head of logistics Mark Woodworth, with sponsor Nigel Butler, commercial director, Renault Trucks Offering tool sales and hire, along with professional training and support services, Speedy Services demonstrated continuous driver training and increased productivity while maintaining a firm grip on its health and safety obligations and environmental impact. A range of initiatives to improve the business as well as high levels of customer service also impressed the judges.

After a review of its logistics network, Speedy redesigned the way it moved loads, changing routes to reduce annual mileage. Using local knowledge, experience and its IT systems, between January 2016 and January 2017 vehicle utilisation increased 32%, ensuring that the correct types of vehicles were used for specific location or load deliveries.

Driver training has resulted in the

introduction of in-cab feedback on driving styles, as well as training courses to improve professionalism among staff.

Renewing the fleet to meet Euro-6 has helped reduce the fleet’s emissions; however, it was the introduction of an upgraded telematics system with in-cab driver feedback that has had the greatest effect, reducing CO2 emissions by 12%. In addition, Speedy has introduced three BMW i3 electric cars to the fleet and converted them for use as vans.

The introduction of a post accident review group, which looks at the individual claims surrounding each accident to identify areas of concern and where drivers might require retraining, has led to a significant reduction in the number of accidents.

Daily vehicle checks are carried out, and assisted by a scannable barcode that provides information specific to that vehicle. These vehicle checks are also timed using the Smart Device to record the data, ensuring that checks aren’t rushed.

With some excellent customer testimonials, Speedy demonstrated the benefit its operational changes have had on customers. While priding itself on a high level of professionalism, Speedy is also looking to nurture new talent with an apprenticeship scheme, attracting applicants at a local and national level to a range of roles from drivers to customer services.

The judges said Speedy showed the characteristics of a well-groomed and professional van fleet, demonstrating competency, efficiency and service.

“It was a proud moment on the stage. We’ve worked a number of years to get this award tonight and I think our hard work has been rewarded” Mark Woodworth, head of transport and logistics, Speedy Services

36 MotorTransport MTR_100717_036 FLEET VAN OP.indd 36

10.7.17 06/07/2017 15:20:29

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06/07/2017 10:22:36

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06/07/2017 11:24:48

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06/07/2017 11:25:40

Home Delivery Operator of the Year DPD Judges were looking for operators who demonstrated a strong business performance matched by service excellence; innovation to deliver environmental benefits; top class health and safety standards; an effective logistics model that meets customer expectations; and financial stability

Winner profile sponsored by

DPD director of marketing Tim Jones, with the trophy, and the team collect the award from, second right, Cartwright Group MD Mark Cartwright DPD once again wowed judges with its strong business performance and “industry-leading innovations”. Key to its business success, said the panel, is DPD’s recognition that the receiver of a parcel has become as, if not more, important than its sender.

At the heart of DPD’s successes in the last year is its end customer app, Your DPD. The technology allows customers to personalise their delivery experience by changing their preferences in the application. The app received more than one million downloads in its first nine months of operation, and DPD said it has significantly increased its first-time delivery rates. It allows users to save information about their delivery places, putting DPD in a more informed position, and geo-locating

technology means that if a customer was out during their delivery slot but has since returned home, the driver can make a second delivery attempt.

Those using Your DPD have a 97% first-time delivery rate, compared with 94% among those that aren’t.

One judge said: “This app is a cracking innovation. It’s industryleading and a total game changer.”

It is unusual, the judges agreed, to see an app so widely downloaded and used in the home delivery sector, which proves end customers’ dedication to the brand.

Another innovation that impressed the judges was DPD’s Precise service, which it launched in 2016.

Building on its Predict service that gives customers a set hour delivery slot for their business, Precise

enables customers to select their own hour of delivery.

Precise was launched with long-standing customer Asos, but has since been rolled out to a number of key customers, including New Look and EE. Growth within the business meant that DPD was able to create more than 2,300 full-time jobs in 2016 alone, while still promoting 300 of its existing employees over the course of the year. Financially, DPD has continued its strong business performance, with turnover and profit on an upward trajectory, and judges praised the evident pride it and its customers take in the brand.

One judge said: “This is a leading brand, that its customers are clearly proud to be associated with.”

“It’s our services that we’re delivering and our innovation with Precise that has driven this. It’s the award that we wanted. Really great!”

Chris Meir, head of network – south, DPD

40 MotorTransport MTR_100717_040 HOME DELIVERY.indd 40

10.7.17 06/07/2017 14:21:54

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AD_100717__P41.indd MT AWARDS AD.indd 411

06/07/2017 10:24:32 2017/03/28 12:04

Team of the Year Pall-Ex Open to any team of any size in any part of a logistics operation, this award goes to a group of people able to demonstrate that they have worked closely on a major project or consistently over-achieved in their field of operation – and the judges were looking for objective KPI-based evidence

Winner profile sponsored by

Pall-Ex MD Kevin Buchanan, fourth right, and the Pall-Ex team pick up the trophy from Hiab MD Rogier van der Linde, fifth left Pallet network Pall-Ex’s submission centred on a new operation team brought together to transform its hub operations and reduce inefficiencies at the 20-year-old business.

Comprising day and night team operation members, the core team consisted of Adrian Bradley, director of operations; Richard Southern, general hub manager; Richard Leedham, hub improvement supervisor; Helen Harris, health and safety manager; and Chris Mason, night hub manager.

The team set a series of goals they ultimately over achieved against. This included redesigning its Ellistown hub in Leicestershire (incorporating feedback from warehouse staff who noted space wasn’t being best used).

Other areas identified included a need to improve freight visibility, which the team met with its IT department by introducing a scan and track system. This allows the

consignment to be tracked from the point of scan at the member’s warehouse through the network. It alerts forklift drivers at the central hub to the priority of the load (next day delivery for example).

The team also created the Hub Planning Workbook, a tool that allows the forecasting of freight volume and the analysis of outgoing costs per pallet against it. Implemented in October 2016, it allowed the team to monitor staffing levels, agency workers, holidays and absences, to provide a true picture of staffing requirements and allowing them to be better matched to achieve improved productivity (over five months there was a 44% reduction in agency staff used).

To improve communication, the team introduced a cloud-based auditing tool, which creates health, safety and compliance reports and highlights potential health and safety

breaches as well as non-conformity to internal compliance rules – members can access a range of related guides, which describe the labelling and packaging requirements as a consequence. The operations team also appointed a hub improvement supervisor whose sole objective is to monitor and improve the quality of the network.

The results speak for themselves, including: outbound scanning improved 33% (target 30%); inbound scanning by 50% (target 30%); 16.6% decrease in hub discrepancies raised or lost or damaged pallets (target 15%); reduce the manning cost per pallet by 11p (target 10p).

Pall-Ex believes the successful project will deliver cost savings of £500,000 a year, which, as one judge summed up, is “an excellent outcome and performance”. “There’s real substance to this story,” agreed another.

“It feels fantastic. Everything we do at Pall-Ex is about team. It’s about what you can’t do individually, but what you do collectively” Kevin Buchanan, MD, Pall-Ex

42 MotorTransport MTR_100717_042 TEAM.indd 42

10.7.17 06/07/2017 14:37:57

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28/06/2017 08:54 06/07/2017 10:26:40

Haulier of the Year Wincanton This, the most coveted MT award, is for the outstanding road haulage or 3PL company of the past year and was open to any firm running 11 or more CVs of 3.5-tonne GVW and above. Judges were looking for legal compliance, business success, high operational standards, added value and a viable recruitment and training policy

Winner profile sponsored by

Wincanton Industrial and Transport MD Chris Fenton, third left, and his colleagues receive the award from Mike Corcoran, commercial truck director at Volvo Trucks, second right Wincanton, the UK’s largest listed logistics operator with more than 200 locations, 3,500 vehicles and 5,000 drivers, has seen a remarkable turnaround in its performance in recent years. After some badly-timed overseas and UK investments ahead of the 2008 credit crunch, Wincanton struggled, with debts reaching £152m in 2011. Swiss turnaround specialist Eric Born came in as CEO and restructured the business, pulling out of Europe, and his successor Adrian Colman has continued the turnaround since his arrival in 2015. The company has cut net debt from £65m to £40m in the past two years and reduced its pension deficit. It made a pre-tax profit of £65m on a turnover of £1.1bn last year and its share price rose from 148p in March 2016 to 282p in February 2017.

Operating in general haulage, container haulage, construction, grocery and retail, home and DIY and general merchandise sectors,

Wincanton also owns the R&M network Pullman Fleet Services.

Business highlights in 2016 were securing the national transport contract with discount retailer Wilko and entering the ready-mixed concrete market with an eight-year contract with Hanson.

Customers are delighted with Wincanton, as some of its testimonials reveal: “Wincanton consistently delivers great service and works collaboratively with us”; “we can always rely on Wincanton for an efficient and effective solution, with fantastic service”; “our longterm partnership has provided excellent performance, service delivery and innovation”.

The company says health and safety is of paramount importance and has taken a number of innovative and effective steps to engage staff with its safety messages. These include its Shela (safety, health, environment learning aid), which has

helped the company achieve its goal of a 70% reduction in lost time injuries in the past five years, and the Wellbeing programme that has saved £869,000 in reduced absenteeism.

Wincanton carries out an annual survey of its 17,500 employees, focusing on drivers, and they scored the company 67% for overall engagement in 2016. “The focus on staff and safety is showing exceptional results,” said one judge.

Wincanton’s truck replacement policy means 90% of the fleet is Euro-5 or Euro-6 spec. This investment, together with an advanced suite of reporting tools that measure performance against key benchmarks, has contributed to an 11% reduction in emissions in two years.

One judge said: “This is a great entry – it ticks every box.” “Wincanton is a fantastic business that has come through difficult times,” said another, adding: “This is a remarkable success story.”

“We’re over the moon and I’m delighted for everyone at Wincanton – all 17,000 of them – this is for you. I just get the privilege of collecting it” Chris Fenton, MD, Wincanton

44 MotorTransport MTR_100717_044 HAULIER.indd 44

10.7.17 06/07/2017 15:18:22

At Volvo Trucks, we believe that behind every great haulier is a great truck. Volvo makes great trucks, but it’s more than just this that makes Volvo Trucks special – it’s our people.

This year, Volvo celebrates its 50th Anniversary in the UK, and for all these 50 years our passionate people have kept your vehicle on the road, earning. For that reason, we are proud to sponsor the Haulier of the Year 2017 award.

Just like the winner of this coveted award, we have a real passion to see our customers succeed.

Congratulations to Wincanton for achieving this award!

www.volvotrucks.co.uk

Search: VolvoTrucksUK

Volvo Trucks. Driving Progress 55912

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06/07/2017 10:28:25 19/05/2017 09:40

Operational & Compliance Excellence Award Hermes This award is for an operations department that manages to juggle the need for the business to make a profit with the demands of customers and the requirement to run legally at all times. Judges were looking for evidence of a highly compliant fleet, high levels of customer service, and an efficient and profitable operation

Winner profile sponsored by

FTA chief executive David Wells, fifth right, presents the trophy to Jon Ormond, Hermes director of hub and depot operations, second right, and the Hermes team Hermes’ focus on maximising efficiency and maintaining an exemplary fleet is not only paying dividends, but also secured it the Operational and Compliance Excellence Award. Last year it carried record-breaking parcel volumes, up 6% from 245 million in 2015 to 260 million in 2016. But despite this growth in a somewhat demanding sector, it maintained a 95% first-time delivery rate, exceeding the industry average of 93%.

Since introducing tracking system Isotrak across its fleet, Hermes has witnessed marked improvement in mpg. It saw on average a 1% improvement in mpg across its network, equating to roughly 130,000 litres of fuel. It also saw impressive mpg figures during the peak period.

Its tractors achieved 14 mpg, against

the average of 12 mpg.

The introduction of more aerodynamic trailers and tractor units has helped reduce fuel consumption, and the company is continuing to explore alternative fuels such as electric and CNG vehicles.

The operator has also seen a reduction in harsh accelerations and over-revving. Between February 2016 and 2017, overall driver grading scores improved dramatically, with its Swindon site seeing the largest improvement at more than 32%.

To ensure performance is maximised, volume forecasts are shared across the operation – sometimes three times a day – to allow resourcing to be planned effectively. This is reflected in its load fill statistics, with in excess of 88% vehicles full during the peak period.

Hermes invested significantly in training last year with 985 training days completed, compared with 839 in 2015. Upskilling its workforce is important, with 30 drivers gaining a category C or C+E licence last year, including 16 new drivers through its warehouse to wheels programme.

The company altered its internal auditing system last year to achieve earned recognition from the DVSA when it becomes available. Our panel said this highlighted the operator’s confidence in its compliance systems, and said it was admirable that it was striving for recognition before the scheme had even begun.

The panel also noted the number of vehicle and trailer defects were well below industry and parcel sector averages, and it had high trailer and vehicle MoT pass rates.

“We have a great team who have adopted a proactive approach to compliance. There’s been a lot of hard work and we are so proud” Jon Ormond, director of hub and depot operations, Hermes

46 MotorTransport MTR_100717_046 OP & COMP.indd 46

11.7.17 06/07/2017 14:45:41

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06/07/2017 10:30:05 26/06/2017 15:26

Livery of the Year Topps Tiles Trucks and trailers are mobile billboards that should be used to present a strong, positive image of the operator and the industry. Judges were looking for a modern, stylish livery that gets its message across clearly and effectively

Winner profile sponsored by

Topps Tiles national transport manager Kevin Smith and Topps Tiles head of supply chain Doug Bingham, centre left and right, receive the award from sponsor John Bratton of SDC, second right Topps Tiles has seen rapid business growth in the UK in the past three years, with the number of stores rising to 358. It runs its own distribution arm, as well as using Wincanton for 3PL logistics and networks including Palletways and City Sprint for home delivery.

With its business expanding quickly, one of Topps’ key goals was to upgrade its vehicle fleet to both modernise and make it more fit for purpose. It runs 23 artics, 27 trailers and four rigid HGVs, all mounted with Moffat equipment.

To cope with an increase in business and to modernise the fleet it took new SDC trailers from Ryder.

With this came the opportunity to design a new look for the fleet. The

business needed to come up with something that could advertise the brand both on the road and parked outside its stores.

Topps Tiles selected a core project team to work on the new livery, which worked with a host of businesses including creative agency Makalu; SDC Trailers; curtain manufacturer Image Signage; and Cargotec.

The livery depicts a person tiling the side of the vehicle, much to the judges’ amusement, in full colour printed curtain, as opposed to the two colours used in the previous livery. It has been rolled out to 20 vehicles, including teardrop and double-deck trailers, with the remaining seven expected to be finished by 2018. The branding matches that of the whole

company, and is to be used across everything from store decoration to web design and packaging.

Topps Tiles also encouraged further engagement with its fleet by adding names to its vehicles. The names were selected in a variety of ways, including recognising longserving members of staff, allowing staff to choose names, and giving a nod to its charity partner, Macmillan.

One judge said: “I like the degree of flexibility this livery offers. It can keep the theme while swapping in new information or pictures if it needs to in coming years.”

Another added: “This is a simple, logical presentation, but it’s fun, and shows exactly what the business does.”

“It’s fantastic to win here. We spent a lot of time working with our marketing team and drivers to come up with a bright, exciting design” Doug Bingham, head of supply chain, Topps Tiles

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06/07/2017 10:31:53 19/05/2017 14:18:42

Technical Excellence Award Tesco Managing the specification, acquisition, repair, maintenance and disposal of a fleet is a heavy responsibility. Judges were looking for high levels of compliance, cost efficiency, reliability, safety and a company that uses technology creatively to solve a specific technical fleet problem

Winner profile sponsored by

From left: Tesco head of transport Nick Dunn, Tesco regional engineer John LaRosa, Tesco fleet engineer Caroline Milnes, Tesco regional engineering manager Keith Waite and Hankook Tyre UK sales director Brett Emerson Tesco’s winning entry in Technical Excellence proved yet again that simple is often best when it comes to impressing MT’s judges.

Tesco fleet engineer Caroline Milnes’ four sides of A4 with some clear graphics told our judges all they needed to know about how her team of five manage the specification, acquisition, repair and maintenance and disposal of Tesco Distribution’s fleet of 6,000 assets across 28 depots servicing 3,000 Tesco stores.

“Tesco’s entry was brief and to the point,” said one judge. “It has not hidden behind a glossy presentation,” added another.

The engineering team had a number of notable successes in 2016, including increasing first-time pass rates to 98%, with average vehicle availability also rising to an impressive 98%. High compliance levels were demonstrated by green OCRS ratings for roadworthiness and

traffic at all Tesco depots, and despite making more than 1.4 million journeys last year the fleet received a remarkably low seven prohibition notices.

Drivers’ opinions on how to improve vehicle specs were sought, which resulted in uprating the units used to haul double-deck trailers from 400hp to 450hp. Driver feedback was overwhelmingly positive and fuel economy on some routes improved 10%.

In conjunction with tyre supplier Bandvulc, the engineering team also arranged tyre awareness sessions at every depot, focusing on how drivers can assist in tyre management and inspection. These too were well received by the transport team.

The loss of a trailer wheel in 2015 prompted a revision of Tesco’s policy on wheel maintenance. Wheels are now removed, cleaned and checked every year, and maintenance staff

have been trained on how to inspect wheels thoroughly. No further incidents of loose wheels have since occurred.

One example of innovation was the development of six drawbar rigs to improve the efficiency of deliveries to Tesco Express stores. The trailer can be dropped at a large Tesco Extra stores while the truck delivers to the first batch of Express stores. It then returns to the Extra store to transfer the load from the trailer for delivery to a second batch of convenience stores.

Another environmental initiative was the trial of two Carrier Syberia Twincool rigid vehicle refrigeration units that are hydraulically powered from the truck main engine to reduce emissions and whole-life costs.

Judges praised the team for “seeking contributions from all parties” and said the entry was “very informative with a brief breakdown of methods and figures”.

“We are excited to have won, it’s fantastic to receive this recognition and to see a blue chip company like ours win. It’s down to hard work” Nick Dunn, head of transport, Tesco

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10.7.17 06/07/2017 14:26:35

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06/07/2017 10:34:33

Fleet Van of the Year Fiat Ducato A panel of leading van operators voted for the fleet van of the year. They made their decision based on criteria that included professionalism; productivity, customer service and outstanding success in meeting specific KPIs

Winner profile sponsored by

VisionTrack chief technology officer Anthony West (second right) presents the trophy to Fiat press relations manager Tom Johnston (second left) and head of sales Richard Chamberlain As a shared product with Peugeot and Citroën, which produce its Boxer and Relay versions of the Fiat Ducato, Fiat happily shares the chassis and body panels with its French partners but has a distinct advantage. It’s dealer network.

Described by our panel as “one of the most flexible manufacturers to deal with”, Fiat and its large Ducato model has been making inroads in to the fleet market thanks to its ever-improving range of vehicles, expanding dealer network and greater dedication to supporting its commercial customers.

Acknowledging the efforts of the Fiat Professional network to ensure support is constantly available, with improved opening hours at its 78 Fiat Professional dealers in the UK, the panel liked its support network built up from an array of dealers with an HGV background – thanks to its group

partner Iveco. Backed up by a 24-month unlimited mileage or three-year 120,000 mile warranty, the panel members noted that they have encountered excellent parts availability for the Ducato, but conceded that vehicle availability could be better – a result of the increasing demand for the model and the prized position that it is held in among bodybuilders.

One judge said the “Ducato is evidence of the changing attitude towards customer feedback”, with Fiat’s own products and its dealers responding to customer demand with changes to the product and its aftersales services.

Highly regarded in Europe as a chassis for motorhomes, the Ducato is now recognised for its excellent payload capacity and much improved durability in the UK and among a variety of fleets. Servicing intervals

are now at 30,000 miles and the Ducato has been improved with a new clutch system, upgraded brakes, stronger door hinges and body panel reinforcements. These changes have been made to help prolong the life of the vehicle, and helped secure it some impressive new customers – most notably in blue light services where a raft of NHS trusts have added the Ducato to their fleets.

When Fiat launched the new Ducato it simply arrived and delivered. It’s unpretentious and reliable, and that, in a nutshell, sums up why our panel chose the Fiat Ducato as its winner. Describing it as a vehicle with great opportunities, and growing following of large fleets, the judging panel recognised the Fiat Ducato’s significance in the large van sector and Fiat Professional network’s continued improvement and customer support.

“We are delighted – this is a market where there is tough competition.

The versatility of the chassis is one of the strong points of the Ducato” Richard Chamberlain, head of sales, Fiat Professional

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10.7.17 06/07/2017 14:42:20

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06/07/2017 10:36:49

Customer Care Award DPD Judges were looking for a commitment to exceed customers’ expectations from all levels of the company and also took into account testimonials from customers and the results of customer satisfaction surveys

Winner profile sponsored by

Isuzu customer care manager Syan Hancock, second right, presents the trophy to Elaine Kerr, director of sales and CRM at DPD DPD has a passion for customer care that has produced levels of sustainable profit growth unprecedented in the parcels sector.

The company believes it has redefined the delivery experience for home shoppers, from online checkout through to the doorstep experience.

Over recent years DPD has increased first-time deliveries through a combination of three technology-led customer-driven initiatives. These include the DPD app, in which customers can create their own profile, set their delivery preferences and track deliveries in real time. For example, a customer can request drivers to avoid certain times of the day, such as the school run.

The app achieved more than a million downloads in its first nine

months of operation and has increased right first-time deliveries by 3%.

Its Precise product allows customers to choose their own, exact one-hour delivery slot on the day of choice. The customer makes a selection via DPD’s ‘in-flight’ options and deliveries can be arranged for any time in the following seven days between 8am and 6pm. Precise is a free, added-value service used by DPD’s biggest customers including high street retailers. Its introduction has increased right-first-time deliveries by a further 0.65%.

With DPD Pickup, customers can choose, at the point of sale, to have their order delivered to the nearest DPD pick-up point. It includes a partner network of 2,500 UK shops

and is integrated into DPD’s depot network. In Pickup’s first full year of operations in 2016, 2,455,166 parcels were delivered into the shop network, representing 3% of all its B2C deliveries. The service has helped increase right-first-time deliveries by 2.67%, 2.5 million parcels.

Since 2008, DPD’s calling card rate for failed deliveries has dropped from 12% to 2.8% and since 2011 it has captured 59% of all new revenue available in its market. At the same time the firm has won new home delivery business from a series of high profile retailers.

Judges said the company has experienced amazing growth while keeping great customer care service levels and described its entry as “excellent”.

“Customer satisfaction is at the centre of everything we do and we have worked hard to develop important services such as the app” Elaine Kerr, director, sales and customer relationship management, DPD

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10.7.17 06/07/2017 14:37:31

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06/07/2017 10:39:12

Best Use of Technology Award Saint Gobain and Driver Exchange This award is for a project that used the latest technology to enhance an operator’s service and resulted in a clear benefit to customers or improved efficiency. Judges wanted to know how it was selected and adapted to the business

Winner profile sponsored by

Bridgestone commercial sales director Greg Ward, centre, presents the trophies to Driver Exchange co-founder Adam Thompson (left) and Saint Gobain driver resource and compliance manager Dave Ryan Supporting more than 1,100 UK branches was a challenge for Saint Gobain, and it wanted to fix the problems such an operation can bring. The fix led to the judges praising a project that delivered cost savings and, at a time when drivers were increasingly scarce, a solution that allows for the better use of driver skills and resources.

Because Saint Gobain lacked a national view of agency driver requirements, it was wasting thousands of pounds a year paying for ad hoc drivers at one site, while another would have drivers standing idle. It lacked control, as there was not a sufficiently responsive authorisation process to allow management oversight of overordering agency drivers. Getting the right driver to the right site was complex. Did they have guaranteed hours? What was the distance from

home? What qualifications did they have for the operation of specialist equipment? This all added significant costs. Finally, agencies were notified of driver requirements by telephone; and hours were recorded with pen and paper to claim payment. This led to sloppy timekeeping and increased administrative costs.

Saint Gobain selected Driver Exchange’s vendor management software in 2015 as part of a national tender designed to fix the problems and deliver significant cost savings, and rolled it out in 2016 in just three months. It allows Saint Gobain to centralise booking, across 1,100 branches and with more than 400 drivers daily. It also allows the automated matching of driver requirements; by region; by hours or by specific terms and conditions. And those drivers are notified via a text message that takes the planning

team just one click of a button.

All timesheets are recorded electronically, giving Saint Gobain managers an easily visible audit trail, trackable from site to site. Equally, the team at Driver Exchange was able to expand their codes to accommodate more than 1,800 rate structures – leading to more accurate pay for agency drivers.

Using Driver Exchange technology Saint Gobain saved more than £100,000 just by automating driver bookings by text; it reduced pay-nouse hours by £210,000 and reduced over-buying of agency drivers by £175,000. Closer timesheet controls returned savings of £92,000.

At a time when driver resources are increasingly scarce and under pressure, the judges praised a use of technology that they believed could be critical to the success of the industry as a whole.

“We’re really, really excited. We’re incredibly pleased that this was a reward for an immense amount of effort” Ian Berrill, transport director, Saint Gobain

56 MotorTransport MTR_100717_056 BEST USE OF TECH.indd 56

10.7.17 06/07/2017 12:35:13

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@BridgestoneCV www.bridgestone.co.uk 06/07/2017 10:42:27

Business Excellence Award Expect Distribution This award is for best practice and excellence in companies operating in the CV and road freight sector. Judges were looking for a company that showed commitment to: financial performance; long-term business growth strategy; care for the environment; corporate social responsibility; service levels and staff development and retention

Winner profile sponsored by

Expect Distribution chairman Robert Rushwell and MD Neil Rushworth and the team collect the trophy from Hireco national account manager Tim Gibson (second left) Expect Distribution is in its 29th year of operation and employs 220 staff and operates from three sites running more than 90 vehicles. Annual turnover for the year to 30 November 2016 was £22m (having risen steadily year-on-year for a sustained period).

Pre-tax profit was £785,096 (43% up on the previous year). The operator invested £1.75m in its Staithgate Lane headquarters last year, expanding warehousing capacity by 20,000ft2 at the Premier Point site, typical of a long-term approach to building the business that impressed our judges.

Speaking to MT in April this year, Expect Distribution MD Neil Rushworth said: “We spent a long time in 2016 restructuring Expect and there is a good feel around the business. We now have a structure and a team geared for growth and

there is lots of opportunity in the market for Expect.”

The restructuring included closing its loss-making two-man distribution operation in 2015, which accounted for 6% of annual turnover. The most recent financial year saw it make senior management changes, including the appointment of a new director of transport Andrew Taylor.

“It has expanded from a small Bradford operator with a good reputation to where it is now,” said one of our judges, impressed that the move had paid off.

With a number of new contracts coming on stream, the business has forecast growth in this financial year, suggesting it’s a business at the top of its game (one of our panel praised the business’s service levels) .

Recent wins include a three-year

warehousing and distribution deal with online retailer Stores Direct, itself building on an eight-year relationship with the retailer. Expect has also landed a five-year deal with the Card Factory, which will deliver a significant turnover and profit boost.

One customer said of our Business Excellence winner: “As a fast-growing brand, we need to be working with a forward-thinking, like-minded logistics partner, which we have found in Expect Distribution.”

“For the size of its turnover, this is a very impressive business,” said another judge, weighing up the investment, which includes construction of a temperature controlled storage area to meet MHRA regulations. Expect said the £95,000 cost should be recuperated within 18 months.

“We were nominated for three awards, so we were starting to think we weren’t going to win anything, so we’re absolutely delighted to win” Neil Rushworth, MD, Expect Distribution

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Apprenticeship of the Year Cemex Bringing in new blood has never been more important, and apprenticeships are an excellent way to recruit, train and retain young people. Judges were looking for well-structured apprenticeship schemes that met the bsuiness’s needs; good take-up; high retention rates; and a good rate of employment at the end of the scheme

Winner profile sponsored by

From left: Carl Milton, northern regional logistics manager Cemex; Tony McHugh sales and marketing director for truck and bus at Giti Tyres; and Paula Sedgwick, HR manager, logistics, Cemex Cemex’s winning entry stood out for the judges because it was focused on the recruitment and training of HGV drivers rather than vehicle technicians. While qualified R&M technicians are not exactly growing on trees, the driver shortage is reaching crisis levels, with the RHA estimating there will be shortfall of up to 100,000 drivers across the industry by the end of next year.

Cemex employs 350 drivers for its fleet of HGV cement tankers and bulk aggregate tippers, and it believes recruiting more driver apprentices is key to recruiting new blood into the industry. In 2014 it got board approval to develop a scheme to recruit and train new young drivers for its specialist construction fleet. It started with an intake of nine, in 2015 this was expanded to 15, and this year the company is recruiting a further 18 apprentices.

Apprentices are put on the payroll as full-time employees from day one and given a driving job on full pay when they have successfully completed the one-year programme.

The bespoke scheme is designed and run in partnership with training provider System Group; Cemex provides driver mentors to pass on their experience while System assigns each apprentice a training advisor to coach them through the process. “This is a bespoke programme designed for the company’s needs,” said one of our judges. “The backing of the board is essential, while mentors and coaches are also key to successful apprenticeships.”

The flexible, modular course combines practical training with external theoretical training and testing to meet the government requirements for approved

apprenticeships. The course also includes site visits to a cement manufacturing plant to introduce apprentices to the wider industry.

Communication between apprentices, mentors and coaches is encouraged, with weekly progress reports and regular conference calls and review meetings.

The latest 18 apprentice places attracted more than 300 applicants and a careful screening process ensured the right candidates were selected. In 2016, 80% of apprentices passed their category C test first time. In 2013, Cemex had no logistics drivers under the age of 27, but as a result of the apprenticeships, by 2016 it had 18 drivers under 25.

“Fourteen former apprentices are still with the company,” said our judges. “There is a good recruitment process and it has attracted lots of applicants.”

“It’s recognition of the hard work of the logistics team – everybody’s involved in this from top to bottom” Paula Sedgwick, HR manager, logistics, Cemex

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Partnership of the Year Meachers Global Logistics, Red Funnel and Steve Porter Transport Group Winner profile sponsored by

This award was open to genuine partnerships between operators and clients or suppliers. Judges were looking for evidence of long-term relationships, team working, and sharing of resources and financial pain/gain

Wincanton Industrial and Transport MD Chris Fenton, second from right, presents trophies to Meachers Global Logistics commercial director Gary Whittle, fifth from left, Steve Porter Transport Group chairman Steve Porter, fourth from right, and Red Funnel CEO Kevin George, third from left Last-mile deliveries to the Isle of Wight are among the most challenging in the country, particularly for those requiring a 24/7 service. But the Meachers Global Logistics, Red Funnel and Steve Porter Transport Group partnership provides a unique three-way alliance for freight customers across the Solent.

In winning the Partnership Award, the judges described the trio as a “great example of three companies coming together to each contribute their expertise to deliver to a challenging part of the country”.

Steve Porter is the largest independent operator in the Isle of Wight and has worked in partnership with Southampton operator Meachers and ferry operator Red

Funnel since 2012. The trio co-operate on the delivery of inbound and outbound freight across the Solent, with Meachers trunking Steve Porter overnight groupage loads from the Isle of Wight to DCs in Northampton and Coventry for onward distribution.

The operation also includes a sustainable DC, consolidating goods bound for the Isle of Wight at Meachers’ central facility in Southampton. Individual consignments or part-loads are consolidated so that less frequent but more efficient deliveries take place and transport costs are reduced – in some cases by 75%. It also supports the Southampton Clean Air Zone, set to be introduced in 2019.

As a result of the partnership, Red Funnel has been able to concentrate on its core business – providing a ferry and holiday service – rather than having to worry about offering a haulage service, while Meachers has been able to offer Isle of Wight-based customers use of a Southampton storage facility, inventory control and consolidation. Furthermore, Steve Porter’s drop-trailer volumes have risen 28% since introducing a bespoke cross-Solent drop-trailer service.

All three companies are now selling each other’s services for the greater good of the partnership, combining skills, knowledge and infrastructure while delivering great convenience and flexibility to customers.

“We struggled for 30 years on our own trying to make a go of it and the turning point was the invite from Red Funnel to go into partnership” Steve Porter, chairman, Steve Porter

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MOTOR TRANSPORT AWARDS 2017 5 July 2017

Congratulations to all winners at the Motor Transport Awards 2017

C

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Industry leading service committed to the needs of our customers

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MY

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As the largest British transport and logistics company,

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Wincanton works across a number of industries throughout the UK and Ireland. The company prides itself on its commitment to maintaining the highest levels of safety, adding value for customers and consistently delivering industry leading services.

To speak to one of our team, please email getintouch@wincanton.co.uk or call 0844 335 0502

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Service to Industry Award Ray Ashworth This special award is made by a panel of previous winners, the editor of Motor Transport and the sponsor Ryder to the individual who has made an outstanding contribution to the road transport industry

Winner profile sponsored by

Service to Industry winner was a surprised and delighted Ray Ashworth, left, collecting the trophy from David Hunt MD of sponsor Ryder, right After 48 years in the truck business, Daf Trucks MD Ray Ashworth retired in April 2017. He left behind a company in good health; Daf Trucks topped 30% market share above 6 tonnes in 2016. But arguably Ashworth’s greatest legacy is his devotion to improving the industry’s image while promoting its many career opportunities to young people.

He is an excellent example of what can be achieved through investment in school-leavers. In 1969, a freshfaced Ashworth embarked on a three-year apprenticeship with Leyland Motors – unaware of the long career path down which the truck industry would take him. There then followed a four-year graduate scheme at Loughborough University, which allowed him to work at Leyland during his holidays. He graduated in 1976 with a BSc Honours in automotive engineering and was taken on full-time at Leyland Motors.

His ambition was to work with customers, keen to solve problems and work at the sharp end of the business. Aftersales seemed a natural fit and, by 1987, he had risen to director. It was at this time that Daf entered the picture and Leyland Daf was created. Ashworth learned the art of teamwork through his partnership with Peter Cutmore, Daf’s aftersales director, together developing the Leyland Dafaid roadside assistance service. The same 0800 number is still in use today. In 1989, and with the appointment of David Gill as MD, Ashworth moved into a front-line sales role with a 10-year stint as fleet sales director. Ashworth once remarked “in aftersales, the phone never stops ringing. In sales, it’s you that makes all the calls!” His skills as a salesman were obvious and he was handed the full sales remit in 2002.

With senior management qualities

very much in evidence, Ashworth’s path to the top was complete in 2009 with his appointment as MD. Today Daf Trucks has enjoyed 22 unbroken years as market leader.

Throughout, Ashworth has taken every opportunity to promote the industry – his has been a constant voice of positivity and determination to showcase the diverse range of career opportunities that exist. He sat on the FTA board for five years and today, under Ashworth’s instigation, Daf Trucks is a headline sponsor of the Think Logistics initiative.

When pressed on how Daf Trucks has maintained its dominance in the UK, Ashworth is clear – the dealer network – and it’s where the company has been most successful in attracting new blood. Intake of Daf apprentices is at an all-time high, and who’s to say the next Daf Trucks MD isn’t already at the start of their path to the top.

“Absolutely a big surprise. It’s great to receive an award but it’s not just the person, it’s the team that does it; everybody in the business my team, the dealers and the customers” Ray Ashworth, former MD, Daf Trucks

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Firms fail to reclaim levy funds

By Emma Shone

Apprentices at XPO Logistics

The road transport industry is being slow to make use of the apprenticeship levy scheme, which took effect in April, according to skills agency Bis Henderson.

Employers with payrolls of more than £3m are now taxed 0.5% of their payroll, but can reclaim the funds to spend it on apprenticeship-based training.

But MD of Bis Henderson’s academy David Lynch said that of the companies covered by the legislation only a third are reclaiming the money they’ve paid into the scheme. “Of those companies affected, we are seeing a third that have tangible plans to use their funds, a third that are thinking about it and another third that are not active on the issue,” he said.

According to Bis Henderson, employers should consider replacing some of their existing training budget with levy funding and consider where they can train existing employees as well as new ones with the money, which expires from an employer’s account after two years. “If you aren’t yet doing anything to take advantage of the funds that are starting to accumulate, then you ought to be,” said Lynch. “The money being paid out in increased tax isn’t gone – companies can spend it today.”

Aston University offers logistics degree Aston University is to offer a full degree course in logistics and supply chain management, starting in September.

The Novus business and supply chain management course is the second Novus degree course in the country, with the first launched at the University of Huddersfield four years ago.

Aston University has been running a condensed verison of Novus since 2015.

Ed Sweeney, professor of logistics at the university and director of the Aston Logistics and Systems Institute, said: “We are proud to announce the introduction of the full degree course in business and supply chain management.

“We expect the course to be very attractive to appliTIGER TIGER: Tiger Trailers has hired a former Cartwright director as its business development director after the manufacturer announced its plans build a £22m factory four times the size of its current site. Rich Anderson was sales and marketing director at rival Cartwright for three years, having spent 12 years at Montracon before that. He said Tiger’s ambitious growth plans for the coming years attracted him to the role. “Tiger’s plans to move into a new and much larger factory next year have sent a very clear signal to the market about its growth ambitions,” he said.

“I wanted to be part of this exciting journey. I’m also looking forward to getting out there and engaging with customers face to face.” Tiger Trailers is to build its new facility in Winsford, Cheshire. The site will include a training school for apprentices and will eventually up Tiger’s trailer output from 35 to 120 units a week.

10.7.17 MTR_100717_069.indd 69

cants because it guarantees graduate employment in a supply-chain management role with one of Novus’s 25 sponsor companies, as well as providing students with guest lectures, mentoring and summer and third-year placements.”

Andy Kaye, CEO of Bis Henderson, said: “We saw our first cohort of graduates in July 2016 and are committed to providing superlative graduates as the long-term, strategic answer to the serious skills gaps and shortfall of graduate talent evident in the logistics profession.

“There are approximately 120 students seeing the benefits of Novus and, with two universities now offering the full course, there is the capacity to have many more.”

Staffing Matters

By David Coombes MD, Logistics Jobshop @DavidCoombesSfL

Brexit is scaring away vital foreign workers There are some facts that are simply undeniable: ■ we are an ageing population; ■ logistics has fewer younger workers than the national average; ■ the sector has for some time relied on immigration.

The situation with Brexit is very important to our sector. Recent evidence showed that there has been a dramatic decline in the number of skilled people looking to come from abroad to work in our NHS. It seems that they have been deterred by what they see as the political climate in the UK and where they think Brexit negotiations will eventually take us. Likewise, there is evidence suggesting that seasonal workers from abroad, hugely important in harvesting fruit and vegetables, are not coming to the UK in the same numbers as before.

Of course many people have concerns about immigration. But there is a baby and bath water issue. As I see it, there is concern about “uncontrolled immigration”. This is very different to a situation where our domestic industries actually rely on non-UK-born workers to come and fill essential roles.

The situation in the logistics sector is similar.

We know that many of our vehicles and warehouses are operated by people who have come to work in the UK. But I hear increasingly from employers who are now struggling to attract recruits from mainland Europe. The political climate, weakness of sterling and the improved strength of European domestic economies mean it is harder to get people to relocate in the UK. So we have a real challenge that we need to address. Where is the workforce of tomorrow?

My Twitter followers will have seen my disappointment about the Queen’s Speech (@DavidCoombesSfL). The government missed an open goal on investing in our people and getting them better prepared for work in key sectors – of which logistics is surely one.

Skills and training may be the medium-term answer. But, at least right now – please don’t scare away foreign-born workers. We need them.

Tel: 0117 9859 119 logisticsjobshop.co.uk admin@logistics jobshop.co.uk @LJSJobs MotorTransport 69 06/07/2017 15:01:01

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