Nestlé moves to bio-LNG

Food producer plans to replace all of its diesel trucks in next two years Nestlé switches fleet to bio-LNG

Nestlé has switched 75% of its owned fleet of trucks from diesel to bio-LNG in a move designed to help it achieve net zero by 2050.

The food manufacturer said the move to bio-LNG had taken several years to deliver, due to the complex nature of the delivery network.

Sally Wright (pictured), head of delivery at Nestlé UK and Ireland, said: “Considerations such as the refuelling facilities of bio-LNG, the weight of the goods the trucks carry and the range restrictions of alternate fuels have meant that every step of the journey needs to be meticulously planned.

“We’ve worked with a number of partners to make the change and collaboration has been key.”

Over the next two years, the remaining fleet of Nestlé-owned trucks at the end of their commercial life will be replaced with trucks using alternatives to diesel. ■ EV Cargo is replacing diesel with

hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO) in 25 of its trucks at client Budweiser Brewing Group’s Magor brewery in Wales. The move will deliver an immediate cut of 92% in CO2 emissions. The company also plans to double the number of trucks using HVO at the depot later this year.

XPO extends its Tesco fuel deal

XPO Logistics has been awarded a multi-year contract renewal by Tesco to distribute fuel to the supermarket’s consumer filling stations.

XPO uses 350 specially trained drivers to collect fuel at nationwide fuel terminals and allocate it to more than 500 Tesco filling stations and regional distribution centres.

This includes over 150 drivers from XPO’s depot in Thurrock, Essex, which provides centralised control tower management of transport activities.

A further 18 outbase depots ensure nationwide delivery capability. The company’s drivers and subcontractor network deliver approximately 6 billion litres of fuel for Tesco per year.

The two companies are also collaborating on developing a plan for carbon-neutral and carbon-negative transport solutions.

VOX POP Can nearly a third of hauliers be facing collapse?

Lesley O’Brien, director, Freightlink Europe

Depending on your viewpoint, there has never been a worse or better time for the haulage industry. We are currently witnessing a flurry of acquisitions. Businesses offering excellence of service, monitoring costings, passing on increases to clients and strict on credit control are thriving. Those, however, who bury their heads in the sand will most certainly be putting their company at risk.

Simply passing on the increased cost of fuel and drivers’ salaries is not enough. Insurance, maintenance, truck costs, the increase in NI and staff costs all impact on our bottom line. Many large operators rely on small ones. Let’s ensure we support them with prompt payment.

John Fletcher, MD, Dawsongroup

There is massive cost pressure on all businesses. It’s made more difficult when you throw in faltering supply chains, labour shortages, NI hikes and legislative issues. Those hauliers who cannot insulate themselves from these shocks or that don’t have a pricing mechanism reflecting them are going to be in trouble.

To say a third of the industry is in difficulty may be alarmist as not all of those businesses are necessarily active; however, now more than ever you need to protect your margin and your cash flow.

Andrew Malcolm, CEO, Malcolm Group

If the information is correct it’s a very alarming situation. A lot of companies involved in straight road transport will be feeling the pain of increasing costs along with downtime in getting parts. Cash flow may be their biggest challenge. Even if they manage to pass on costs, the time between paying out and recovering the same can be quite extensive.

Bob Terris, chairman, Meachers

There are certainly situations where difficulties will occur unless customers cover the cost increases. This will be compounded because the rates charged were too low before costs increased.

We have seen a drastic increase in the number of businesses that are being offered for sale, probably pre-empting the difficulties highlighted.

The other major problem is if the price increases implemented cannot be sustained when the volumes drop, the cost-versusrevenue ratio will suffer dramatically. These are certainly worrying times for the industry.

Kevin Buchanan, group CEO, Pall-Ex

Now we have the ongoing challenges of wages and fuel inflation, I expect we will start to see a higher rate of business failures in the haulage sector.

Although pallet networks are traditionally recession-resilient, other parts of the haulage sector will be more vulnerable as we move increasingly towards formal recession. Those who fail to adapt and change quickly to adverse market conditions could find life very tough indeed.

Moreton Cullimore, MD, Cullimore Group

I am not surprised by what the data is saying. There was a spike in work last year for those on pallet networks, but that has definitely backed off. While hauliers are busy, the increase in costs, not just fuel but employee wages etc, has not been reflected in the ‘selling price’ in an industry of low margins. I am significantly concerned for my transport company and others because all I see is costs at their highest and our selling price not increasing at the same rates.

Delivering on a promise

Brand-new show boasts top names, a packed speaker programme... and plenty of fun too!

By Hayley Tayler

The inaugural Road Transport Expo takes place at NAEC Stoneleigh from 30 June to 2 July.

Brought to you by the publisher of Motor Transport, this exciting new event will bring together more than 125 exhibitors, from the major truck OEMS to trailer firms, bodybuilders, and everything in-between.

In addition, a two-day business conference will be on offer to visitors on the Thursday and Friday, split across two defined stage areas featuring more than 45 industry experts and manufacturers. The Knowledge Stage will focus on regulation and compliance, tackling topical issues such as vehicle enforcement and testing; driver recruitment; fleet decarbonisation; urban logistics; and freight crime. The Business & Technology Stage will be an opportunity to learn from both manufacturers and operators about the latest products coming to market and how they are being put to use on real-life fleets.

The Road Transport Expo is completely free for visitors to attend, so whether you are the MD of a Motor Transport Top 100 business, a fleet manager of two or 200 trucks, or an all-important professional driver, there will be something for you.

To see the full speaker schedule, check out the ever-growing list of exhibitors and book your ticket by heading online at roadtransportexpo.co.uk

DRIVING FORCE

HGV drivers are the lifeblood of the road haulage industry, keeping your fleets moving and goods on the shelves.

So at this year’s Road Transport Expo, we are proud to have created a Drivers’ Day on Saturday 2 July, with a range of activities for today’s skilled professionals.

Convoy in the Park Zone

Celebrating ‘life on the road’ with an impressive display of head-turning show trucks and giving visitors an exclusive behind-the scenes insight into the British Truck Racing Championship (BTRC).  Meet the professional BTRC teams at the show and get up close and personal with the latest technology used on the circuits.  Eleven-times truck racing champion Stuart Oliver and his team will be welcoming visitors to experience a tyre-changing demonstration, before taking part in a fascinating ‘pit lane talk’ where you can ask all your need-to-know questions.  Be bedazzled by a fantastic line-up of working show trucks boasting their own unique wow factor, and discover which ones will be deemed best-in-class by our discerning judges.

On-stage ‘Driver Talks’

Grab a coffee and come and join this informal set of talks aimed at today’s professional drivers!  Talking trucks with Volvo and Scania: Volvo’s Martin Tomlinson and Scania’s Jarrod Griffiths will take to the stage for a bit of friendly Swedish rivalry. Whether it’s I-Save versus Super, or V8 versus 6 cylinders, you can be sure of some highly entertaining and informative banter.  Truck & Driver editor Dougie Rankine is joined onstage for a lively chat with trucking legends Paul O’Callaghan and Russell Oliver.  Have you got what it takes to be a trucking journalist? Learn how to put your knowledge and skills to use in the editorial world.  A bridge too far? Did you know that if you are involved in a bridge strike, you will face a hearing and risk the revocation of your vocational entitlement and disqualification for six months? Learn what you need to do at the scene and ahead of your conduct hearing. With law firm Backhouse Jones.  Girl Torque: Passionate about their profession, we learn what led this group of inspiring female drivers to join the industry, what they love about the job, and the challenges they face in a male-dominated sector.

IN ASSOCIATION WITH REGISTER NOW! IT’S FREE TO ATTEND!

Roadtransportexpo.co.uk

30 JUNE - 2 JULY NAEC STONELEIGH I WARWICKSHIRE

Former senior traffic commissioner Beverley Bell calls for greater trust towards vehicle operators

TCs must act in good faith

In my last column I wrote about the importance of loving our drivers and we know love is based on something hard won and easily lost – trust.

Traffic commissioners (TCs) often say operator licensing is based on trust as there are simply too many operators and drivers for the DVSA and TCs to check all the time, hence the issue of trust being a foundation stone of O-licensing – and rightly so.

In a former life as a TC, operators and their advocates often assured me that they would never let me down and always keep their promises.

I had to decide if I believed them – and generally I did. Most operators want to comply with their licence obligations and don’t want to meet a TC at a public inquiry – so most can be believed.

I remember one public inquiry I once carried out at which I told the operator that, as his regulator, our relationship was based on trust. He smiled back at me and said: “It’s alright, luv, I trust you!” and we both had a good laugh.

But the point he made back then is no less valid now.

The Annual Population Survey for October 2021 from the ONS makes depressing reading. The sharp decline in the number of lorry drivers and other challenges facing operators are well documented. Add in a general lack of logistics equipment and the impact on the economy and society is profound.

This same report tells us that nearly a third of people find it difficult to get groceries, medication or other essentials and we all remember the panic-buying of fuel in the two weeks leading up to October 2021, resulting in severe shortages.

If you then consider the unprecedented rise in internet retailing, it would be easy to throw up our hands in despair and give up. But that is not what the Great British transport industry does – it literally keeps the wheels of our economy and society turning, despite so many challenges.

Time for more

So what about my conversation with the operator about trust? I will always defend TCs and their staff for all they do and the challenges they face, but I suggest it is time for far more trust to be shown by them towards operators and applicants.

The latest Traffic Commissioner’s Annual Report reveals the average time to determine goods operator licence applications between April 2019 and March 2020 was 36.45 working days (7.2 weeks) with no sign of this improving just now. I suggest this is no longer acceptable and that radical change is needed.

My suggestions are the same now as they were in my former role. Put simply, treat most applicants as if they can be trusted and don’t assume that every application is based on fraud or a desire to circumvent the system. Remember that applicants want to do it right and sign up to do just that when they sign the licence application.

The time has come for TCs and their staff to cut up unnecessary red tape and throw it in the bin.

For example, I have a client with several long-established businesses that deliver fuel (a truly essential service) who has applied for a new licence because of a company restructure. This should take 7.2 days and not 7.2 weeks. Instead, we must answer questions about how their companies will be kept distinct from each other and explain where a large deposit of £100,000 to satisfy the financial standing test came from.

We had already provided bank statements and a quick look at these would show the money came from one of the linked companies, not from a Russian oligarch trying to evade government sanctions. As the bank statements were for less than the required 28-day period, they were deemed to be “unacceptable” even though the account for the company had been open for less than 28 days. Instead of granting the licence with a condition that the operator sends a copy of the statements when they have them, the applicant’s multi-millionpound company receives a tersely worded letter asking for 28 days’ statements.

Continuous control

And what about the questions about transport managers and how they will exercise continuous and effective control?

I have never yet met a CPC exam candidate who has put themselves through the stress of the course and exam so they can deliberately not do the job when they pass. So why do the TCs think differently either for them or for long-serving transport managers? Why do they ask how long it takes to travel between operating centres when much of the work can be done remotely, or who is going to look after the safe operation of vehicles when the transport manager dares to take a fortnight’s holiday?

If O-licensing really is based on trust, then please show this by trusting the majority of operators rather than showing suspicion all the time.

Believe me, I do know there are some rogues out there, but they are few and far between. So please cut the red tape, only ask questions and seek evidence where really needed, and clear the backlog which should not have built up in the first place.

It’s time to treat the commercial vehicle industry as the honest, compliant essential service it generally is. ■ Beverley Bell CBE is director of

Beverley Bell Consulting

Viewpoint Alarming or alarmist?

Tim Wallace Head of content, Motor Transport

News that almost a third of hauliers are allegedly facing imminent collapse doesn’t come as much of a surprise in the current climate. Another week, another crisis. But whether this new credit risk warning from a firm of accountants is entirely accurate is much less clear.

One senior industry figure I spoke to recently, who should probably remain nameless, described it simply as “b******s”, while PML’s Mike Parr, whose views we’ve featured on the cover, seems equally sceptical.

Being thrown this kind of doomsday data makes it even harder to get a grip on what’s really happening out there. If a third of hauliers are about to fold I’d be amazed. It reminds me of the Armageddon of bankruptcies we were told to expect as a result of the pandemic. And the supply chain meltdown we waited for at the peak of the driver shortage crisis. Neither ever happened, and you can’t help feeling that this latest flap will also blow over.

Without doubt, the industry faces serious challenges; what industry doesn’t? But some seem very quick to paint hauliers as permanently on the brink, facing all manner of perfect storms and double whammies.

Reaction to the story in our Vox Pop (page 6) draws on many of the same key points. The report’s conclusions may be an exaggeration, but that doesn’t mean operators shouldn’t take heed. If the big firms are getting richer at the expense of the rest, it’s never been more important to keep an eye on profit and loss, pass on costs where you can, and protect your margins and cashflow.

But ultimately, what always becomes clear is that although hauliers’ margins may be wafer thin, their resilience invariably sees them through. After all, as ArrowXL CEO Charlie Shiels told me recently, if you don’t want a crisis, you shouldn’t be in logistics. If you don’t love stuff going wrong and you want a safe job, go and work somewhere else.

Fuel duty cut – the grim reality

Nawaz Haq Executive director, SulNOx Group

In his Spring Statement, the chancellor announced a 5ppl cut in fuel duty. But, with the end of the rebate on red diesel, this tax cut is both easily affordable and flies in the face of the government’s own environmental policy.

The 5ppl fuel duty cut is a token gesture and clearly affordable when you look at the taxation on high fuel prices over the past 12 months. Petrol and diesel prices are still around 40% higher than this time last year. Over that period, the government has received huge sums in fuel duty. Diesel prices are up by nearly 50ppl – almost 9p of which is VAT, the other tax the government imposes on fuel.

The cut will do little to achieve its purpose of easing the cost of living, will do nothing for the environment, and undermines other policies including the imminent red diesel tax rebate due to increase fuel costs by 55% at the start of April.

If the fuel duty cut does little to ease the cost of living for the most needy in society, then what about its impact on the environment, perhaps the largest challenge of our time? The UK government says that higher fuel prices encourage the take-up of greener and cleaner vehicles and push users to improve efficiency or to use less fuel. By the government’s own admission, a fuel duty cut cannot be good for the environment and goes against the fabric of the government’s Net Zero Strategy, which is currently being legally challenged by groups including Friends of the Earth and ClientEarth.

From April 1, rebated diesel – more commonly known as red diesel – and rebated biofuels were no longer allowed to be used, which will result in a 55% increase in the cost of diesel, threatening the survival of half of businesses in affected sectors. This will net the Treasury around £500m.

It is clear to see that we are not at a stage where plant can be electrified – the technology either just isn’t there, or is nowhere near being viable if it is. What also doesn’t make sense is the fact that cleaner fuels such as HVO are also being penalised by this taxation. The red diesel taxation is nothing more than a deadly tax without purpose, just as the 5p fuel cut is largely ineffective in its purpose.

Reported analysis of SulNOx Group’s new certified and scalable fuel technology shows the real potential to make immediate reductions in greenhouse gases and particulate matter that will go a long way to help the cost of living, business costs, reducing emissions and improving public health.

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STREAMLINED SERVICING:

Renault Trucks suggests 30% less maintenance will be needed on EVs

Sparks may fly

Big savings in service and repair bills predicted as a consequence of the switch from diesel to battery-electric trucks may not be all that great in reality. Safety concerns mean that looking after electric vehicles is likely to be more labour-intensive than might have been expected, with two workshop technicians having to be on hand to tackle some jobs, rather than one.

“It could make repairing and maintaining electric trucks more expensive than repairing and maintaining diesels, because of the increase in labour hours,” says Scania (GB)’s head of people development, Aaron

McGrath.

“What we’ll probably see instead though is cost parity,” he adds. “What we certainly won’t see, however, is a halving of maintenance expenditure.”

Locking out risk

Under what is known as the buddy system, two people have to be present – one of whom acts as a safety monitor – during certain repairs to minimise any risk of the technician actually doing the work inadvertently cutting through a high-voltage cable that happens to be live. Doing so is liable to result in serious injury and could even be fatal.

“The most important thing is to follow what is known as a lock-out tag-out procedure,” McGrath explains. That is the case, he adds, even though all high-voltage cables

Growing takeup of electric vehicles may cause some points of high tension in terms of repair and maintenance arrangements, writes Steve

Banner

are encapsulated in an orange sheath, making them easily identifiable, and all electrical components in the propulsion system are marked with a voltage warning symbol.

All Scania technicians who work on electric vehicles are issued with personal padlocks. They are used to lock down a hasp to secure the high-voltage electrical system’s isolation switch behind the cab, to ensure it is not accidentally released while work is in progress.

Each of the two technicians deployed puts their padlock in place before the truck is touched.

“The vehicle has to be in a designated bay which has to be cordoned off using barriers and signage, enforcing a mandatory exclusion zone,” McGrath adds.

The buddy procedure is obligatory, he says, if work at Level 3 or above is needed. Level 3 involves component replacement, Level 4 involves diagnostics, while Level 5 – the highest – means the technician is carrying out a major and potentially hazardous job.

All technicians asked to work on electric trucks at any level require specialist training, with a total of four weeks of training mandated to achieve Scania Level 5 competence.

“At the moment any work on batteries involves replacing the battery pack as a unit, but in the coming years we’re expecting a requirement to replace individual modules if they have suffered faults or become degraded,” McGrath says. “This type of work requires ➜ 18

Lovely head here

standfirst here

Level 5 training because it means the technician is working with or close to high voltage; live working, in other words.

“What we’ll probably do is have a dozen designated battery competence hubs around the country. They and our central support operation will need around 30 Level 5 technicians between them.”

Not all of the work that has to be carried out on electric trucks is quite as onerous as this, which should help ensure costs do not spiral. “Technicians who have reached Level 2, which qualifies them to carry out safety inspections, are able to do 90% of the tasks,” says McGrath.

Maintenance gains

With no engine, there is of course less need to replace fluids or change oil, air or fuel filters. Nor is there any need to babysit a complicated emission control system, or top up its reservoir with AdBlue.

As a consequence, an electric truck’s uptime will be higher than that of a diesel because the time it spends in the workshop will be shorter.

Derek Leech, service market and retail development director at Renault Trucks, says: “We estimate 30% less maintenance will be required.”

And Mark Palin, head of customer service at Volvo, adds: “Our estimated figure would be approximately 30% to 35% less. On our electric trucks the coolant pump, alternator and air-conditioning are no longer driven from the engine, so no drive belts or tensioners have to be included in the maintenance.”

As indicated, such percentage falls may not always be mirrored in the invoices the operator receives because of a doubling of labour hours to cover some tasks.

Fewer moving parts mean that a battery truck is likely to be more reliable than a diesel, too, although regularlymaintained diesel trucks already offer a high degree of dependability.

Says McGrath: “Remember that an electric truck’s motor uses oil as a coolant, which needs replacing along with the filter. The motor should receive a one year/60,000km service, when both the oil and filter should

DOUBLE TROUBLE: Scania points out that labour charges may be doubled for maintenance operations requiring the buddy system be changed. Remember that the battery pack’s coolant will need changing too, although only after four years/600,000km.”

Some manufacturers pursue a slightly different approach where coolant is concerned.

Volvo’s Palin says: “We don’t have a specific battery coolant. The batteries are instead cooled along with other components, the compressors, AC/DC converters, electric motors, and so on. The coolant is also used for cab heating.”

Like any component, electric motors can ultimately fail, although it seems unlikely workshop technicians will be called on to repair them.

Renault’s Leech says: “They’ll be replaced, and the motors that are taken off will be recycled by us and offered as a remanufactured product.”

Some trucks may be fitted with more than one.

Next year will see Renault Trucks introduce electric trucks grossing at up to 44 tonnes with the advent of the T E-Tech for regional haulage and the C E-Tech for the construction industry. The new arrivals will be equipped with two or three electric motors with a combined output of up to 490kW (650hp).

It should be borne in mind that the maintenance requirements of the steering, brakes, tyres, wheels, suspension and axles on an electric chassis are the same as those on a truck powered by an internal combustion engine. Items such as an electric truck’s windscreen are just as vulnerable to being damaged or broken as those fitted to a diesel or gas-fuelled vehicle.

In common with their diesel counterparts, electric trucks remain subject to periodic statutory safety inspections. The fact that they are zero-emission does not qualify them for an exemption.

Workshop overheads

Workshops tasked with maintaining electric trucks will need a lot of new equipment, including diagnostics tools and manuals, at a price tag of around £20,000, says McGrath.

“We’re talking about insulated tools and multi- ➜ 20

meters, and voltage testers rated at up to 1,000 volts,” he says. “A lot of personal protective equipment has to be provided too, including insulated gloves and boots and flame-retardant clothing.”

To these can be added masks and visors. Renault Trucks suggests that a dealership should have a test pump so that insulated gloves can be inflated to check there are no holes in them.

An insulated rescue hook is essential so that anybody who has been electrocuted can be pulled away from danger without the rescuer being electrocuted too. So is a defibrillator – and anybody likely to be asked to used it has to be trained first.

Leech puts the investment needed at closer to £8,000 to £10,000, including training costs.

McGrath says that electric Scanias can diagnose many of their own faults, and report them so that the workshop knows what needs to be done when the truck arrives. “The onboard battery management unit monitors the health and parameters of the propulsion system and triggers warning lights and fault codes should an issue arise,” he says.

What happens if a technician is called out to an electric vehicle that has broken down at the roadside because its propulsion system has developed a fault?

“No work can be performed on an electric drivetrain at the roadside,” insists McGrath. “It can only be done in a workshop with trained technicians using the correct tools and equipment. As a consequence the vehicle will have to be recovered, which will involve isolating the propulsion system and disengaging the drivetrain in the normal manner, ie removing the half-shafts or prop-shaft.

“Incidentally, all electric trucks entering a Scania workshop for whatever reason first have to undergo a riskassessment performed by a competent technician.”

Palin adds: “If an electric truck is recovered after having been damaged in an accident, then the batteries should be monitored for a prescribed time in case of thermal runaway.”

Thermal runaway is rare, but can occur when a failing battery cell ruptures, releasing flammable gases, and causes adjacent cells to do the same, potentially causing a fire and an explosion. It has to be detected fast so that preventive measures can be taken.

In-house workshops

The foregoing might suggest that transport fleets with in-house workshops may not be able to look after electric models. Not so, says Leech.

“We recommend that the vehicle is maintained by Renault Trucks technicians, but I see no reason why

TRUCK-AS-A-SERVICE STRATEGY

New entrant manufacturer Volta is pursuing a different angle of marketplace attack to its established rivals. It intends to use the truck-as-a-service (TaaS) approach to supply its electric Zero rigids, giving operators access to the truck plus the necessary charging infrastructure for a single monthly fee.

The package also includes insurance, driver training, and service and repair. The first model, a 16-tonner, should start arriving at customers depots in 2023, says the fledgling manufacturer.

While being promoted as ground-breaking, aspects of TaaS mirror the contract hire with maintenance agreements offered by the established manufacturers for many years. As with TaaS, the customer is paying for usage, not ownership, and is not taking a risk on the residual value, an important concern with battery electric vehicles given how difficult it is to predict their worth after, say, five years.

“We believe our trucks will require 40% less maintenance than their diesel counterparts,” says Volta chief fleet solutions officer Casper Norden. “The electric motor should last for eight years and so should the batteries, although a lot depends on how they are charged.”

Constant use of DC fast-charging will shorten their life, he warns. Low-voltage overnight AC charging is better for their health.

“Any faults that arise with an electric truck are likely to be either charging or software-related,” he observes.

Volta has set up a technician training team and is now building its own servicing hubs, says Norden. However it is also willing to work with third-party repair and maintenance providers to deliver the back-up customers will need.

It is prepared to be flexible in its approach to TaaS, not ruling out co-operating with in-house workshops run by fleets that insist on maintaining their own vehicles. “We’d certainly be willing to if the order is large enough,” he smiles.

POTENTIAL HAZARD:

Volvo says damaged trucks will need to have their batteries monitored operators’ technicians who have undertaken the appropriate product and safety training courses shouldn’t be able to,” he observes. “Renault Trucks Technical Academy staff can help with this training.” ■

In February, Lancashire family logistics company Fagan & Whalley (F&W) completed the acquisition of Alan R Jones & Sons, another long-standing family rm in Newport, south Wales.

The establishment of a base in south Wales was just the latest in a series of investments the sixth-generation haulier is making in the future of its business.

F&W was founded in 1927 with a single horse and cart, acquiring its first truck – a Model T – in 1928. It has made a series of moves and site expansions as the firm has grown and relocated in 2016 to its current headquarters Albion House, a former call centre on the Shuttleworth

Mead Business Park in Padiham, near Burnley.

The firm moved its original Hapton depot to a larger site in 1980 to make way for the M65 motorway, extending it in 1995. Its DC at Shuttleworth Mead on the site of a former power station was completed in 2001 and was expanded in 2006 with an additional 30,000sq ft of warehousing.

In 2017 it opened a new purpose-built 92,000sq ft warehouse at nearby Burnley Bridge and in 2021 the firm acquired another site at Frontier Park, Blackburn, providing an additional 126,000sq ft of warehousing and an 86,000sq ft cross-dock facility, which relieved the pressure on Shuttleworth Mead.

Sam Fagan, Fagan & Whalley business strategy director, says the firm took on Frontier Park last February and that it is full.

“It went operational in October 2021 and by Easter 2022 it was full,” he confirms. “We need to increase the cross-dock side of the business to fill it so we will need more vehicles on the road to do that.

“We had no option as we were completely saturated here at Shuttleworth Mead.”

Fagan attributes at least part of the growth in demand for warehousing to Brexit, as some UK manufacturers are looking to repatriate production and need additional storage and distribution capacity.

Despite the rapid growth in warehousing, operations strategy director Daniel Wood says F&W will remain focused on the road transport side of the business.

“The bulk of the business will always be transport,” he says. “We are trying to find the synergies because a lot of customers want warehousing and we can provide distribution for them. It is that one-stopshop they look for, to

All part of the plan

Fagan & Whalley’s recent acquisition of fellow family haulier Alan R Jones & Sons has expanded its truck fleet, bolstered its storage offering and led it into some new areas – all of which is part of F&W’s longer-term strategic plan, as Steve Hobson finds out

the point where we also collect containers from Liverpool on our own vehicles, de-stuff them, store the product and then do the distribution in the North West.

“We have a lot of customers who operate out of an office and we do everything for them.”

Fagan adds: “Haulage and trucks will always be in our blood. That’s who we are and that’s what our history is all about. But we have to diversify and keep up with the times. Warehousing and logistics services are where the world is going so we have to provide that service. It works.

“We probably wouldn’t be interested in a job that was purely storage. It has to have something on the back of our vehicles and that is the service we sell.”

The rise and rise of internet shopping does, however, mean there is growing demand for small-scale pallet storage with low-volume home delivery, but this is not a market F&W wants to get involved with.

“We undertook a full review of our customer base last year,” says Wood. “We found that 95% of our work was coming from the same number of customers as the remaining 5%. So we had to stop ➜ 24

being all things to all people and move away from customers who were only giving us three pallets a week.”

Fagan goes on: “When we opened Burnley Bridge five years ago we were desperate to fill it. That was a huge step for us into warehousing and we took some customers on who would only store 20 pallets with us and pick one case every couple of days.

“We have to draw the line somewhere because there are companies who provide that kind of service, but it didn’t work for us. But we also appreciate that some of our big customers started like that so we have to take a fair view of what works and what doesn’t.

“We want to develop relationships with customers, not just be a bulk storage arm.”

Going supernova

F&W is a founder member of Palletforce and, along with most of the pallet sector, it had a very busy pandemic.

“After the first lockdown in 2020 lifted, volumes went supernova,” says Wood. “Combined with the driver shortage, it was very difficult. We had to review driver wages three times last year, so customer rates also had to be reviewed three times.

“It got to the point where efficiencies went out of the window with far too much empty running just to keep pace with demand. We have learned lessons from that as we regroup now that things have calmed down.”

F&W usually has more volume inbound than outbound to Palletforce’s Burton hub and while Wood says the firm “couldn’t work without it” the directors are focused on developing the groupage operation.

“Palletforce complements our own groupage operation excellently,” he explains. “In our cross-dock operation we can build between 25 and 35 loads per night, as well as running our eight trunks into the network. We handle around 1,500 pallets per day in total.”

Larger customers like the idea of their consignments being delivered direct by F&W rather than going into a network; there is less handling and so less chance of damage with a single cross-dock rather than being touched up to nine times in a network operation.

“There is still a demand for dedicated rigids from customers delivering such things as air-conditioning ducting to building sites or bulk kerbside deliveries to shops or cash and carries,” says Wood. “We find we can do a multi-drop run around Yorkshire on an 18-tonner with six drops on and it pays very well. I am phasing out the 7.5-tonners and replacing them with 12-tonners as

FAMILY VALUES:

Business strategy director Sam Fagan (left) and operations strategy director Daniel Wood the payload is far superior and most drivers now need a Class 2 anyway.”

Palletforce has a limit of 1,000kg on pallets for tail-lift delivery which F&W abides by, although Wood says it should be lower across the industry. “We are actively pushing for 750kg maximum,” he says. “We reluctantly accept 1,000kg but we have changed our tail-lift spec. We traditionally used foldaways but we have gone to 1,500kg cantilevers.”

Drivers are also provided with powered pump trucks, essential kit with the boom in palletised home deliveries during the pandemic. “Our biggest pallet customer does DIY bathrooms,” says Wood. “Someone can order a bathroom and have it delivered before 10am the next day. That saw massive volumes in lockdown as people were doing DIY home improvements.”

The firm has invested heavily in driver training for pallet deliveries and empowers drivers to refuse a delivery if they do not think it is safe. “The message is ‘if there is any doubt, stop’,” says Wood. “It is not ‘deliver at all cost’.”

F&W did not suffer too badly from Brexit as it only employed a handful of Eastern Europeans among its 200 drivers, but the UK-wide shortage has seen a “merrygo-round” of drivers moving jobs “for pence”.

“After they left, most wanted to come back very quickly,” says Wood. “We pay a very competitive rate and that has stopped the haemorrhaging of drivers. We don’t ➜ 26

use agencies and all our staff are employed. That sometimes means we have far too much kit parked up, but it is the decision we have made. It is a day’s induction before anyone gets near a truck – we don’t do much point-to-point and there is so much groupage and multidrop work that we have always tried to keep it in-house.”

Wood says that F&W has run apprenticeships to bring in new drivers but did not find the course structure “fit for purpose”. So it launched its own scheme, Futurebound, that brings in new recruits with a car licence and trains them up to be HGV drivers.

“We are trying to attract van drivers and have acquired two Isuzu Grafters with forward controls, curtain-sided body and a tail-lift, so it is like a small truck, but 3.5 tonnes,” says Wood. “We start them out on that so they learn to work a tail-lift, curtains and ratchet straps.

“If they are successful they start on their Class 2 training and go onto 12- and 18-tonners before going onto Class 1.”

Building the fleet

Total staff before the Alan R Jones acquisition was around 340 and the fleet comprised of 170 trucks, mainly Scania tractors and a handful of DAFs, for the most part 12- and 18-tonne LFs. It has just taken on its first batch of DAF New Generation XF tractors which were readily available.

“We were offered them so we took them,” says Wood. “With the supply problems last year we had five months where we could not get new vehicles, so when DAF offered us a deal we took it. Scania won’t open its order book now until 2023 and we always plan on buying two tractor units per month as fleet replacements.”

As it is a general haulier, any F&W truck could go into London at any time, so speccing vehicles with a 3-star Direct Vision Standard rating ready for the 2024 tightening of the DVS rules will be key to future purchasing decisions.

The Alan R Jones acquisition added 39 trucks, 65 staff, 40,000sq ft of warehousing across two sites, and a distribution depot in Newport, south Wales, to the mix. F&W will be investing in new vehicles for Alan R Jones to bring its ageing, mainly Renault fleet up to Euro-6. The Welsh haulier is also a member of Palletline, something that F&W intends to maintain, and runs powder tanks of which F&W has no previous experience.

“It was all part of the strategic plan we have to grow the business,” says Wood. “We have had a presence in south Wales for 15 years and have a joint venture company with Farrall’s Group in Chester to handle the insulation distribution contract with Knauf.

“We had 10 vehicles based in south Wales and it has been a strong area for us so we were actively looking there. Our operation in Cwmbran is based in a customer’s premises and we already run three or four full loads and two or three groupage loads into south Wales and the south-west every day, so Alan R Jones will now provide fuelling, workshops and washing facilities for us.

“We have a depot in Coventry with around 25 units based there and are also looking in the east of England to create a triangle covering England and Wales. Fewer drivers want to be having nights away, so we want to create a network where the travelling distance means

MINI-ME: Isuzu Grafters are used to help turn van drivers into truck drivers we can trunk from here overnight in a shift and exchange freight between depots. That makes us less reliant on distance drivers as the local feeders can reach anywhere in a day shift.”

The company business plan for a number of years has been to develop this network of regional depots, including in the east and south-east of England.

“A lot of it was fuelled by the DVS requirements in London,” says Fagan. “The ULEZ isn’t a major concern to us because we have a very modern fleet but we have 10 to 20 vehicles per day going into the DVS zone and so we started to look for a regional depot north of the M25 within trunking distance of Lancashire.

“The gut feel within the business is that Huntingdon, Cambridge, and that kind of area is the right place for us.”

Wood adds: “We have a lot of freight going into East Anglia and it is no secret we are looking for an acquisition in that area.”

F&W prefers acquisition to setting up from scratch because of the “sky high” cost of land in the target area. “We would like a ready-made bolt-on – provided it is the right fit,” says Wood. “We wouldn’t just buy anyone.” ■ ■ A longer version of this profile can now be read on

motortransport.co.uk

A MATCH BASED ON FAMILY VALUES

A key part in the successful takeover of Alan R Jones was the similar family values held by both firms. Alan R Jones will continue to run as a standalone business and there are no plans to phase out the name which dates back to 1971 – although there may be an element of dual-branding in future.

Ray Clegg, former MD of Alan R Jones & Sons, says: “It had become an obvious strategic move for the business to look at new opportunities, and when we had a discussion with the team at Fagan & Whalley, it was immediately clear that they put their people at the core of what they do, with a reputation that’s second to none, and I am truly delighted that Alan R Jones & Sons will now move forward into the future with new leadership and new opportunities.”

The Jones family sold the firm to a management buy-out in 2018 and the three shareholder directors felt now was the right time to move the firm on. Two of the three will be retained within the business, while Clegg will work as a consultant.

“There were a lot of opportunities and they wanted someone to push those on,” says Fagan.

F&W was founded in 1927 by Thomas Whalley and his son-in-law Sam Fagan, but after a few years the Whalley family withdrew from the business and for a while it was known as Fagan’s Transport.

But subsequently it was decided to bring back the Fagan & Whalley name and revert to the mainly green livery, after a spell with the trucks painted grey.

Sam is the son of Stephen Fagan who, along with his brother Graham, are joint CEOs and owners of the business. To strengthen the management, last year the board was expanded from two to six directors with the appointment of Sam Fagan, Daniel Fagan (transport operations director and Graham’s son), Graham Clare (business development director) and Daniel Wood.

Wood describes himself as an “adopted” member of the Fagan family, having been with the firm 21 years. “Trucks are all I’ve known and loved, and I always wanted to work in the industry, but not as a driver,” he says. “After high-school I picked out a degree course in transport management and planning at Loughborough and then joined the graduate management scheme at a firm called Holden in Blackburn. I had decided I didn’t want to work for a big company but they were bought out by WH Malcolm, so I went to a furniture carrier in Chorley before coming here at the age of 24.”

Sam Fagan says that while some board members may not be family members by name, Wood has been with the firm over 20 years and Clare 15 years. “They are as much family as anybody,” he says. “My sister and my cousin Dan’s sister also work in the business, so we have a succession plan and a great future. There also work in the business, so we have a succession plan and a great future. There is lots of ambition and energy, but we want to do things right – that’s the key.” is lots of ambition and energy, but we want to do things right – that’s the key.”