Menzies adds 16 longer semi- trailers after DfT go-ahead

Longer semi-trailers should be allowed into general circulation with light regulatory control on use Menzies adds 16 longer semitrailers after DfT permits use

HUGE BENEFITS: Adam Purshall

By Steve Hobson

Menzies Distribution has placed orders for a further 16 longer semitrailers to take its fleet of 15.65m trailers to 93 after the government announced on 24 August that, after reviewing the 31 responses to its consultation on its trial, ministers “have decided that longer semitrailers should be allowed into general circulation with light regulatory control on their use”.

The original trial involved trailers of 14.6m and 15.65m operating within the UK’s existing domestic weight limit of 44 tonnes. It was originally scheduled to run for 10 years from 2012 with a total allocation of 1,800 longer semi-trailers operating under vehicle special orders. In 2017 the government increased the number of trailers by 1,000 and extended the trial to 2027.

Speaking at the Motor Transport Future Transport workshop on day one of the Commercial Vehicle Show, Adam Purshall, fleet and procurement director of Menzies Distribution Group, said there had been “huge benefits” from longer semi-trailers for both the operator and its customers in the FMCG packaging sector.

Describing the trial as a huge success, he said there had been no safety issues “and it has delivered what we wanted in terms of the environment and our operations”.

The lack of availability of longer semi-trailers owing to uncertainty over the length of the trial had also been an issue, he said, though there had been no mechanical problems with the self-steering rear axles and longer semi-trailers had proved as reliable as Menzies’ conventional semis.

DPD challenges Royal Mail with major Post Office delivery deal

DPD has forged a partnership with The Post Office, which sees the Royal Mail Group cease to be the only carrier used by the retailer.

The deal is part of a wider plan by The Post Office to open up its network of 11,500 branches to external carriers for the first time in its 360-year history. The partnership with DPD sees Royal Mail Group lose its status as the only carrier to have an agreement with The Post Office for parcel collections directly at its branches.

The click-and-collect service, which starts next week, will initially be available at about 250 post offices, before rolling out to approximately 1,500 branches ahead of the Christmas period.

Customers making a purchase online will have the option to choose their local post office as the collection point for their parcels. DPD will deliver parcels directly to the post office and the postmaster will process customer collections at the counter.

The Post Office said the partnership aimed to reduce the environmental impact of having vans making multiple stops to drop off parcels, while encouraging people to return to their local high street on foot.

RSO quiz helps to beat the bridge strikes

E-learning specialist Road Skills Online has launched a free module to help fleet operators and drivers avoid bridge strikes. The Bridge Strike Toolbox Talk takes users through a quiz to prove they are up to date on the latest training.

RSO MD David Somers said the firm felt it was “incumbent on us” to develop the module, in light of traffic commissioners’ growing frustrations over hauliers’ apparent lack of progress on bridge strikes.

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HGV market sees signs of recovery in Q2, says SMMT

New HGV registrations were up by 128.7% in the second quarter of 2021 compared with 2020, revealing positive signs of recovery following the pandemic.

However, the full revival of the logistics industry has some way to go, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) warned this week, pointing to the pre-pandemic five-year average, which shows that truck registrations in the second quarter of 2021 actually fell 20.1%.

According to figures released on 17 August by the SMMT, the increase saw 9,493 units registered, up from 5,342 in Covid-affected 2020. Performance for the year to date followed a similar pattern, with 19,557 vehicles registered so far, equating to a 46.6% rise on 2020. However, this falls short by 7,907 trucks compared with 2019, amounting to a 28.8% reduction.

All segments saw volume increases compared with 2020, with articulated trucks up 128.3% and rigids up 128.9%. Tractors continue to be the most popular vehicle body type, making up more than a third of all registrations in the quarter (35.9%).

The refuse disposal sector saw one of the smallest gains, up 68.4% to 586 waste collection vehicles, as local authority funding continued to be affected by Covid, thereby delaying new orders.

SMMT warned that operators would face an uphill struggle to recover in the face of the continuing driver shortage and the sector’s tight decarbonisation deadlines.

VOX POP What’s your view on the DfT’s decision to permit LSTs?

Moreton Cullimore, MD, Cullimore Group

On aggregate/construction work we get paid by the tonne not the load, so any situation that allows us to carry more weight of aggregates per trip is a good thing. That said, in the Cotswolds bigger vehicles aren’t always practical so it won’t change our game completely.

Dave Rowlands, fleet engineering director, Wincanton

Wincanton has played a critical role in the longer semi-trailer project and we are very pleased to see that the DfT is now allowing them from 2022. They are safer, greener and more efficient. Similarly, the trial of 48-tonne lorries will provide a boost in productivity and bring the UK’s fleet closer into line with its European counterparts.

Duncan Pannell, operations manager, Aztek Logistics

From next year we may consider longer semi-trailers as a complement to the doubledecker pallet loads operating between our location and the Pallet-Track hubs where capacity can be a challenge, but it might be difficult to make them pay in general day-to-day haulage where operational load sizes can vary dramatically. There may also be some challenges of manoeuvrability in smaller yard locations that already struggle with the existing 44-tonne trailers, so it could be a case of making cost savings in one area only to see vehicle and buildings insurance premiums increasing in another.

Dick Denby, chairman, Denby Transport

The news is disappointing because although the longer semi-trailer can give 15% more capacity, the Longer Heavier Vehicle (LHV) can give 57.5% – almost a fourfold increase. The DfT has got the cheek to put it across as if they’re doing everyone a favour. They’ve used longer semi-trailers to delay the decision on 25.25m lorries.

Regarding the 48-tonne trial, today’s 44-tonner with the bog standard 3-axle semi-trailer bogie wears the semi-trailers out at twice the speed. Slap another four tonnes on and you’re going to murder the pavement. The trailer manufacturers will be delighted because you’ll wear the chassis out twice as fast.

The carbon argument is a lot of bloody hogwash. It will save a minute amount.

Kevin Buck, MD, Hazcomp

This is welcome news and long overdue. I also very much welcome the 48-tonne trial but their appeal and reach will be quite limited unless you conduct multimodal movements.

My biggest concern, though, is what this means for licenced trials of the 25.25m 60-tonne LHVs that so many have been campaigning for. Safety is constantly used as a blocker to UK adoption but millions of miles of empirical data show they are safer than standard 44-tonne combinations. And for every three standard articulated vehicles, it would only require two vehicles of 25.25m to carry the same freight.

As with the longer semi-trailer trial before it, other trials such as that of LHVs would not be considered in unison while another was under way, for fear of influencing the results. So while welcome for those who will be able to take advantage, the 48-tonne trial may once again be used to kick the LHV debate into the long grass and we must make sure that this does not happen.

LETTERS

Increase driver pay by £5 an hour

The driver shortage is not a government- or Brexit-induced problem. The role of a 44-tonne articulated driver requires them to spend 48 hours per week in a confined space without any toilet or washing facilities. The role extends to carrying out daily inspections and taking care of a 13.5m trailer loaded with expensive cargo.

Upon arrival at supermarket RDCs they are invariably held up, not permitted to use welfare facilities and end up utilising permitted working time. The driver may then be subjected to abuse from their own organisation for failing to complete the working time schedule. For this, the average HGV truck driver is paid £12.50 per hour, or £32,500 per annum.

The transport industry and its stakeholders have over many years developed a vicious circle of mutual destruction. It starts with the supermarkets and large international food and drink suppliers who demand, and invariably receive, transport services at unsustainable rates.

This maintains the cut-throat rates of haulage operators who work for an average 2-3% return on sales and are reluctant to pay increased salaries to drivers as they represent some 30% of total costs.

The solution? Increase drivers’ pay by at least £5 per hour, treat them with more respect and improve their working conditions. It is time for the lobby groups to stop blaming the government for their own lack of competence. A major recruitment drive needs to be activated to target 21-24 year olds.

Insurance companies also need to be more flexible in providing companies with competitive rates, and training grants need to be made available for candidates to qualify for Class 1 & 2 licences.

Des Evans, Honorary professor at Aston Business School Send your letters to the editor at steve.hobson@roadtransport .com

Image: Shutterstock

Cut off the serpent’s head

When we left the European club in January many of the drivers from eastern Europe left the UK. Major supermarkets drove down the rates for drivers and these people were willing to work for such rates, but this has come back to haunt them.

Yes there is a shortage of drivers, but with the increase in rates being paid and the fact that most people realise that transport is the vital link, given time the balance will swing back in transport’s favour.

The serpent’s head needs cutting off and this shortage will make the supermarkets sit up and think, regardless of the bonuses and other factors.

Tim Shenton