Motor Transport 14 November 2022

Double trouble

For a second time, it’s the end of the road for Lovatt Logistics p3

Tributes for Slater

Haulage sector reacts to passing of M&H Carriers founder p3

Winning smile

Unipart Logistics celebrates big JCB deal p4

Trouble at the top DX Group chairman faces wrath of shareholders p6

Decarbonisation Summit Who will pay for zero carbon? p8

By Tim Wallace

A ground-breaking commercial vehicle contract hire company has been launched, offering operators a three-month trial of its electric vehicles.

Vertellus – a new partnership with Renault Trucks and EV fleet and battery specialist Zenobē –aims to give customers a ‘pain-free’ alternative to a more costly and complex switch to a zero-carbon fleet.

Operators will hire the EVs from a nationwide network of more than 60 approved partner dealers and test the technology in their own day-to-day environment.

Vertellus will also provide customers with a personalised consultancy service, as well as driver training, fleet monitoring, PCN administration, replacement vehicles, tyre management and telematics.

A key strand of the new proposal is a three-month ‘EV Discovery Programme’, where customers can contract a minimum of

3,000kWh per month – equivalent to around 40,000km per annum.

Initially introducing 30 electric vehicles from 16 to 18 tonnes with box, curtainsider and fridge bodies, these ready-to-operate vehicles are delivered to customers with a temporary charging solution, which can be installed on-site at the vehicle base.

Pricing for box and curtainsider vehicles is £1.50/kWh and for refrigerated vehicles £1.90/kWh, with this cost including all expected standard full contract hire services.

Prices include the charging infrastructure, so customers only pay their energy provider for the electricity they use.

POWERING UP: Zero-emission commercial vehicle developer HVS has showcased its hydrogen-electric powertrain, a precursor to a full-sized hydrogen-electric HGV set to go on sale in 2025. The Glasgow-based company said its 5.5-tonne technology demonstrator laid the groundwork for a 40-tonne HGV and fulfilled its objective to become the first to market with its zero-emission powertrain. Jawad Khursheed, HVS chief executive, said: “This technology demonstrator showcases our groundbreaking hydrogen-electric commercial vehicle design and advanced powertrain technology, a precursor to our HGV model.” HVS added that its hydrogen HGV will have the capacity to cover in excess of 500km. For the latest news and information dedicated to the decarbonisation of the commercial vehicle and road freight sector, visit FreightCarbonZero.com

For customers with more demanding usage requirements, Vertellus can upgrade the charging infrastructure to a DC 120kW fastcharging system that includes a 160kWh battery storage, designed to allow the double-shifting of vehicles.

Following an initial customer consultation, Zenobē will provide a DC 60kW charger that includes its bespoke software to manage charging. It will also provide a 24/7 helpline and a performance guarantee.

Explained Vertellus MD Nigel Baxter (pictured): “We understand that when it comes to switching to an EV contract hire fleet there is so much more for the business to think about than with a diesel vehicle, which is why we have designed the Discovery Programme to remove the complexity and hassle out of your energy transition, so operators can accelerate the process of reducing the carbon footprint of their fleets.”

Stoke-based firm rescued in 2019 forced to close as losses continue

Struggling Lovatt goes down again

By Chris Tindall

A Stoke-based logistics firm that emerged from the pre-pack sale of an earlier haulier that had collapsed into administration has now also had to close down.

Lovatt Transport & Warehousing acquired the goodwill, business and assets of Lovatt Transport for £45,000 in May 2019 after it struggled financially due to an unprofitable contract.

All 24 employees transferred over in the pre-pack deal and it continued operating from the same premises in the Stoke suburb of Etruria, where it

operated under a licence authorising 15 HGVs and 30 trailers.

Administrators for the business said Lovatt Transport & Warehousing secured an invoice

financing facility with Bibby Financial Services to assist it with working capital requirements.

Accounts for the year ending 30 April 2020 – but not yet verified by the joint administrators –showed that turnover at the company was £2.8m, but it had made a £158,000 pre-tax loss.

Bibby, which held a fixed and floating charge security over the haulier, approached KBL Advisory in July 2022 and it became clear during this meeting that Lovatt Transport & Warehousing was insolvent on a balance sheet and a cashflow basis.

TfLchallengesFORS withlatestmodule

Earned Recognition members have been given the opportunity to bid for TfL contracts following the launch of a TfL-accredited module – a move that throws down the gauntlet to the Fleet Operator Recognition Scheme (FORS). The newly launched TfL-accredited module will give Earned Recognition operators the right to bid for construction, logistics, freight and passenger transport contracts in the capital. DVSA, which operates the scheme, said the module will also give TfL access to a larger pool of operators when awarding contracts.

IndustrypaystributetoM&HCarriersfounder

The haulage community came together in remembrance of Magnus Slater (pictured), founder of Scottish distribution firm M&H Carriers, at a memorial held in Aberdeen last month.

He passed away unexpectedly in July from a heart attack at the age of 67.

Slater was described as a “well respected leader in the parcel business in Scotland”, a “true one-off character” and a “legend” by his industry peers.

M&H Carriers was launched as a car and trailer operating from a council house in Aberdeen and

grew into an international operation with hubs in Aberdeen, Inverness, Argyll and Dundee.

Slater returned to his native Australia in 2003, and in 2019 moved to the semi-retired role of chairman, leaving day-to-day operations to MD Fraser MacLean.

MacLean said: “This is an incredibly sad day for all the people that have worked with Magnus over the years. He was a true one-off.”

When not working, Slater was an avid cook and traveller. He leaves behind his wife Tracy, children Sam, Richard and Alexis, and five grandchildren.

Staffofcollapsedlogistics firmmullinglegalaction

Former staff of Solihull-based Corporate Solutions (Logistics), which closed down last month due to soaring fuel prices and a weak economy, are considering taking legal action against their employer for allegedly failing to consult with them.

Morrish Solicitors in Leeds said it had been contacted by “a number of former employees” of the haulage firm, who claimed that they had been made redundant without consultation.

In a statement, Morrish Solicitors added: “When making

more than 20 redundancies at one workplace, employers are under a duty to inform and consult with employee representatives. If they fail to do this, claims can be made for compensation.”

The haulier, which specialised in supermarket work, called in administrators on 17 October. After a sales process failed, it was forced to close, laying off more than 200 staff. Corporate Solutions operated from sites in almost all the traffic areas, with seven licences authorising between six and 35 HGVs.

GREENER TICKET: XPO Logistics has introduced a rail element to its distribution work for plastic pipe manufacturer Wavin, cutting CO2 emissions by an estimated 58%. After signing a rail service agreement with Malcolm Logistics, XPO can now transport Wavin products in HGVs from Chippenham in Wiltshire to the Daventry International Rail Freight Terminal, where they are then shunted on tracks to Grangemouth in Scotland and then moved by road again to their final delivery destinations. This service will run five days a week with up to six multimodal rail containers transported each day. XPO said that NOx emissions should also be reduced by 18.8 tonnes a year.

Photo: Shutterstock

VoltaTrucksconfirmsTottenhamasfirstUKhub

Electric truck manufacturer Volta Trucks is set to launch its first hub in Tottenham in London.

Volta Zero vehicles will be operating on London’s streets from early 2023.

The London hub is the second service and maintenance facility announced by Volta Trucks, after Bonneuil-sur-Marne in Paris, with further centres in other European cities planned.

It is located on White Hart Lane in Tottenham, north London, close to many of Volta Trucks’ initial UK-based customers, and within easy reach of all of

east and west London’s significant logistics centres.

The facility covers 30,000sq ft and operates eight workshop bays. It will also accommodate a showroom, admin offices, and a training and call centre that will provide the interface between customers and the company’s team of technical and commercial experts.

Managed by LaSalle Investment Management, the hub can support 50kW fast charging of Volta Zero vehicles while they are being maintained. Overall, the facility has an A+ EPC rating and has been designed to achieve the Breaam ‘Excellent’ rating.

Deal covers management of JCB business with Maersk and Airbus

Unipart Logistics wins major new contracts

By Carol Millett

Unipart has won a major contract with JCB which will see it manage the manufacturing giant’s World Logistics warehouse in Staffordshire, its UK in-plant operations and additional off-site JCB UK warehouses and packer operations.

The logistics firm will also operate a 30-vehicle transport fleet, and oversee the implementation of a new warehouse management system.

As part of the five-year deal Unipart Logistics will also collaborate with Maersk, which

has been recently appointed lead logistics provider for JCB’s global supply chain. Maersk will be responsible for managing the Unipart operations in the UK.

FowlerWelchreapsrewards ofCulinagroupefficiencies

Fowler Welch reported a £4.6m pre-tax profit last year as operational efficiencies increased due to it becoming an established part of the larger Culina group, it said.

Turnover at the chilled storage and distribution company for the year ending 31 December 2021 was £163.1m.

Chief executive John Kerrigan said “challenging market conditions” had affected the business, but it was satisfied it could continue offering customers a market-leading service.

In April 2021, Fowler Welch acquired AIM Logistics in

Evesham, which specialises in supply chain services in the fresh produce sector, for £22.1m.

During the year, AIM generated turnover of £10.8m and a profit after tax of £1.3m.

Fowler Welch said that AIM had acted as a subsidiary of Fowler Welch until 29 November 2021, when a group reorganisation took place and both businesses now operate as a single corporate entity.

On 28 February 2022, the company purchased a logistics company in Scotland called Vitrans for an initial consideration of £21m, with a further consideration payable upon finalisation.

More than 400 employees will transfer to Unipart Logistics when the contract starts in early 2023.

Unipart has also been awarded a major multi-year contract with Airbus to provide in-plant logistics services.

From early next year, Unipart will be responsible for the receipt of products brought in from around the world to Airbus’ on-site wing assembly lines in both Broughton in North Wales and Bristol in the southwest of England. It will also entail responsibility for warehousing, kitting and line feed logistics.

Bumperprofitfor TescoDistribution

The transport and storage arm of Tesco has attributed its increase in revenue and profits to “good planning” and its relationship with suppliers.

In its recently published set of accounts for the 52 weeks ending 26 February 2022, Tesco Distribution increased turnover by 8.8% to £2.1bn.

Pre-tax profit rose by 16.5% to £103.2m.

It said it had been “an important year” for Tesco. In a business review, the company said: “Not only has it managed the ongoing impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, but it has responded to several difficult industry challenges.

“Thanks to good planning and

Worktostarton Konect62facility

The first phase of Konect 62, a major tri-modal logistics and industrial scheme in Yorkshire, is set to start in three weeks following the appointment of McLaren Construction by developers Henderson Park and Cole Waterhouse.

Located at the axis of the M62 and the A1(M) on the former site of Kellingley Colliery at Knottingley, the 136-acre scheme could be completed by Q3 2023.

The project will see the speculative development of a 1.1 million sq ft energy-efficient warehouse space across four units, all built to Breaam ‘Excellent’ sustainability standards.

This first phase includes Big K, a 735,000sq ft unit, which the developers claim to be one of the largest in the north of the UK. Another three units will follow.

great collaboration from suppliers, Tesco kept products moving and protected availability.

“The company’s performance is expected to continue throughout the next financial period and it is anticipated that the current performance levels will be maintained.”

Tesco Distribution added that there was currently an increased level of macroeconomic uncertainty such as cost and wage inflation, which was impacting upon operational costs, particularly in relation to food supply.

Photo: Shutterstock

Photo: Shutterstock

Stobartfinedover safetybreach

Logistics company Eddie Stobart has been fined £133,000 after staff were exposed to asbestos during excavation work carried out at its rail and container freight port in Widnes.

An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that asbestos-containing materials (ACMs) were disturbed by the building work, putting staff at risk.

It also discovered that an asbestos survey had not been carried out, the workers involved hadn’t received any training in relation to asbestos, and Eddie Stobart failed to report the incident correctly.

Chairman faces wrath of shareholders as investor confidence slumps

DX board fury at ‘bungled’ inquiry

By Chris Tindall

DX Group’s largest shareholder has called for a vote to oust its executive chairman, Ron Series, after claiming his handling of a corporate governance inquiry had “severely harmed” perceptions by investors of the company.

Gatemore Capital Management (GCM) said it had served notice on DX’s board to convene an extraordinary general meeting and replace Series with Mark Hammond, currently senior independent director at Genuit Group and a former chairman of Tuffnells Parcels Express.

GCM said it was “deeply disappointed” by the executive chairman’s handling of the inquiry, which resulted in the resignation of the company’s

ONSwarnsone infivehauliers are‘outofcash’

Almost a fifth of transport and storage businesses have no cash reserves left, according to new government figures.

A total of 19.2% admitted they had run out of cash last month, with 28.4% stating they had three months or less left.

“It’s a shock to discover just how significantly transport and storage sector companies have been impacted by the ongoing financial crisis,” said David Jinks, ParcelHero head of consumer research.

auditors; a delay of almost 12 months in publication of DX’s accounts; its shares being suspended and around £1.3m of expenses – which GCM said was excessive.

GCM added that since the lifting of the trading suspension this month, the DX share price had fallen by 29% despite an “exceptionally positive operating performance”.

n DX has chosen Basildon in Essex as the location for the first of eight new parcel depots due for launch during its current financial year ending 1 July 2023.

30,000. Pictured above, Paul Eyles, who founded PGS Global Logistics 30 years ago this month, took part in a groundbreaking ceremony with his three children, Joe, Sam and Emily, who all work in the business.

“At such a volatile time, it’s extremely dangerous for companies to have no cash

reserves to fall back on to meet short-term or emergency funding needs.”

ParcelHero said the reason the sector was faring so badly was down to its competitiveness and a reluctance to pass on cost increases.

n The driver shortage crisis is still affecting almost two thirds (64%) of operators, according to a survey by CILTUK, with shortages more than doubling in the North East, Yorkshire & Humber, East of England and Scotland since 2015.

Knowlesinsistsinvestmentswilldeliverbrighterfuture

Significant investment by Knowles Transport in 2021 as part of a long-term growth plan dented profit, but the company still increased revenues and said it was in “an excellent place” for the future.

Turnover for the year ending 31 December 2021 increased by 2.3% to £39.2m, compared

with £38.4m in 2020. Pre-tax profit reduced by £1.4m to £1.1m during the period.

The Cambridgeshire haulier said it continued to generate positive results, although it acknowledged they were at “a more modest level than 2020”.

However, it pointed out this was due to its

significant investment across its transport and warehousing operations and the company said the returns from this would be realised in the next financial year.

“The results are not unexpected and are part of the long-term strategic plan to grow the business,” it said.

GROWTH PLAN: Birmingham-based logistics and warehouse specialist PGS Global Logistics is investing £10m in a purpose-built warehouse in West Bromwich. The 80,000sq ft facility, which is set to create over 30 new jobs, will open in early 2023. A Pallet-Track member, PGS has depots in Birmingham and Kidderminster and works with e-commerce and automotive brands. It employs more than 200 people and operates more than 100 vehicles. The solar-powered warehouse will add to the company’s existing 14-acre site near Birmingham Airport, giving it a total of 350,000sq ft of storage space. The company’s pallet storage capabilities will double from 15,000 to

Photo: Shutterstock

Photo: Shutterstock

Funding zero emissions

The transport industry is right in the government’s sights as it reaffirms its commitment to its target of the UK achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2050. Intermediate deadlines set at COP26 last year include ending sales of new non-zero emissions trucks under 26 tonnes by 2035 and over that weight by 2040.

While there are still technical challenges to overcome in going zero-emissions – many of which will be addressed by the government’s £200m three-year zero emissions road freight trial (Zerft) – for many hauliers and 3PLs the

Bob Moran, head of decarbonisation strategy at the DfT, confirmed that although the role of biofuels in cutting emissions “right now is huge”, these vehicles will not be classed as zero emissions from 2035 and 2040.

“The fleet on the road with engines using liquid fuels will still be on the road for a long time,” he said. “But zero emissions means emissions measured at the exhaust.”

Moran pledged that the results from existing zero emissions demonstration projects will be published as they progress to help

the infrastructure that follows is absolutely essential”.

Alan Lewis, technical director at the Amsterdam-based Smart Freight Centre – a global not-forprofit dedicated to a more efficient and zero-emissions global logistics sector that works with shippers as well as carriers – said that when the centre began its work “shippers were pretty aloof and not engaged”.

key issue is how they will fund the purchase of these new battery electric or hydrogen fuel cell vehicles.

They are still not widely available and currently cost at least three to four times more than a diesel equivalent – and unless the weight of the batteries comes down significantly they will have lower payloads and ranges, making them less productive. Add to this the question of who will pay to upgrade electricity networks to recharge batteries or make green hydrogen by electrolysis and cost remains arguably the biggest barrier to the rapid roll out of zero emissions trucks.

The summit had earlier heard of the efforts by John Lewis Partnership working together with CNG Fuels to deploy 600 trucks running on biomethane, cutting carbon emissions by up to 90%.

operators learn any lessons at the earliest opportunity. “We will release data as quickly as possible showing how these vehicles perform and what changes everybody needs to start thinking about,” he said. “These vehicles will operate effectively and efficiently but probably differently.”

John Fletcher, MD of truck and trailer at Dawsongroup, which owns 30,000 assets in the UK, said that his customers recognised the need to electrify their fleets but were held back by cost and the lack of recharging infrastructure.

“Our job is to join up with vehicle manufacturers and energy providers to provide all-round funding for this process,” he said. “We expect electric vehicles to last longer than diesel trucks but the reality is a lot of our customers are working on relatively short

contracts, so the ownership model doesn’t really work.

“We have to create an eco-system for these trucks and find what the next markets are for them, whether that’s breaking them and finding an alternative use for the batteries or whatever it is going to be.”

Fletcher said that the transport industry was “ready to go and keen to get hold of the trucks” and Dawsongroup will play its part in enabling operators to fund these vehicles. But he emphasised that “trucks are only one part of it and

“That has so changed now,” he said. “The majority of our members are shippers and they are driven by carbon targets which are probably faster than those set by government. They are under a lot of pressure and that is driving down through the market. The projects we are setting up now pull together demand on a collaborative, noncompetitive basis among shippers and logistics service providers.

“The idea that then drives the demand through to carriers and vehicle manufacturers and fuel suppliers through buying alliances.”

■ For all the latest news and information dedicated to the decarbonisation of the commercial vehicle and road freight sector, please visit FreightCarbonZero.com

The inaugural Decarbonisation Summit held by Motor Transport and Freight Carbon Zero in Liverpool on November 9 included a panel session looking at the thorny problem of who will pay for decarbonisation of the road freight transport industry. Steve Hobson was in the chair

Road Transport Expo is back

Next summer will see the return of the Road Transport Expo, after its successful debut to the industry in 2022. This comprehensive commercial vehicle trade show is your one-stop shop for all your fleet needs and a great way to make new contacts. Motor Transport caught up with the core team behind the event at Road Transport Media to see what 2023’s event has in store

Vic Bunby, divisional director, Road Transport Media

MT: So Vic, how did Road Transport Expo (RTX) go last summer?

VB: The show went very well and the feedback has been excellent from visitors and exhibitors, who have been overwhelmingly supportive about a brand-new event with HGV fleet operators at the core.

But through learning from the research we carried out and by direct feedback from everyone involved, we do need to make a few changes to further enhance the show for the future.

I see this as a positive thing that suggestions have been made and we have listened, as we have always done.

We had 7,048 visitors to the show who came from many leading organisations together with 174 exhibitors.

And 95% of visitors rated the quality of the exhibitors as excel-

lent or good, while 95% also said that they will come to the 2023 event. They all said they loved the concept and buzz around the show, which gives us real encouragement for the future.

Included in the improvements for 2023 are:

■ A new and improved floorplan inside and out to bring some elements of the show closer to the centre and to make it easier for visitors to navigate around the very large site;

■ Improved signage;

■ Additional car parking with a

separate area for exhibitors, together with improved traffic management;

■ An improved welcome and registration area where we will have a team to help our visitors plan their day and learn more about what is on offer for them;

■ A change in the days of the show from Thursday, Friday and Saturday to Wednesday, Thursday and Friday;

■ A new team structure to improve what we do and to make sure that both visitors and exhibitors get an even better experience at RTX.

I already have a great team that are all very enthusiastic about RTX, but we have made a few changes to strengthen the organisational structure.

We have recently recruited Emma Tyrer as our event sales director, who will work with our exhibitors to make sure they all get a great experience and benefit from everything that RTX and Road Transport Media have to offer.

Katy Court, who was on the launch team, will be taking over the operations and logistics responsibility, giving this area extra focus to help all our exhibitors.

Steve Cox, who was also on the launch team, will now be our head of marketing as we want to promote this show to all and deliver even more visitors as we know we have loads for them to see and do.

MT: What was your favourite part of the show?

VB: I was at the registration area from 8.30am on day one and I just loved watching people ➜ 12

flood in; it made all the planning and hard work worthwhile.

MT: What type of specialist zones can we expect to see at this year’s event?

VB: We are changing things a little for next year and will colourcode all areas, which should make it easier for visitors to find their way around, as it was hard to make the very specific zones clear to all.

MT: How many exhibitors will be there?

VB: We had 174 great exhibitors this year – some exhibiting in a number of areas. Our sales director will probably not wish me to say how many we will have in 2023 at this point, but we already know we will have many more. Our sales team have received many requests to exhibit and they are being placed over the next few weeks.

MT: How frequently will Road Transport Expo take place?

VB: It will take place in 2023 and then after that it will alternate biennially in non-IAA Hannover years.

MT: What does it cost to attend?

VB: Nothing at all! It’s completely free to join us for as many days as you would like to.

MT: Why Stoneleigh Park?

VB: It’s a fantastic venue, right in the heart of the country, with 1,000 acres of indoor and outdoor exhibition space. It’s got great communications, and over 1 million people live within a 30-minute drive. There’s car parking for 19,000 cars, and 500 hotel rooms within 10 miles.

MT: When does Road Transport

Expo take place, and how do I attend?

VB: It takes place from 28-30 June 2023. Registration opens in midJanuary and you can book your free ticket at roadtransportexpo. co.uk

Emma Tyrer, event sales director, RTX

MT: We’re delighted to have you back on the Road Transport Media team, Emma. Tell us why you are looking forward to working on next year’s RTX.

ET: I have always enjoyed working with Road Transport Media and know the products well.

I was involved in the planning of RTX when I worked here previously and attended the event this year, which was fantastic.

The team is very capable, enthusiastic and raring to deliver an even bigger show in 2023.

Steve Cox, head of marketing, RTX

MT: Steve, can you tell us how the RTX marketing support for exhibitors is second to none?

SC: Getting the best out of RTX is all about planning and we are here to help our exhibitors get the most out of the biggest three days in the road haulage calendar.

From securing PR coverage to inviting prospective and existing customers along, our suite of

marketing tools and advertising packages will help exhibitors to promote their presence at the show.

Our team will also be happy to help and advise exhibitors so they meet their objectives. This is all backed up with a multi-media marketing campaign worth over half-a-million pounds.

Will

Shiers, editor,

Commercial Motor MT: Why should all fleet operators head along to RTX next summer?

WS: If you’re in the business of operating trucks, next year’s Road Transport Expo will be the mustattend industry event.

No other UK trade show will feature such a vast array of new trucks, trailers, and related equipment and services.

Not only will you be able to see and experience the latest vehicles and products designed to enhance your operation, but you’ll also get a glimpse into the not-too-distant future in the Urban Zone, and

learn about the latest legislation in the Knowledge Zone.

If you only attend one industry trade show next year, make sure it’s Road Transport Expo!

Katy Court, event operations manager, RTX

MT: So Katy, tell us why visitors to RTX will find their business needs well catered for at the show.

KC: RTX will be a great hands-on experience for all of our visitors, with a host of state-of-the-art HGVs on display and a chance to ride and drive the latest models.

With an estimated 200-plus exhibitors at the show, visitors will be able to meet up with new and existing industry contacts. And throughout the show, our team of show-makers will be ensuring visitors get the very best out of this industry-leading event.

Hayley Tayler, head of content, RTX

MT: What topics will we see covered in this year’s Knowledge Zone at the show, Hayley?

HT: We will be aiming to put together a comprehensive conference element at RTX exploring the pressing challenges facing today’s fleet operators. From the latest compliance crackdowns through to fantastic new vehicle technology coming to market, we’ll make sure there is a topic for everyone.

We will also be working closely with our exhibitors to help them share their own product expertise with show visitors and the wider Road Transport Media readership.

If you have any topics you’d be keen to see featured on the RTX Knowledge Zone stage, then please do get in touch, as we’d love to hear your ideas. Email hayley. tayler@roadtransport.com

■ Next year’s RTX takes place from 28-30 June 2023. Visitors can register at roadtransportexpo.co.uk from mid-January.

Getting to grips with decarbonisation

Steve Hobson Editor Motor Transport

The first Decarbonisation Summit held in Liverpool last week by Freight Carbon Zero – Motor Transport’s new project to lead the debate on decarbonising freight transport – heard many calls for more government action, or at least more clarity, on the roadmap towards a net zero carbon emissions future.

Who will fund the difference in cost between existing diesel trucks and their far more expensive zero-emissions electric replacements? Will they be powered by battery or hydrogen, who will pay for the new refuelling infrastructure required, and do we have the skilled workforce needed to build, repair and maintain these vehicles? The questions go on and on.

Due to yet another ministerial reshuffle by yet another prime minister, the new roads and future of freight minister Richard Holden MP didn’t feel qualified to attend the event, but the DfT was very ably represented by its head of decarbonisation strategy Bob Moran.

One big problem faced by the UK government is its desire to leave most of the problem of decarbonising transport at the door of the industry.

There was a lot of talk of electric vehicles achieving total cost of ownership parity with diesel vehicles at some point in the future, so why worry? No one will need to pay any more for this carbon-free future as the lower running and maintenance costs will offset the eye-wateringly high purchase prices.

Which may or may not be true, but even if it is, that point will be a long way down a road that has to start with someone buying these trucks and building the electrical connections that will keep them on the road.

Other governments have pledged massive public subsidies in the form of electric vehicle grants and infrastructure investment, and the fact is, the limited number of electric vehicles that are now rolling off the production lines will find their way to these countries first.

SubcontractorsarenotjustforChristmas

Aunique peak season? That’s the only type there is now.

Martin Willmor CEO DigiHaul

Walking around some of the country’s biggest distribution centres, I have to remind myself that we’re about to head into the busiest season of the year. This is normally a time when things start to ramp up, but the current mood has none of the energy we typically see in November.

For most businesses last year’s volumes were strong as consumers were determined to get back to normality and brands were determined to fulfil their Christmas promises, and they threw everything at it.

This year, a combination of lower volumes driven by cautious consumer spending and the earlier scramble for trucks and drivers has created a new problem. Warehouses are far quieter than they should be and now shippers are sitting on surplus assets and resources.

With revenue likely to be down and operating costs up thanks to decades-high inflation, businesses can’t afford to be carrying surplus overheads and underutilised assets.

I can understand last years’ optimism and the need to maximise the opportunity, but if there’s one thing we should have all learned by now it’s that we need to be prepared for volatile trading conditions –high volumes, low volumes and everything in between. Peak planning can’t rely on previous years’ data; week-on-week data is more like it, but few businesses have the ability to do this. Instead, businesses need a

base level of infrastructure, with the ability to flex up as and when needed. The UK’s subcontractor market is strong and should be utilised properly, not as an emergency cord, but as a valuable and reliable extension of a business’s existing operation.

By making subcontractors a strategic and long-term part of supply chain planning, businesses get the benefits of lower capex, the agility to cope with fluctuating demand, an overall reduction in transport costs, as well the ability to reduce road miles by operating on a shared network.

Working with a partner like DigiHaul on subcontraction also means that it’s much easier to maintain a higher level of service, as there is the ability to find alternative carriers to fulfil jobs at short notice, should the need arise.

When, as an industry, we start using subcontractor carriers this way, we’ll also be able to lift up the industry, with fairer pricing to enable investment in cleaner vehicles as well as fairer profits.

For businesses that already leverage the subcontractor network and have strong, reliable service and relationships, they’ll be able to weather this years’ peak season –whatever’s in store. For those that don’t, start planning now with a different mindset for a smoother 2023.

Got something to say?

If you would like to contribute to MT’s Viewpoint, email steve.hobson@roadtransport.com

The newspaper for transport operators

To contact us:

Tel: 020 8912 +4 digits or email: name.surname@roadtransport.com

Editor SteveHobson 2161

Head of content TimWallace 2158

Events and projects editor HayleyTayler 2165

Group production manager IsabelBurton Senior display sales executive BarnabyGoodman-Smith 2128

Event sales TimGeorge 0755 7677758

Classified and recruitment advertising

rtmclassified@roadtransport.com

Sales director EmmaRowland 07780 604075

Divisional director VicBunby 2121

MT Awards KatyMoyle 2152 Managing director AndySalter 2171

Editorial office Road Transport Media, First 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

RoadTransport@abacusemedia.zendesk.com 020 8955 7034

Motor Transport Subscriptions, Abacus, 107-111 Fleet Street, London EC4A 2AB

Rates UK £146/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 © 2022 DVV Media International Ltd

ISSN 0027-206 X

Delivering driver safety

As residential tail-lift deliveries continue to rise, has industry guidance launched last year improved driver safety? Haulage bosses question whether it should have gone much further, as Carol Millett reports

Photo: Shutterstock

Eighteen months after industry guidance was launched aimed at making residential taillift deliveries safer, the jury is still out on its e ectiveness.

The ‘Tail-lift and pallet truck guidance’ document, which was five years in the making, was finally published by the RHA in 2020, after extensive consultations with the Association of Pallet Networks (APN), operators and the Health & Safety Executive (HSE).

It followed the death of HGV driver Petru Pop, who was crushed to death in November 2016 by a 1.4-tonne pallet of tiles while making a residential tail-lift delivery in High Wycombe on behalf of the now defunct Reason Transport, which was at the time a member of Palletways.

Pop’s horrific demise underlined the urgent need for clear guidance to ensure drivers’ safety, particularly with the increase in residential pallet deliveries.

Risk assessment

The launch of the guidance was controversial for two reasons. The first was that it put no limit on pallet weights, despite HSE tests showing that recommended safety limits for starting and stopping a load were breached by 50% when attempting to move pallets in excess of 750kg.

Instead it put the onus on drivers at the point of delivery to carry out a “dynamic risk assessment” and empowered them to refuse to unload any shipment that failed the assessment – a move some industry players criticised for putting too much responsibility on drivers’ shoulders.

Second, industry feathers were ruffled by the HSE’s decision not to fully endorse the guidance, raising concerns the document would lack teeth and open the door to an uneven playing field populated by cowboy networks and operators.

So, 18 months on from its inauspicious launch, has the guidance proved its worth? Views are mixed.

Graham Leitch, Palletline group MD, still believes the guidance should have been stronger. He says: “I think last year was a missed opportunity to take a strong stance with the announcement of a definitive weight and ultimately shift the responsibility away from the individual and onto the wider industry.”

Pall-Ex Group MD Kevin Buchanan agrees, to a point. “I personally think the HSE ducked the issue and passed all the responsibility to the haulier, but the introduction of risk-based guidance has also been valuable,” he says. “More could have been done, but at least there is now a focus and a framework with which to work with customers and drivers.”

Mark Tapper, Palletforce chief operating officer, believes that while the guidance has raised awareness across the supply chain, it could have gone further.

“We believe our members, like all transport operators, would prefer to have regulations and legislation to follow rather than guidance, which can be ambiguous and is open to interpretation,” he points out.

UPN MD David Brown describes the guidance as “a work in progress”. He calls it an “excellent starting point” which is part of “an ongoing journey, not a targeted destination”.

He adds: “It’s really important that this momentum for evolutionary change is maintained by the logistics industry as a whole and indeed actively reviewed on an ongoing basis.”

Differences of opinion also exist among operators. Haulier David McCutcheon, MD of Bullet Express, says the guidance ignores the competitive pressures networks face.

“Nothing has changed,” he argues. “The HSE needed to bring a legal weight limit in and they fudged it and

passed the buck to the industry.

“Yes, we have pump trucks, but we are still receiving pallet weights over 1 tonne and trying to manoeuvre those. When there is a high wind or you’re pushing 1.2 tonnes on an uneven surface, it is still dangerous.

“I understand the networks – they are at a competitive disadvantage unless all of them are on the same level playing field, but that won’t happen – HSE has abdicated its responsibility.”

A different view

In contrast Stuart Fuller, operations director at UPN member FSW, is generally happy with the safety guidance. He says: “I do think the guidance is enough – it allows drivers to now feel that they don’t have to take the risk and makes them more aware of potential hazards that may arise.

“And if they do deem it unsafe, then they have the back-up from the company to deal with the customers’ expectations,” he adds. ➜ 20

A DRIVER’S EXPERIENCE

QUESTION-MARK: Palletforce questions whether the safety guidance went far enough

Rebecca Gibson, a driver at West Midlands-based FSW, believes the guidance has made her working day a lot easier, with the dynamic risk assessment checklist making it more straightforward for her to check for potential dangers.

“It’s very easy – I simply get out and look around while checking off the list – similar to a daily walkround check,” she explains.

So far she has only had to refuse to unload one delivery, which she assessed to be top-heavy.

She recalls: “I explained to the customer that the pallet was not safe enough to be unloaded from the truck on the tail-lift. They were quite apprehensive until I spoke to the office and we agreed to take the pallet back to our yard and split it into two lighter and safer lifts.”

She adds: “The office staff acknowledged my opinion on the situation and agreed that the safest option was to split the pallet down. The yard staff were happy to help to do this.”

Asked if she believes the guidance is sufficient, she suggests some drivers use it as a ‘get off light’ card.

“What I may perceive as a safe delivery, albeit complicated, another driver may refuse to do,” she explains.

Gibson would also like to see a weight limit imposed. “I think the weight limit should be capped at 750kg to 800kg,” she says. “Some tail-lifts can take up to 1,500kg at a push, but when the weight of the pump truck – especially the electric ones – and the driver are added together, the weight can exceed the limit.”

Tail-lift safety

Fuller also argues that a weight limit is no guarantee of safe delivery. FSW has introduced electric pallet trucks for all its 18-tonne and artic vehicles, as well as comprehensive training for its drivers in carrying out the required dynamic risk assessment.

“I’ve tried to manually move a 1,000kg pallet on a slight incline and it’s virtually impossible,” he says. “The introduction of electric pump trucks changes this significantly. The impact of the weight of a pallet is massively reduced, as is the strength required by the driver. Using this equipment properly, a 1,000kg pallet is relatively easy to move.”

However, Fuller believes it is as much about the type of freight and how it is packed as the weight of the load. “1,000kg of stone or bricks has a low centre of gravity. A 2m-tall pallet of boxes with loose wrapping or banding, or heavy boxes stacked on top of light boxes, make the pallet top heavy and far more difficult to move, and with a lot more risk,” he explains.

Paul Sanders, head of the APN, played a key role in the working group that put together the guidance. He argues that the guidance not only empowers drivers, but also ensures responsibility for the safe delivery of pallet loads is shouldered throughout the supply chain.

He also believes that weight limits are no guarantee of safer tail-lift deliveries. He recalls: “During the operational physical testing process in the early days of the guidance research, it was clear there are many factors involved, not just the weight – including site conditions and the dynamics of the loads.

“Floor conditions, the route from vehicle to delivery point, the surface, incline/decline and weather are all important factors.

“A lightweight pallet being moved in icy conditions could be hazardous, so we do not want drivers to think about risk purely in terms of pallet weight. This is why the dynamic risk assessment is so important.”

Pointing out that the average weight of a pallet going through UK networks is well under 400kg, he adds: “It is important that we risk-assess every pallet delivery involving a tail-lift and not just those at the higher end of the weight scale.”

GOOD JOB: Pall-Ex says the introduction of risk-based guidance on tail-lift deliveries has been valuable

Paul Johnson, MD of TPN member Transervice Express Transport and chairman of the RHA’s transport, warehousing and pallet distribution group, seconds Sanders’ views.

“It has made a real difference. Drivers were very sceptical at first, but have come to realise they now have a real input,” he says. “There was a fear that without a clearly defined legal weight limit an uneven playing field would be created, but that has not happened – everyone has taken notice of the guidance all the way along the line.”

He adds: “It certainly helps that HSE has made clear that it will prosecute those that have not adhered to the guidance, in the event of an accident. It has also sent a message to the customer that they cannot just chuck anything on a pallet and hope for the best.”

A safer place

WORK IN PROGRESS:

UPN’s MD says the guidance is part of an ongoing journey, rather than a targeted destination

While he is disappointed the HSE did not fully endorse the guidance, Johnson adds: “The big win here is the drivers’ empowerment– the tail-lift world is definitely

But not all drivers get to exercise their powers under the guidance, according to reports from members of the United Road Transport Union (URTU).

Regional officer Peter McKevitt says most of the problems come from traffic managers who will lean on drivers by telling them that other drivers have successfully delivered to the same address under the same

“Usually it’s not true – although there are drivers who will unload in dangerous conditions, opening the door for other drivers to be pressured to do the same,” he

Drivers can also come under pressure from residential customers, McKevitt says, recalling an incident in which one URTU member was chased and physically assaulted by an irate customer after declining to make an unsafe

Agency drivers are also more likely to feel the pressure to unload in dangerous conditions, says McKevitt: “It would be very rare for any company to dismiss a driver for refusing to deliver a load, but if you are an agency driver they just won’t use you again.”

When asked if he believes the guidance should have included a weight limit he says: “I would say that anything over 750kg is too much, but I guarantee some poor soul somewhere right now is struggling to place a pallet weighing over 1 tonne onto a tail-lift in order to fulfil their delivery rather than face the transport

delivery. ■

Hydrogen fuel cells

Ready for blast off

Hydrogen is increasingly being talked about as fuel for heavy trucks. And why not? If it is good enough to take a rocket to the moon, surely it is good enough to take baked beans to Tesco.

In fact, the government is taking the technology so seriously that hydrogen fuel cell technology features strongly in its new £140m demonstration programme for zero emission HGVs (see p8 news focus).

The technology is well established. Hyundai, for exam ple, started developing fuel cell vehicles more than 20 years ago and launched the ix35 fuel cell car in 2013. Today, Hyundai and Toyota both have fuel cell cars in the market. Although prices are coming down, they are still relatively expensive. Toyota will charge you £49,995 for a Mirai, while Hyundai is asking £65,995 for a Nexo.

WHAT ARE THE OPTIONS?

Battery-electric power works well for vans and light trucks, but is not yet a viable option for heavy trunking vehicles.

The hydrogen fuel cell is one option but there are others. Justin Laney, fleet manager of John Lewis, has made clear his support for an electric road system in which trucks would be fitted with pantographs to take power from overhead catenary. Another option would simply be bigger batteries.

It is vital, argues Prof David Cebon, that everyone uses the same system. He points out that currently, HGVs are overwhelmingly diesel-engined all around the world. The fact that the same technology is used in every continent has big advantages because it means supply chains are simple, there are benefits of scale, and it is relatively easy to move vehicles between markets for resale.

If every geography decided to have its own solutions, for example battery-electric vehicles in Poland and hydrogen fuel cells in Germany, the market would become far more complex and costly. “It is difficult to see multiple solutions working,” says Cebon. “We need a single modular solution globally.

“The UK is not independent of Europe. It would be unacceptable for UK trucks not to be able to drive on European roads, or vice versa. So they have to have the same, or at least interoperable systems.”

Fuel cell HGVs are currently being

in

H2 Energy. “Currently we have 47 trucks operating in Switzerland and they have done 4.4 million km with no problems,” says Beat Hirschi, chief executive officer of Hyundai Hydrogen Mobility. The Xcient truck is avail able as a 19.5-tonne GVW 4x2 rigid with a GTW of 38 tonnes. There is also a 27-tonne GVW 6x2 rigid that can pull up to 42 tonnes with trailer.

The power unit is a 350kW electric motor powered by three 24kWh batteries, which in turn are fed by two 90kWh fuel cell stacks.

The vehicles store hydrogen at 350 bar, giving a range of some 400km and enabling them to be refuelled in 15 minutes. Hyundai rejected the idea of storing the

From an environmental perspective, the electric road system is best, says Cebon. The truck takes power from overhead catenary via a pantograph. As a result it only needs a relatively small battery.

In fact, says Cebon, of the three options this is the lowest cost to the operator, requires the smallest battery and has the smallest carbon emissions.

Not only that, the operator does not need such large scale charging infrastructure in depots and warehouses, because the vehicles can charge in motion.

“The problem is that someone has to underwrite the building of large scale infrastructure,” says Cebon. “Will the government have the stomach for that?” Hydrogen fuel cells or big batteries would be the most likely solutions if the decision was left to the free market.

Cebon reckons that the most likely scenario is that we will end up with a modular vehicle system based on the battery-electric platform.

Depending on the requirements of the operation, these base vehicles would be capable of accommodating different options: bigger batteries, or a pantograph, or a hydrogen fuel cell or biofuel range extender.

Opinions are split on the potential for hydrogen as a zero-emission fuel: is it an elegant solution for HGVs or simply too expensive?

Malory Davies reports

trialled

Switzerland by Hyundai Hydrogen Mobility (HHM), a joint venture between Hyundai Motor Company and

Hydrogen fuel cells

hydrogen at 700 bar, says Hirschi. Hydrogen buses in Aberdeen run at this higher pressure, which gives greater range, but it would be far more expensive to implement.

Hirschi argues that 400km is adequate for most operations as drivers need to take a break every four and a half hours, creating an opportunity for the truck to be refilled. “We have to get out of thinking that range is everything,” he says.

Hirschi goes on to say that HHM has now agreed to supply 27 trucks for trials in Germany and is working with partners to ensure supplies of hydrogen.

He points out that there is interest in the technology in France, Austria and Denmark, as well as the UK. “We are developing fast, but we could go faster – we could supply 2,000 trucks this year and 5,000 next year,” he says.

Pump it up

One of the challenges of introducing hydrogen is to get enough fuelling stations in place to make operations viable. Hirschi points out that from a fuel station perspective, trucks, which need to refuel every day, are more attractive than cars which generally only need to refuel once a week.

Fuel cell trucks are expected to make their debut in the UK later this year. Tevva unveiled a 7.5 tonner with a fuel cell range extender at Road Transport Expo in June saying that it would have a range of up to 310 miles, while the hydrogen tank could be refuelled in five to 20 minutes.

The hydrogen fuel cell is supplied by Canadian company Loop Energy, which reckons its eFlow technology is up to 16% more fuel efficient than other systems and offers up to 90% more peak power.

HHM’s Hirschi is keen to accelerate hydrogen fuel

INVESTING IN THE FUTURE

The Department for Transport, through Innovate UK, plans to invest up to £140m in demonstration projects for zero emission HGVs as part of the ‘Zero emission road freight’ programme.

There are three strands: hydrogen fuel cell trucks, battery trucks, and battery and hydrogen trucks. Organisations had until 12 October to bid for funding packages of between £20m and £90m.

Projects must start on 1 March 2023 and must be completed by 31 March 2030.

cells as a technology for trucks, but he points out that at the moment, implementation relies on subsidies.

The company is based in Switzerland, where electric trucks don’t pay road tax. Hirschi says this amounts to an indirect subsidy of about 70,000 Swiss francs (£63,000), making fuel cell technology “interesting” for customers. For the German trials, the vehicles are being subsidised to the tune of 80% of the additional cost.

In terms of running costs, Hirschi says that in the base case scenario the trucks have achieved price parity with diesel. However, the recent hikes in energy prices have hit the cost of hydrogen disproportionately, making fuel cell vehicles more expensive to operate than diesel.

If the technology is to be adopted widely, then the cost has to be competitive. Prof David Cebon, director of the Centre for Sustainable Road Freight, and professor of mechanical engineering at the University of Cambridge, is clear: “The hydrogen fuel cell is the most expensive option in terms of capital cost.”

NO LIMITS: HHM CEO

Beat Hirschi believes the typical 400km range of a hydrogen truck is adequate, given laws on driver rest

Hydrogen fuel cells

HYDROGEN FOR INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINES

This is down to the additional cost of the fuel cells, storage tanks for hydrogen and so on.

Not only that, he says, the energy cost of green hydro gen is three times that of a battery-electric solution.

“It’s basic thermodynamics,” he argues. “You use three times as much electricity for a hydrogen fuel cell to do the same amount of work as battery electric.”

Does it add up?

Figures from the National Grid show that if all the HGVs in England and Wales were hydrogen fuel cell, with hydrogen production by electrolysis, they would have an annual energy demand of 98TWh.

That’s equivalent to a continuous energy demand of 11.2GW – about 30% of the total amount of electricity generated in 2019. That’s three times the energy demand for battery-electric vehicles.

The cost of compressing and transporting the hydro gen must also be taken into account.

Green hydrogen is generated by electrolysing water, splitting it into hydrogen and oxygen. There is an argu ment that this is a good way of using spare electricity. Wind farms continue to generate electricity at night when very little is used, so using that electricity to gener ate hydrogen appears to make sense.

Fuel cells are not the only way to use hydrogen. Paccar has been working on hydrogen-fuelled internal combustion engines (ICEs) as well as fuel cells.

The Paccar hydrogen ICE is a spark ignition engine, similar to those used by some other OEMs to run on methane. The low energy density of hydrogen will mean that range will be highly dependent on storage capacity in terms of both space and pressure. Whilst range is not going to be comparable to diesel it would be expected to be better than an equivalent BEV and importantly refuelling would be much quicker.

DAF won the 2022 Truck Innovation Award at the International Truck of the Year Awards for a hydrogen ICE powered XF.

Ron Borsboom, executive director of product development at DAF Trucks in Eindhoven, said: “This specific award underlines our philosophy that we need to explore the full suite of technologies on the road of decarbonisation of transport and mobility in the next decade.

“H2-ICE means that in many areas use can be made of an existing distribution network of fuel stations.”

Cummins is also developing hydrogen ICEs in the US, arguing that this technology provides a cost-effective solution for high load factor and high utilisation applications. Last month, US transport group Werner Enterprises signed a letter of intent with Cummins to buy 500 15-litre hydrogen ICEs upon availability.

HOW DOES A FUEL CELL WORK?

A hydrogen fuel cell has an anode and cathode separated by an electrolyte. Hydrogen is fed in at the anode while oxygen (from the air) comes in at the cathode.

Electrons are separated from the hydrogen atoms creating the electric current. The positively charged hydrogen ions move though the electrolyte to combine with oxygen to form water, the waste product of the process.

Each fuel cell produces about 0.7 volts, so large number of fuel cells, known as stacks, are needed to power a vehicle.

But it is not an argument that impresses Cebon, who points out that there are much more efficient ways of storing energy.

Generating hydrogen is only 30% efficient, he says. By comparison, you can pump water up a hill as part of a hydro-electric scheme, achieving 80% efficiency. Liquid air storage is another option which has an efficiency of 70%. These more efficient storage systems can store electricity much more cheaply than green hydrogen because they don’t waste nearly as much energy in the storage process.

Cebon also points out that if you have invested in costly equipment to manufacture, compress and store hydro gen, it makes no sense to use it only when electricity is cheapest. It needs to be in constant use to provide a return on the investment.

Not only that, a fuel cell is itself inefficient, he says. “It is never going to be more than about 50% efficient because of the laws of thermodynamics.” This compares to 90% efficiency for electricity.

Taken as a whole, the process of taking electricity to create hydrogen, then putting the hydrogen into a fuel cell to create electricity again is fundamentally inefficient, says Cebon: “You are taking electricity and throwing away most of its goodness.”

Of course, this is just one factor in the equation. Availability and cost of other options will have ahuge part to play in the success or otherwise of the technology. n

Operators bounce back post-Covid

The industry’s recovery from the effects of Covid-19 is clear from operators’ latest financial results.

Average turnover was up by 9%, while there were healthy increases in profit at both the operating and pre-tax levels.

The one sector that benefited most from the pandemic was home delivery. But there is evidence that the market has softened as consumers have gone back to in-store shopping – this is most notable in the latest results from Royal Mail, which saw its parcels revenue drop 6% between 2021 and 2022. Even DPD, which saw big increases in sales during the pandemic, reported only a modest 8% increase in turnover in its latest results.

Potential investors are always concerned by the return on capital employed. The good news this year is that the average for companies in the Top 100 has increased by more than a third to 12.6%. And despite all the problems involved in finding staff, employee numbers have actu ally risen for our Top 100 – by an average of 4% on last year.

It is worth remembering that at least some of this increase can be accounted for by merger and acquisition activity creating larger organi

sations. The past couple of years have seen some major takeovers led by Culina’s acquisi tion of Eddie Stobart last year. This pushed Culina into fourth place in this year’s Top 100.

Hardly had the dust settled on that deal than GXO set out plans to buy Clipper. That deal was concluded just a few months ago and will boost GXO’s turnover to £2.2bn. That would place it third in the Top 100, ahead of DPD.

The impact of the Russian invasion of Ukraine has also been felt in the Top 100. Gefco, which was owned by RZD Russian railways, was sold to French ship ping line CMA CGM, which has merged it

with its Ceva Logistics business. The combined UK business would have sales of £472m, plac ing it 17th in the Top 100.

The acquisition of Gist by Marks and Spencer Group probably didn’t come as a great surprise. Ever since gases group Linde bought Gist’s parent company BOC in 2006, there had been speculation about a sale. Linde wanted to focus on the gases business and it quickly sold off its forklift truck division. Finding a buyer for Gist was always going to be problematic because it had to be someone acceptable to M&S, the company’s largest customer. Selling it to M&S was the obvious answer.

The coming year will present new challenges for operators as inflation tops 10%. Last month the British Retail Consortium said retailers were “doing all they can to absorb as much of these cost pressures as possible” – a phrase that generally means supply chain partners are going to be under pressure to cut costs. And that could mean further restructuring of the industry over the coming months. n

Sales and profits have been rising across the transport industry, but with inflation on the increase this is no time to be complacent, writes Malory Davies

11RoyalMail(UKoperations)28/03/20228,514,000377,000157,9908,649,000316,000

22DHL31/12/20214,908,299217,76144,4654,443,019-23,285

33DPD02/01/20222,097,489337,7719,3701,942,202295,593

411CulinaGroup31/12/20211,843,15829,95915,581766,82734,520

55GXOLogistics31/12/20211,504,96265,46722,8611,197,69446,604

69HermesParcelnet(Evri)27/02/20211,449,910130,8495,173860,03743,103

74Wincanton31/03/20221,421,40054,80020,1521,221,90048,400

87MenziesDistributionGroup01/01/20221,269,60013,5004,7111,081,60010,000

96UPS31/12/20201,157,938117,9608,5241,069,30093,434

1010FedExCorporation31/05/2021796,11928,5289,864768,78035,361

1113WhistlUK31/12/2021781,3414,2122,491621,651295

1215ClipperLogistics30/04/2021696,20126,7319,148500,67120,107

1314Yodel30/06/2021676,01425,6214,519520,630-32,764

1416XPOLogistics31/12/2021605,5037,8813,921489,928-1,144

1518Gist01/01/2022551,50634,1665,638471,83732,952

1617Turners(Soham)Holdings31/12/2021519,23262,3504,091473,08460,804

1720MaritimeTransport27/12/2021416,02328,3302,762323,28913,345

1819DXGroup03/07/2021382,10010,6003,769329,300-1,300

1921CevaLogistics31/12/2021332,6442873,505305,6195,995

2022GregoryDistribution(Holdings)02/10/2021273,43111,0322,335238,29911,004

2112Kuehne+Nagel31/12/2021267,767102,8213,807630,669-70,020

2223YusenLogistics(UK)28/03/2021227,77213,4681,297219,9402,384

2326EuropaWorldwideGroup31/12/2020210,7493,6521,007205,6966,021

2429MoviantoUK31/12/2021203,2524,8231,123166,9993,158

2527DSVRoad21/12/2021199,94314,369750177,76816,177

2628Kinaxia31/12/2021184,9383,2691,694170,7531,576

2725WHMalcolm31/01/2021184,5818,1922,000209,2988,369

2824TuffnellsParcelsExpress31/12/2021178,1295,4662,277212,4946,065

2931LangdonGroup31/12/2021149,6896,7761,438146,0137,651

3034GefcoUK31/12/2021139,28411,758482127,0919,510

3155EVDownton31/12/2021131,3022,0071,382105,417-7,027

3235FreshLincGroup29/01/2022127,9571,251538111,8622,445

3332HoyerGas&PetroleumLogistics31/12/2020118,504-1,4961,322141,2504,131

3433BCAAutomotive29/03/2021117,447-5,4971,194136,604589

3537McBurneyTransportGroup31/12/2021115,50511,517812104,0809,053

3636Pentalver31/12/2020114,2962,192524110,660-1,091

3738HowardTenens30/09/2021112,31020,943698103,6098,129

LARGEST 100 COMPANIES (BY TURNOVER)

Latest rank Previous rankCompanyortradingnameFinancial yearend

Latestyear turnover(£000s)

Latestyearpre-tax profit(£000s)

Latestyear employees Previousyear turnover(£000s) Previousyearpretaxprofit(£000s)

5150AbbeyLogisticsGroup03/07/202164,3842,76557862,871-1,260

5248MaxiHaulage30/09/202163,1782,16328363,974928

5361BougheyDistribution31/05/202262,68494270554,930-493

5452AdvancedSupplyChainGroup30/11/202059,9253,0981,37150,3111,684

5562PickfordsMoveManagement30/09/202158,1034,50728847,3252,080

5657RSwain&Sons01/01/202257,78676346151,458-1,458

5754MoranLogistics01/01/202256,792341257,4051,315

5858LenhamStorageGroup31/08/202156,4003,42360251,3071,581

5981MeachersGlobalLogistics31/05/202255,2835,00019835,6793,312

6059SolstorUK30/09/202150,2801,4946851,1301,454

6167LomasDistribution29/07/202145,1011,61829938,993610

6265SJBarghGroup30/04/202144,9971,79251743,081979

6370RTKeedwell(SRKeedwellHoldings)31/10/202144,6464,31536037,984269

6466LineageUKTransport31/12/202041,685-1,26737729,575-282

6580ExpectDistribution30/11/202140,6067,52332132,8383,006

6677Freightroute31/12/202139,6671,40538433,5151,643

6768AmericoldWhitchurch31/12/202038,9754,02937239,8003,987

6888MasterRemoversGroup201930/09/202138,5304,16344926,984-184

6969KnowlesTransport31/12/202038,3542,50629336,2422,016

7076BuffaloadLogistics02/01/202138,3022,05224233,7681,347

7172CountrywideFreightGroup31/03/202138,0281,36734435,305249

7278TJTransportGroupHoldings31/12/202138,0181,08620933,313426

7364LloydFraserHoldings28/02/202136,4831,65245646,5361,430

7482HSivyerTransport31/03/202135,1721,5649830,813314

7571ETHoldings(EvansTransportandSeymourTransport)31/03/202134,8333,37634336,518882

7679McPherson30/07/202134,7712,84138233,1712,368

7774MontgomeryTransport30/09/202134,6232,41825634,090752

7873FredSherwood&Sons(Transport)31/03/202133,8017423934,583762

7975WMArmstrong(Longtown)31/03/202133,30347930633,794287

8056WSSpecialistLogistics30/11/202030,5761,15920053,790721

8183Neill&BrownGlobalLogisticsGroup30/04/202130,3242,70814629,8072,269

8287Pollock(Scotrans)02/10/202129,83095122626,862419

8384MDSDistributionLtd31/01/202129,39620727232,722-1,029

8496Newell&WrightTransportContractors31/08/202129,063-73926424,050-2,226

8585McCullaHoldings31/12/202029,0523,95725828,6652,261 8686ElddisTransport(Consett)31/12/202128,7781,16132128,896502

GROWTH

£500m-plusturnover

14CulinaGroup1,843,158766,827140.4

26HermesParcelnet(Evri)1,449,910860,03768.6

312ClipperLogistics696,201500,67139.1 413Yodel676,014520,63029.8

511WhistlUK781,341621,65125.7

65GXOLogistics1,504,9621,197,69425.7 714XPOLogistics605,503489,92823.6

88MenziesDistributionGroup1,269,6001,081,60017.4 915Gist551,506471,83716.9

107Wincanton1,421,4001,221,90016.3

112DHL4,908,2994,443,01910.5

1216Turners(Soham)Holdings519,232473,0849.8 139UPS1,157,9381,069,3008.3

143DPD2,097,4891,942,2028.0

1510FedExCorporation796,119768,7803.6

161RoyalMail(UKoperations)8,514,0008,649,000-1.6 £100m-£500mturnover

138RedheadFreight100,23868,02747.3 217MaritimeTransport416,023323,28928.7

331EVDownton131,302105,41724.6

424MoviantoUK203,252166,99921.7 518DXGroup382,100329,30016.0

620GregoryDistribution(Holdings)273,431238,29914.7

732FreshLincGroup127,957111,86214.4

825DSVRoad199,943177,76812.5 935McBurneyTransportGroup115,505104,08011.0

1030GefcoUK139,284127,0919.6

1119CevaLogistics332,644305,6198.8

1237HowardTenens112,310103,6098.4

1326Kinaxia184,938170,7538.3

1422YusenLogistics(UK)227,772219,9403.6

168MasterRemoversGroup201938,53026,98442.8 264LineageUKTransport41,68529,57540.9 365ExpectDistribution40,60632,83823.7 466Freightroute39,66733,51518.4 563RTKeedwell(SRKeedwellHoldings)44,64637,98417.5

661LomasDistribution45,10138,99315.7

774HSivyerTransport35,17230,81314.1 872TJTransportGroupHoldings38,01833,31314.1

970BuffaloadLogistics38,30233,76813.4

1071CountrywideFreightGroup38,02835,3057.7

1169KnowlesTransport38,35436,2425.8

1276McPherson34,77133,1714.8

1362SJBarghGroup44,99743,0814.4

1481Neill&BrownGlobalLogisticsGroup30,32429,8071.7 1577MontgomeryTransport34,62334,0901.6 1679WMArmstrong(Longtown)33,30333,794-1.5

GROWTH

111WhistlUK4,2122951,327.8 22DHL217,761-23,2851,035.2 314XPOLogistics7,881-1,144788.9 46HermesParcelnet(Evri)130,84943,103203.6 513Yodel25,621-32,764178.2 65GXOLogistics65,46746,60440.5 78MenziesDistributionGroup13,50010,00035.0 812ClipperLogistics26,73120,10732.9 99UPS117,96093,43426.2 101RoyalMail(UKoperations)377,000316,00019.3 113DPD337,771295,59314.3 127Wincanton54,80048,40013.2 1315Gist34,16632,9523.7 1416Turners(Soham)Holdings62,35060,8042.5 154CulinaGroup29,95934,520-13.2 1610FedExCorporation28,52835,361-19.3 £100m-£500mturnover 118DXGroup10,600-1,300915.4 222YusenLogistics(UK)13,4682,384464.9 336Pentalver2,192-1,091300.9

421Kuehne+Nagel102,821-70,020246.8 537HowardTenens20,9438,129157.6 631EVDownton2,007-7,027128.6 717MaritimeTransport28,33013,345112.3

168MasterRemoversGroup20194,163-1842,362.5 263RTKeedwell(SRKeedwellHoldings)4,3152691,504.0 371CountrywideFreightGroup1,367249448.7 474HSivyerTransport1,564314398.1 575ETHoldings(EvansTransportandSeymourTransport)3,376882282.8

165ExpectDistribution3,7172,342158.7 270BuffaloadLogistics2,4779,42426.3 374HSivyerTransport1,6456,91523.8 481Neill&BrownGlobalLogisticsGroup2,75611,98323.0 568MasterRemoversGroup20194,76725,84518.4 675ETHoldings(EvansTransportandSeymourTransport)3,54023,95114.8 771CountrywideFreightGroup1,42710,45813.6 873LloydFraserHoldings1,73113,51012.8 980WSSpecialistLogistics1,42411,14912.8 1072TJTransportGroupHoldings1,2679,97412.7 1163RTKeedwell(SRKeedwellHoldings)3,38727,97212.1 1279WMArmstrong(Longtown)7586,41611.8 1376McPherson2,83927,17010.4

The MT Top 100 explained

The rankings were finalised using information available as of 24 October 2022. The data was compiled from audited accounts filed at Companies House. The table lists the company in regard to its official registered name at Companies House, which is not always the same as the company’s trading name. As far as possible we have used turnover figures generated solely or primarily from UK road transport and warehousing activities, unless otherwise stated below. Employee figures are predominantly those employed solely or primarily in the UK. Return on capital employed has been calculated as operating profit divided by the sum of total assets minus current liabilities, expressed as a percentage. Minus signs (-) have been changed in the profit growth table so they always mean worse. For example, Newell & Wright made a smaller loss in 2021 than in 2020. The calculation gives a growth figure of -66.8% (because the loss is smaller). But because the column is called ‘Profit Growth’, intuitively that seems wrong. Consequently, we have changed the sign to 66.8% to reflect the fact that it is actually better.

Advanced Supply Chain figures reflect the performance of Advanced Supply Chain Group, excluding the results of its Advanced Forwarding international freight forwarding business.

Americold Whitchurch is the new name for Agro Merchants Whitchurch.

BCA Automotive comprises Walon, Paragon Automotive Logistics and Sensible Automotive, which are all subsidiaries of BCA Marketplace.

Bibby Distribution is now part of Menzies Distribution Group.

Clipper Logistics became part of GXO in June 2022. We have included it separately for this year.

Culina Group comprises Culina Logistics, Eddie Stobart Logistics, Great Bear Distribution, Integrated Packing Services, Morgan McLernon, CML F&L (Telford), Fowler Welch and Warrens Warehousing & Distribution (Midlands).

Currie International Holdings 2020 figures are for 18 months. Currie acquired PS Ridgway, Move It express, Laser transport. DHL comprises DHL Supply Chain, DHL Parcel UK, Tradeteam, DHL International UK, and Exel UK. The company is consolidating logistics contracts into DHL Supply Chain as they are renewed from Exel. Tradeteam’s activities were moved into DHL Supply Chain from H2 of 2021. Employees in DHL Supply Chain and Exel are employed through DHL Services. DHL’s freight forwarding business is excluded from our figures.

DPD comprises DPDgroup UK and DPDLocal, formerly Interlink Express. The pre-tax profit figure has been adjusted to reflect a £50m dividend paid by DPDlocal to DPDgroup. EV Downton accounts for 2020 have been restated.

FedEx comprises FedEx UK and FedEx UK Transport Ltd (formerly TNT UK).

Gefco was sold to CMA CGM by former parent RZD (Russian railways) in July 2022, and has been incorporated into Ceva Logistics. The two are included separately in the main table. The impact of the takeover is shown in a separate table.

Gist was acquired by Marks and Spencer Group in July 2022.

Gregory Distribution acquired Pollock (Holding) Ltd and its subsidiaries Pollock (Scotrans) Ltd and Pollock Express Ltd. We have included Pollock separately this year as the full effect of the takeover is not reflected in Gregory’s 2021 accounts.

GXO Logistics was created when XPO spun off its contract logistics business in August 2021. It acquired the Clipper Logistics business in June 2022. The impact of the takeover is shown in a separate table.

Hoyer Gas & Petroleum Logistics is the new name for Hoyer Petrolog.

Lineage UK Transport 2019 figures are for a nine-month period only.

Jack Richards 2020 figures are for the half year period from 01/06/19 to 05/01/20.

Kinaxia main entry is for Kinaxia Ltd. We have included a separate table to show the figures for the constituent companies.

KNP Logistics Group is the parent company of Knights of Old, Nelson Distribution, Steve Porter Transport and Ireland Express. Kuehne+Nagel 2021 turnover is derived from its contract logistics business (as reported by Kuehne + Nagel Ltd). Turnover from its freight forwarding business is excluded to reflect the domestic road freight related contributions to the business. However, as K+N does not split the two divisions into legal entities, we were unable to break down pre-tax profit, capital employed and employee numbers in the same way. Therefore profit and employee figures include the international freight forwarding business. Lenham Storage comprises Lenham Storage and Lenham Storage Southern.

Menzies Distribution Group includes Menzies Distribution and Menzies Distribution Solutions (formerly Bibby Distribution).

McBurney Holdings comprises McBurney Transport and Bondelivery Northern Ireland. Pentalver comprises Pentalver Transport and Pentalver Cannock.

Redhead Freight 2021 figures are for 18 months.

Royal Mail return on capital figures are for the whole group, not just UK operations. Parcels

accounted for £4.8bn of the UK turnover, while letters accounted for the other £3.7bn. Tuffnells 2020 figures are for the 16 months to 31 December 2020.

WS Specialist Logistics 2019 figures are for 18 months to 30 November 2019.

XPO comprises XPO Transport Solutions UK and XPO Bulk UK. We have excluded XPO Global Forwarding and XPO Maintenance UK to reflect turnover and profit derived from domestic road freight.

Yodel comprises Yodel Delivery Network and ArrowXL.

MT Awards 2022 winner profile

Team of the Year

“The award masks a horrible truth…”

£4m

It’s a sign of the challenging times that, shortly before we held this year’s MT Awards, the win ner of our Team of the Year category lost a major supermarket deal and had to let go seven senior members of staff.

firm’s rates are the same now as they were a year ago: “One customer said we are £200 a shift cheaper than the big players,” he laughs. “We are not here to profiteer.”

Team award,

co-owner Nick

Launched only two years ago, Express Logistics, based in Hinkley, Leicestershire, had wowed our judges with its rapid growth and was a worthy winner. But back in June, as consumer spending tightened, a big 3PL decided it no longer needed a subcontractor on its distribution contract with the chain, leaving Express with a £4m hole in its projected annual turnover.

“The award was great recognition, but it masked a horrible truth,” co-owner Nick Winder admits. “Everyone knows about the global economy, the political instability, the war in Ukraine – so, while we had an agreement for a minimum volume each week, the reality is that it has dropped off a cliff. Our success story has turned into a horror story. The irony of us winning the Team award was that we then had to make the North West team redundant.

“We can’t sustain losing £8,000 a week, which is what we were doing at that point. So we had to make the deci sion pretty quickly.”

However, although Express may be a relative newcomer, Winder’s vast industry experience – including senior operational roles at DHL, EV Cargo, Asda and Eddie Stobart – gives the firm every chance of recovering. In 2018, he also launched transport business WIN Logistics, which is involved in major projects for retailers and 3PLs.

Winder was introduced to his now business partner, Liam O’Neill, last July. He says he soon realised they shared the same vision. A projected year-end turnover of £7.5m has now been hastily revised, but Winder is confident that other opportunities are on the near horizon.

“We are on the verge of some quite exciting and size able work with some of the big players – which will not only get us back to where we were, but beyond that,” he says. “We will find out about that in the next couple of months. We will buckle down and use whatever Christmas delivers for us and use it as a springboard.”

Understandably, he’s reluctant to reveal more on these potentially lucrative new contracts, except to say one is a retailer and one a manufacturer, each with a minimum volume guarantee.

“I have never seen an SME business be involved in some of the biggest tables in the industry so early on,” he adds. “Perversely, we are still on track for the strategy we are trying to deliver – but we have to [work around] the consumer landscape.”

Winder points to a “confidence and integrity” around Express that has quickly impressed clients. In fact the

Sleepless nights

However, there’s little doubt that losing the supermarket contract has forced a change in strategy. Winder admits he had “many sleepless nights” over the redundancies. Fortunately, all but one of those that were let go have now found new positions elsewhere in the industry.

Express has since been forced to inform all its customers that it will be enforcing standard payment terms: “We are making the necessary steps to preserve the business,” Winder says. “We are having to enforce 30-day payment terms because that’s what our suppliers are asking of us.”

He also stresses that the knock-on effect of Joe Public tightening its belt isn’t just hammering Express; it’s affecting every transport firm across the country, particularly SMEs.

“I speak to many logistics businesses in the UK and they are all saying the same thing,” he insists. “There are businesses that have got 60, 70, maybe 80 trucks parked up doing nothing, all anticipating what a retail peak might look like this year – if there is one. We are in unprecedented times. I have never known anything like it. Consumer confidence is at an all-time low, that’s the biggest challenge.”

But in the current climate, it must be difficult to hold a grudge against the 3PL that pulled the plug on the supermarket deal. After all, many big retailers are scaling back their plans for peak season and subcontractors can’t be expected to be paid £60,000 a week for nothing.

“This week we had a customer increase our volumes by 100%, with no warning, but we don’t know if it will be the same next week,” Winder says. “It’s extremely volatile and extremely difficult to forecast.”

For the moment, he paints a grim picture for the wider industry, suggesting those SMEs who haven’t built limited liability into their contracts and are committed to resources, assets and premises are most at risk.

He goes on to name a number of major logistics firms that are “in financial difficulties and have been for some time”.

“Some people might be in the position of having 100 trucks on long-term leases in the anticipation that last year’s volumes would continue,” he explains. “If you’ve suddenly got 40 of those trucks parked up because volume has slumped, each one is costing roughly £500 a week. People can only sustain a £20,000 a week loss for so long.”

Express Logistics has lost a

supermarket contract since winning our

but

Winder insists lucrative new opportunities should soon put the fledgling business back on track

FORECASTING SUCCESS: Express Logistics co-owner Nick Winder is confident the business can weather the current market volatility

Sponsored by

He is sceptical about the chances of any near-term recovery and has switched to servicing manufacturers as well as retailers to avoid having all his eggs in one basket.

He also agrees that the warehousing bubble is going to burst as the urgency to bring inventory as close as possible to the end destination fades: “You are going to have businesses saying, ‘I don’t want that container from Shanghai sitting at a port for eight weeks. I want it to sit in Shanghai and I’ll tell you when I want it’,” he says.

So, is the industry going to end up with a glut of storage, as some commentators have suggested?

“Businesses I speak to are avoiding new warehouses like the plague,” he says. “Landlords are wanting a 10-year commitment and when you get in there you’ve got a £2m fit-out cost to get it into a usable state. And everybody is looking around saying ‘where’s that volume coming from now then?’ So why would they saddle themselves with a 10-year lease?”

Business model

Despite the recent setback, Winder still sees Express as a good template for any logistics business looking to launch in tough times. The key principle, he says, was to create a foundation on a single site, then replicate it through hubs in the North West, Yorkshire and the South East.

“That model would give us triangulated transport and make us more efficient,” he explains. “At the moment we have two sites, so it’s difficult to do anything sustained.”

Still in its infancy, the firm is not yet accredited through FORS or the Earned Recognition scheme. FORS, in particular, is seen as an overly expensive investment.

Instead the firm has enlisted respected names such as Ruth Waring, a prominent industry consultant and

auditor, and former senior traffic commissioner Beverley Bell. “They are people who care about compliance,” Winder says.

“I would love to say we will invest £1m in a transport management system that will make us super-efficient, and electric trucks, but it comes at a cost.”

Any plan to decarbonise the fleet is currently very much on the back burner. Like many, he is concerned by the lack of infrastructure for long-haul HGVs, using the example of gas trucks to claim that “by the time people start to invest in the technology, it almost becomes obsolete”.

“It’s a nice to have,” he says. “I would love to be able to deliver a green sustainable plan but my focus is on sustaining a business to make sure my team is protected and I can deliver what needs to delivered. The green sustainability agenda is on pause a little bit. You can’t get trucks to deliver for today, let alone trucks that you want to deliver for tomorrow.”

He also sends a defiant message to those who say decarbonisation is coming, whether hauliers like it or not: “The government isn’t going to tell the industry it can no longer operate diesel trucks,” he says.

“If we were in a stable environment, maybe, but the targets some of the big players put out there were aspi rational anyway. There’s a desire in the industry for us to deliver on this, but where’s the infrastructure? Where’s the electrification?”

Ultimately, he seems confident that Express can weather the current storm: “I’m optimistic,” he says. “If the two new contracts come off, it will give us a degree of stability so we can accelerate our growth. Or we could be sat here in two months heading towards administration if things don’t change. I’m 80% certain we will be OK but a lot will depend on what happens with the retail peak.” ■

DEPENDABLE DIESEL: Decarbonisation plans are on pause at Express Logistics while the business focuses on survival