Motor Transport 7 October 2019

Sharp ■ Informed ■ Challenging

7.10.19

NEWS INSIDE Guilty as charged

Wisbech haulage firm directors guilty of tax fraud

JOIN THE PRIDE

p3

Talking about a revolution

Decarbonisation must be at the heart of sector’s future, DfT p4

Watching you

Police target dangerous drivers in unmarked HGV on M62 p8

OPERATORS INSIDE Best Food Logistics ....................................... p3 City Plumbing Supplies ................................p30 Guernsey Post .............................................p29 HL & RV Anderson ......................................... p3 P&O Ferrymasters ......................................... p8 Tesco ........................................................... p3 Travis Perkins ............................................... p6

Director breaches disqualification The co-founder of Wisbech-based Heathcliff Haulage has received a nine-month suspended jail sentence for breaching his directoral disqualification by continuing to act as a director and launching a second haulage company.

Norwich Crown Court heard that Heath Noel-Storr was disqualified as a director on 5 January 2012 after the company, which was a Palletways member, ran up debts of £641,201, mainly owed to HMRC. As a result, the firm appointed administrators to reduce debt and keep the company operating.

Despite agreeing to be disqualified as a director until 4 July 2015, Noel-Storr continued to act as a shadow director at Heathcliff Haulage, which had an O-licence for 128 trucks and 80 trailers.

Noel-Storr covered up his involvement in the company by promoting an employee to the role of director.

DVSA brings criminal prosecution against haulier who forged documents

Mansel Davies pleads guilty to records fraud

By Carol Millett

Welsh haulier Mansel Davies & Son has pleaded guilty to 19 counts of forgery and counterfeiting maintenance documents for HGVs. Additional charges against MD Stephen Mansel Davies have been dropped.

The case, heard at Swansea Crown Court, relates to charges that were brought against Stephen Mansel Davies and employee Jonathan Wyn Phillips at a hearing in June this year.

Mansel Davies was accused of 19 offences of making false periodic maintenance inspection sheets for vehicles between 1 October 2017 and 14 February 2018. Phillips, of Mynachlogddu, faced 34 similar allegations.

Prosecuting barrister Lee Reynolds said an investigation into the records of Mansel Davies & Son was triggered after one of its vehicles was stopped by a DVSA enforcement officer.

Last week, Swansea Crown Court heard that the additional charges brought against Stephen Mansel Davies have been dropped.

In the same session, Phillips pleaded not guilty to all charges against him. He was granted unconditional bail and will stand trial in January.

The company will be sentenced in February 2020.

DVSA director of enforcement Marian Kitson said: “DVSA’s priority is to protect everyone from unsafe drivers and vehicles.

Falsifying maintenance records

on HGVs puts lives at risk, operators must adhere to the commitment they made to get an O-licence.

“This criminal prosecution shows that the DVSA will not hesitate to tackle operators, no matter how big, to help ensure UK roads are safe.”

Mansel Davies & Son is part of the Mansel Davies and Son Group.

The family firm, which is based in Llanfyrnach, Pembrokeshire, employs approximately 300 staff and has an O-licence for 234 trucks and 214 trailers.

The company specialises in the agricultural sector and is the largest milk haulier in Wales. It collects approximately 1.5 million litres of milk from more than 450 farms a day and distributes it throughout the UK on behalf of

eight primary milk buyers.

The company also offers animal feed and bulk lime spreading services.

GET MORE mantruckvanandbus.co.uk

Business barometer p12 Tail-lifts p16 Interview: Martin Hay p18 Smart freight p22 Pallet networks p26 MT Awards winner profiles p28

Everyone talks, one delivers.

The new Actros.

Predictive Powertrain Control. The new Actros with enhanced Predictive Powertrain Control can achieve a fuel saving of up to 3% on motorways and as much as 5% on regional routes in comparison with its predecessor. Fitted as standard, the enhanced system now works on mapped A and B roads as well as motorways and uses a satellite-based positioning system, as well as extended digital road maps. Speed is adapted to stored speed limits, junctions and roundabouts. Find out more at mercedes-benz-trucks.com

News

motortransport.co.uk

Directors jailed for tax fraud Two directors of Wisbech-based haulage firm HL & RV Anderson have been sentenced after being found guilty of committing a £130,000 tax fraud.

Cambridge Crown Court heard that between July 2012 and June 2015 Barry Anderson and Christopher Alecock told employees that National Insurance Contributions (NICs) and income tax totalling £58,968.87 had been deducted from their wages, when

in reality these deductions had not been made.

An HMRC investigation also revealed that both Alecock and Anderson had used a deregistered VAT number on invoices enabling them to steal £68,733 of VAT payments and hide their fraud.

Adam Kingsgate, assistant director at HMRC’s fraud investigation service, said: “Alecock and Anderson didn’t spare a thought for their employees, customers or the honest majority of taxpayers

they were stealing from.

“As an accountant, Alecock knew what his responsibilities were, but he chose to ignore them. Both Alecock and Anderson stole money that is needed to fund our vital public services.”

Alecock and Anderson were found guilty of two counts of cheating the public revenue and were sentenced to three years in prison and 30 months in prison respectively. HMRC said it is looking to recover the proceeds of the fraud.

Image: Shutterstock

By Carol Millett

Tesco subsidiary Booker Group snaps up Best Food Logistics Bidcorp is to sell Best Food Logistics (BFL) to Tesco subsidiary Booker Group.The sale is subject to approval from the UK Competition and Markets Authority, which is expected to take months to come to a decision.

If the sale goes ahead it will increase Booker’s footprint in the catering sector. The food wholesale

operator distributes branded and private label goods to more than 400,000 customers, including independent convenience stores, grocers, pubs and restaurants.

Tesco revealed the deal as it announced its interim results. The retailer said: “Building on the organic growth since merger [£700m additional sales to date],

we are announcing the acquisition of the assets and operations of Best Food Logistics for a nominal consideration, adding £1.1bn in foodservice sales.”

Bidcorp has been seeking a buyer for BFL as part of its strategy to divest its UK logistics activities, which saw it sell PCL Transport to Arla Foods in April. An earlier

attempt by the South African food services giant to sell Best Food Logistics in September last year failed after the buyer pulled out.

BFL, which has O-licences for more than 540 trucks and 140 trailers, has its headquarters in Royton, Oldham and depots in Banbury, Taunton, Hoddesdon and Larbert in Scotland.

CHOOSING GENUINE SCANIA PARTS IS ONLY HALF THE STORY Genuine Scania parts are designed to be a perfect fit, first time, every time. It’s the way we’ve always done it.

But for complete peace of mind that they are performing at their best, you should always ensure they are fitted

by Scania-trained experts. Plus, you’ll get the added reassurance of our 24-month warranty, which includes: • Scania Assistance • Consequential Damage • Nationwide Coverage Contact your local depot for more information.

This offer is valid for parts sold on or after 01/01/2019 (invoice date) until end of offer, please refer to full warranty terms and conditions on our standard terms and conditions of sale on our website www.scania.co.uk/business-with-scania

7.10.19

MotorTransport 3

News

motortransport.co.uk

Decarbonisation must be at the heart of the transport sector’s future

‘Transport revolution’ is imminent, says DfT

By Tim Wallace

The Df T has warned hauliers that “a full transport revolution” is imminent and that decarbonisation must be “at the heart of the sector’s future”.

In a presentation at the LoCITY clean air conference at London’s Oval on 25 September, Bob Moran, DfT deputy director – head of environment strategy, revealed that plans were well advanced to “decarbonise the sector” and that “tough decisions lie ahead not in the next few years but the next few months”.

“The quicker we start taking about removing emissions, the quicker we can move on to something that’s different to the current business as usual,” Moran said.

“There will be no hiding place for any sector. No country has reduced emissions more than the UK but it’s just a start. To get on and do that means urgent action in transport.

“We’re going to shift the conversation and make green transport normal. That means more e-bikes, more e-cargo bikes. Transport represents a third of all emissions, which hasn’t changed in the past two years. We have got to get to grips with that. Electric cars won’t save us.”

Moran went on to admit that although the DfT has always supported the UK freight network, it need to do more to lower emissions. “The National Infrastructure Commission told us we were freight blind and quite possibly we are,” he said.

“We live on data but we have a lack of it in the freight sector. They said we should be decarbonising freight so we’re looking particularly at those areas. There’s going to be a new piece of work coming out and a plan of how we’re going to decarbonise the sector.”

Moran concluded by identifying

three key areas that were “ripe for action”.

“The first is technology,” he said.

“Whether that’s connected autonomous vehicles, drones… there’s a whole list we’ve got to get to grips with. The second is alternative energy sources and electrification.

We need to get the most out of that and make sure we tackle wider emissions.

“And the third thing is modal shift. We definitely need to do more on that. Road freight dominates, it’s convenient and cheap.

We need to make it happen and we will.”

Travis Perkins goes electric Builders’ merchant group Travis Perkins is to take delivery of a new all-electric 26-tonne truck by the end of the year.

Speaking at the LoCITY conference, TP fleet compliance and road risk manager Alan Harvey confirmed the vehicle would be a first for the UK builders’ merchant industry.

The truck, featuring a mounted crane, is based on the Mercedes -Benz Econic ‘glider’ chassis, cab and front axles and can travel for 250 miles per charge. The group hopes savings will amount to 67 tonnes of CO2 and 542kg of NOx. The vehicle will also offer a significant noise reduction. The average HGV is running at around 67dB, Harvey said, whereas the new electric truck comes in at 50dB. However, he admitted the new vehicle would add extra cost to the business.

“It doesn’t come cheap,” he said.

“While the vehicle delivers great environmental savings, the financial case for all electric HGVs requires additional investment from manufacturers to reduce the overall cost.

“It’s currently costing us £33,000 a year, whereas the all-electric comes in at £47,200 a year, which is an additional £14,200 a year.

However, we wanted to introduce a zero, or as near as we could carbon-free vehicle.”

@277.;

@277.;

,RQWUDFW 1LUH

/OHHW 6DQDJHPHQW

?HKLFOH ;HQWDO

ZZZ KH[OHDVH FRP

LQIR KH[OHDVH FRP

=KH<KDSH8I;HQWDO ;HQWDO 5HDVLQJ DQG ,RQWUDFW 1LUH 9URYLGHU DQG =UXFN 5HDVLQJ ,RPSDQ\ RI WKH BHDU

mKH[OHDVH

4 MotorTransport

mKH[DJRQ OHDVLQJ

mKH[OHDVH

mKH[DJRQOHDVLQJ

7.10.19

REST ASSURED.

The TGE. A van backed-up by MAN. Sometimes it seems there aren’t enough hours in the day to do your job and keep your business moving. So what happens when your van needs repair or scheduled maintenance? The TGE from MAN is a van with some serious back-up. The established and extensive MAN dealer network is on-hand with state-of-the-art facilities, expertise and flexible opening hours to suit you. You can relax in the knowledge that you’ll soon be back on the road. To discover more about vans from MAN visit: mantruckvanandbus.co.uk

News

motortransport.co.uk

Tacho tool for clients, drivers and operators

Operators give live tacho tool thumbs up

By Tim Wallace

A new fleet management tool offering live tacho status and instant analysis has been given a glowing endorsement by fleet operators.

Samsara’s tachograph management solution is available as part of its all-in-one fleet management platform, which includes tracking, dashcams and routeing and messaging.

The company said the features help customers prevent potential infringements by providing live visibility into the status of all fleet drivers. They also maximise driver productivity by giving information on remaining driving hours.

Matt Smith, low loader manager at Collins Earthworks in Kirkbyin-Ashfield, said: “We can see exactly how much drive time drivers have left and add collections as needed. It has made a huge difference to the efficiency of our fleet.”

Fleet manager at haulier SJ Barrick Joe Sinden said the management tool was a complete system it was using for its needs: “To be able to go from vehicle tracking to driving hours to documents with two clicks of a mouse is incredible,” he said.

“There are very few other management systems out there that can do that.”

FiTC Expo back in London next month Freight in the City Expo is back in London next month, with a packed agenda to inspire, inform and influence the way you deliver goods into urban areas.

Now in its fifth year, this one-day event brings you a full-day’s seminar programme, with key speakers from industry and local government. Topics covered include clean air legislation, new approaches to last-mile deliveries, disruptive technology in the urban logistics sector, city policy that works for businesses, and much more.

ClientEarth is opening the event with a keynote speech looking at what needs to happen next in the race to improve air quality in our cities. This will be followed by speakers from the FTA, property expert Savills, the City of London and the City of Stockholm, who will look at the role of policy when it comes to managing goods movements in urban areas.

Session two will take delegates on a vision of the future of urban deliveries with Scania Trucks, while the RHA will examine the steps industry needs to take to get there, joined in debate by Ceva Logistics

and Tevva Motors. The final session will highlight a series of trials and operations by urban operators of new technology, including: Sheffield Council’s all-electric bin lorry powered by household waste; Kiwi Last Mile’s approach to doorstep deliveries; OnTruck’s overview of disruptive technology gaining traction with operators; and Calor Gas’s concept truck.

This year’s exhibition will also bring you the latest electric, hydrogen, gas and Euro-6 trucks and vans for urban deliveries, as well as a cargo bike presence and the popular knowledge and compliance zones back from last year.

■ For details, and to register for a free pass, go to expo.freightinthecity.com. Freight in the City takes place on 6 November at Alexandra Palace, London.

Need a helping hand for your business?

We can help.

Membership benefits include: Unlimited help and advice Dedicated area manager Exclusive use of Conditions of Carriage Free member briefings Information and updates Industry representation and lobbying at all levels Discounted rates on selected products and services Access to exclusive business services at competitive rates

Would you like an in-house lawyer?

Legal Services from the RHA gives you full legal advice on all matters affecting your business 24 hours a day, 365 days a year*

For further information please contact us on

*Terms apply.

MEMMT

6 MotorTransport

01733 263434

or visit

rha.uk.net

7.10.19

50 years ago, everything changed 1969 was an unforgettable year. Ground was broken. Benchmarks set.

Legends born. From a Purple Haze in a New York field, to black and white zebra crossings on a London street. From supersonic journeys across the Atlantic, to a giant leap for mankind on the moon. And amidst it all â&#x20AC;&#x201C; the Scania V8! The engine that changed everything.

visit ownthelegend.co.uk

News

motortransport.co.uk

Image: Shutterstock

Best August CV sales since 2012

Officers to drive unmarked Highways England HGV in month-long patrol

Dangerous drivers on M62 targeted by police

By Carol Millett

Police are patrolling the M62 in an unmarked HGV in a bid to identify dangerous drivers and to reduce the number of collisions on the route.

The month-long patrol, dubbed Operation Pennine, will see police forces use a Highways England unmarked HGV to spot drivers committing mobile phone and other safety offences.

DVSA enforcement officers will also carry out checks on vans and

lorries for roadworthiness, secure loads, and weight and drivers’ hours, as part of the operation.

The move is prompted by the number of collisions on the 107-mile route, amounting to around five a day.

It follows a similar crackdown on the M1 earlier this year which led to the number of collisions falling by almost a third.

John Walford, Highways England incident prevention manager, said: “The vast majority

of drivers obey the law, but there are a few who are risking potentially devastating consequences by not carrying out appropriate checks before setting off or by driving dangerously.

“Our month of action will see enforcement agencies carrying out checks along the M62 and at the ports in Liverpool, Hull and Immingham to help improve safety for everyone.”

The operation will run from this week until 18 October.

P&O Ferrymasters to offer customs declaration service L ogistics provider P&O Ferrymasters is offering a customs declaration service to customers to facilitate the movement of goods in the event of a no-deal Brexit.

The service will help customers make customs declarations at ports in the Netherlands and Belgium.

It will also offer fiscal representation services for companies transporting goods throughout the European Union.

The customs declaration service will be organised in the UK under a strategic partnership with customs service specialist SGS 8 MotorTransport

Maco and through a separate partner in Ireland.

Mark Timmermans, P&O Ferrymasters trailer director, said: “This partnership allows us to offer a comprehensive declaration package to clients as part of our door-todoor transport operation. Our account managers will soon contact our

customers to offer this service to them.”

Etienne Mulders, SGS Maco managing director, said: “Brexit poses a great challenge for UK and EU traders.

“SGS Maco believes a joint effort by logistics service providers, customs agents and traders is necessary to ensure smooth post-Brexit trade,” he added.

Latest figures show UK commercial vehicle manufacturing bounced back in August, with growth of almost 48% compared to this time last year.

However, the SMMT warns year-to-date volumes are still down 13.4%, driven by a 24.5% reduction in overseas orders.

New model production coming on stream positively impacted the monthly figures, which reversed four months of successive decline.

The SMMT said 5,544 units rolled off the production lines in August, nearly 1,800 more than in August 2018, making it the best August since 2012.

Output for overseas and home markets rose, by 71.9% and 17.3% respectively and although year-todate home demand is up 7.5%, it represents around 6,500 fewer units than those made for export since the start of the year.

DVLA: ‘Do not use Doctors on Wheels’ The DVLA is warning that its ban on driver medicals from Doctors on Wheels is still in place, after it emerged this week that the blacklisted company is continuing to offer medicals to HGV drivers.

DVLA put the ban in place from 20 June this year, after it was alerted to concerns over the quality of D4 medicals being carried by the Leicester-based company.

A D4 medical assessment is required for category C licence holders and includes medical and sight assessment tests.

DVLA reported its concerns to Trading Standards, which launched an investigation in June this year.

However, despite the continuing DVLA ban and Trading Standards investigation into the company, Doctors on Wheels is continuing to offer D4 medicals, according to its website.

Asked if the DVLA is now accepting D4 medicals from Doctors on Wheels, following these changes, a DVLA spokeswoman told MT: “Our position has not changed. We are rejecting D4s from Doctors on Wheels and will continue to do so.”

Trading Standards said this week it was continuing its investigations into the company.

7.10.19

News

motortransport.co.uk

TfL: any suppliers can retrofit DVS safety systems

By Carol Millett

Operators wanting to bring their fleets up to Direct Vision Standards (DVS) by retrofitting safety systems do not have to choose from a list of approved suppliers, TfL has confirmed this week.

The move will be welcomed by hauliers who raised concerns during the DVS consultation that an approved suppliers list could add cost and compromise hauliers’ relations with existing suppliers.

The news comes just weeks before TfL’s HGV safety permit application portal goes live on 28 October on the TfL website.

The safety permits, which are free, are required for all trucks entering the Greater London boundary from October 2020.

Under DVS, HGVs over 12 tonnes are rated from zero to five

stars, based on the level of direct vision drivers have from their cabs.

Zero-rated vehicles will need to be retrofitted with safe system equipment – including a camera monitoring system, an audible left-turn warning system and sensors – to qualify for a permit.

A TfL spokeswoman told MT: “There is no list of approved suppliers for the safe system equipment.

This allows operators to maintain relationships and purchase from their existing suppliers, provided the equipment meets the permit conditions set out in the HGV safety permit guidance for operators entering London.

Safety permits for trucks rated three stars and above will be valid for 10 years. Safety permits for trucks rated zero, one or two stars will be valid until 2024.

NIL POINTS: Limited Direct Vision model

SELF-CONTROL: Scania has unveiled its latest cabless, self-driving concept truck featuring a combustion engine powered by renewable biofuel. The Scania AXL has been developed by a team of experts from different fields and addresses the growing demand for industries to streamline transport assignments and make them more sustainable. A new intelligent front module replaces the traditional cab, making it ideal for well-controlled locations like mines and large closed construction sites, Scania said. “With the Scania AXL concept truck, we are taking a significant step towards the smart transport systems of the future, where self-driving vehicles will play a natural part,” said president and chief executive Henrik Henriksson. “We continue to build and pilot concepts to demonstrate what we can do with the technology that is available today.”

10 MotorTransport

Our workers will need new skills for the future, warns Skills for Logistics MD David Coombes

Society must invest in the lowest skilled to meet the challenges of automation “The lowest-skilled workers are the most likely to lose out to automation,” suggests a recent report published by government thinktank Onward.

More than one-quarter of workers with low skills or no skills are employed in roles that have shrunk in the past six years, it shows. The report urges the introduction of a retraining tax credit aimed at giving 1.5 million low-skilled workers new skills and the targeting of tax breaks and retraining investment in areas of the country that are the most deprived.

The history of logistics is also a history of automation, and many trends are thrusting automation towards the top of the logistics CEO’s agenda. McKinsey Global Institute estimates that the transport and warehousing industry has the third-highest automation potential of any sector. However, while McKinsey says logistics firms are “intrigued by the potential of automation”, it believes they are also “wary of the risks”.

As a result, the logistics industry’s investment in warehouse automation is forecast to increase by 3% to 5% a year over the next six years – which is around half the growth rate in the retail and automotive industries.

While there is no single automation strategy that guarantees a full return on investment, a lot of automation equipment is well suited to drive efficiency, certainly when it comes to such tasks as

simple picking and put away in a warehouse.

Many operations could be automated by 2030, as artificial intelligence takes over the many repetitive activities logistics workers perform. McKinsey expects to see fully automated high-bay warehouses with autonomous vehicles navigating the aisles.

Managers with augmentedreality goggles will be able to “see” the entire operation, helping them co-ordinate both people and robots.

Warehouse management systems will keep track of inventory in real time, ensuring it is matched to the ordering system. 3D printers will crank out spare parts made to order.

But back to a retraining tax: our industry, with its reliance on manual and low-skilled workers, has to be given priority for retraining. If we push for inclusion now, we might just see our new upskilled workforce ready for 2030 and beyond.

7.10.19

Business barometer

motortransport.co.uk

Economic indicators still mixed as the UK contemplates the manner of its departure from the EU

Hitting the highs and the lows

12 MotorTransport

80

70

B

70

BREN

60

60 80

50

$/barrel

50 70

BRENT

$/barrel

40 60 40

$/barrel

3030 50 2020 40 1010 30 Aug

Sep

Aug

Sep

Sep

Jul

Jul

Aug

Jun

Jun

Jul

May May May

Jun

Apr Apr Apr

Mar Mar

10

Feb Feb

20

Jan Jan

00

HAULAGE RATES

Mar

Feb

Jan

0

HA

1.4

1.4

Change on previous quarter (%)

The job market continues to lighten the Brexit gloom. The UK employment rate – the percentage of people aged 16 to 64 in paid work – has grown steadily for seven years. In May to July it reached 76.1%, the joint highest since comparable records began in 1971.

Unemployment was just 3.8%, slightly down on the level of a year ago (4%). It has not been lower since 1974 and this is one aspect where the UK outperforms much of Europe: the latest EU average is 6.3%, skewed by double-digit rates in Greece and Spain.

UK earnings, too, are strong.

The latest ONS survey, also covering May to July, shows total pay (ie, including bonuses) rising at an average annual rate of 4.0%, the fastest for 11 years. In real terms, after adjusting for inflation, total pay is now rising at 2.1% a year, the fastest for four years. It remains to be seen if these employment and earnings trends will be maintained, however.

80

HAUL

1.21.4

1.2

Change on previous quarter (%)

Employment and earnings

BRENT CRUDE OIL PRICE

Change on previous quarter (%)

Haulage rates are one of the fastestrising costs in the spectrum of services bought in by UK companies. The latest Services Producer Price Index (SPPI), published by the government’s Office for National Statistics (ONS), reveals that haulage rates in the second quarter of this year were 0.8% higher than in Q1.

This latest in a series of quarterly rises means that haulage rates are now 3.3% higher than a year ago.

This pace of annual increase is the fastest since 2011.

The SPPI reveals that very few service sector costs are rising faster: air fares, advertising and catering services are notable exceptions.

It is likely that most of this rate increase has been swallowed up by higher driver costs, especially with the driver shortage pushing up their earnings faster than that of the average population. Driver costs typically represent 35% to 50% of a truck’s total operating cost, depending on weight class.

The oil price has been reasonably stable during 2019. Brent Crude’s average price for the first nine months of 2019 is $64.7/barrel, rather higher than most analysts’ forecasts of around $61, but below last year’s average of $71.1.

There is upward pressure from geo-political tensions in Middle Eastern oil-producing countries but this is countered by both downward pressures from slowing global growth and the US-China trade war.

US shale oil production has also just hit a new high, partially offsetting Opec’s July decision to maintain its cap on oil production until March next year. Opec’s aim is to drive Brent back up to around $70/barrel.

While crude oil so far this year is 9% cheaper than last year, the same cannot be said for UK bulk diesel. The pound’s drop in value against the dollar has nullified the reduction in the oil price, so diesel prices are pretty much the same as last year’s average. That means the typical bulk diesel price for full loads in the first nine months of the year is averaging 101-104ppl, just at the lower end of our forecast of 102-106ppl for 2019’s average price (MT 11 March).

1.01.2

1.0

0.81.0

0.8

0.60.8

0.6

0.40.6

0.4 0.4 0.2 0.2 0.00.2 Q2'17 Q3'17 Q4'17 Q1'18 Q2'18 Q3'18 Q4'18 Q1'19 Q2'19 0.0 0.0 Q2'17 Q3'17 Q4'17 Q1'18 Q2'18 Q3'18 Q4'18 Q1'19 Q2'19 Q2'17 Q3'17 Q4'17 Q1'18 Q2'18 Q3'18 Q4'18 Q1'19 Q2'19

GDP 0.8 0.8

Q1

Q2

Q1

Q2

0.7

Q1

0.8 0.7

Change on previous quarter (%)

Haulage rates

Oil and fuel

0.6

Change on previous quarter (%)

While the Brexit debate is bogged down in Parliament, the UK economy is quietly going down the tubes. Historically, the UK’s GDP growth rate has usually outstripped the EU’s average. Not now, however: in the second quarter of this year our economy contracted by 0.2% (compared with Q1), the worst result of all 28 EU countries.

The only other two nations with a shrinking economy were Germany and Sweden, which are both heavily reliant on manufacturing exports and thus exposed to a slowdown in global markets.

EU average GDP growth in Q2 was 0.2%: eastern European countries like Poland, Romania and Hungary grew 0.8% to 1.1%.

The global trend is mostly one of slowing economic growth. US growth ticked down from 0.8% in Q1 to 0.5% in Q2. Further shrinkage in the UK in Q3 would mean two successive negative quarters, satisfying the official definition of recession – our first for 10 years. We already know that in the three months to the end of July the economy was flat, neither shrinking nor growing, so we are poised on a knife-edge. The critical Q3 GDP result is published on 11 November.

0.7 0.6

Change on previous quarter (%)

GDP

0.5

Q2

GDP: QUA

GDP: QUAR

0.5 0.6 0.4

GDP:

0.4

0.5 0.3

0.3

0.4 0.2

0.2

0.3 0.1

0.1

0.00.0 0.2 -0.1-0.1 0.1 -0.2-0.2 0.0 -0.3

-0.1 -0.3

UKUK Germany GermanySweden Sweden EU EU28 28

France Spain France Netherlands Netherlands Spain

-0.2 -0.3

UK

Germany Sweden

EU 28

7.10.19 France Netherlands Spain

Get ahead with Transport Manager CPC Courses in November

5

REASONS TO INVEST IN TRANSPORT MANAGER CPC COURSES • Nationwide locations – Antrim, Bradford, Bristol, Livingston, Peterborough, Reading and Wolverhampton.

New Training locations now available in Dagenham and Warrington for November’s Transport Manager CPC • Delegates achieve higher than average pass rates.

• Access some of the most experienced trainers in the UK. • Catering to the requirements of all fleet sizes.

• Protect your O Licence.

Don’t just take our word for it:

98%

of course delegates rate RHA Training courses as very good to excellent TRAINRTM

TRAINING YOU CAN TRUST

BOOK NOW

rha.uk.net/training

England and Wales 01733 261456

Scotland and Northern Ireland 01506 420978

MADE IN BRITAIN. BUILT FOR THE WORLD. MANUFACTURING FINANCE FLEET MANAGEMENT RENTAL

Single Temperature Fridge Operating Lease from:

£129 per week* * - Based on a 84 month contract - The lease payments are indicative - Standard return conditions apply - The illustration is subject to final credit underwriting and board approval

t: 0161 928 0966 | e: sales@cartwright-group.co.uk | www.cartwright-group.co.uk

Innovation . It’s in our DNA .

Viewpoint

motortransport.co.uk

Is natural gas yesterday’s fuel?

I

Steve Hobson Editor Motor Transport

s natural gas dead? The media has reported (prematurely) on the death of diesel many times but Scania and MAN parent TRATON’s latest innovation day in Sweden last week seemed to sound the death knell for a fuel whose time finally seemed to have come.

Certainly for Scania, which has been the least enthusiastic of the three OEMs to launch gas trucks. While IVECO and Volvo continue to push gas as a cleaner alternative to Euro-6 diesel, TRATON CEO Andreas Renschler never even mentioned it in his vision of a future based on ever-more efficient diesels and the rise of battery electric vehicles.

TRATON is working on a new super-efficient 13-litre Euro-6 diesel that will appear in Scania trucks within a year and Scania will soon join MAN in rolling out BEVs that will be developed jointly.

The announcement of the new diesel drivetrain now is understandable given Volvo’s latest turbo compound engine is

breaking fuel efficiency records. But why would anyone buy a 13-litre Scania in the next 12 months knowing that a much better version is around the corner?

Abbey Logistics’ highly respected fleet director David Batty argues that a new gas truck is a “no brainer” for operators doing at least 100,000kms a year and with access to the UK’s slowly expanding network of gas refuelling stations. This is based purely on economics as the government’s pledge to maintain the duty differential on gas over diesel until at least 2032 means the cheaper fuel outweighs the higher purchase price within three years.

But the fact is that a natural gas truck isn’t that much cleaner than a diesel if both are running on fossil fuel. So the technology looks like being leapfrogged by battery and hydrogen electric trucks that will be needed to achieve deep cuts in carbon emissions.

Flexible funding key to driver shortage T Robin Brown Chairman SP Training

his industry needs a more flexible approach to government funding for training to help ease the professional driver shortage by allowing more commercial drivers to be trained – including drivers of articulated trucks.

This would impact on a huge number of businesses – not just transport providers but all those running goods vehicles.

Funding is currently available to provide training and licence acquisition for rigid truck drivers, with fully funded training available for levy-paying businesses and smaller companies only required to pay for 5% of the costs.

However, the industry needs greater flexibility to allow that training to be extended to drivers of articulated trucks.

And it should remain within the apprenticeship framework as we’ve developed a robust professional driver programme that delivers the skills, behaviour and knowledge to create model drivers.

14 MotorTransport

Today’s commercial drivers operate in a sophisticated arena with technology and tracking systems, ePOD and stringent safety and compliance requirements, leaving the training a driver needs at its highest level.

A recent report from the Public Accounts Committee said uptake of apprenticeships could be improved and providing enhanced funding flexibility for professional drivers would do this.

Drivers are the backbone of the industry and funding should be targeted at where the actual skills shortage is.

Licence acquisition is critical and employers need to celebrate the fact they have a dedicated funding pot from the government and that there is no catch.

More employers need to use it to benefit their business.

The newspaper for transport operators

To contact us: Tel: 020 8912 +4 digits or email: name.surname@roadtransport.com Editor Steve Hobson 2161 Head of content Tim Wallace 2158 Deputy head of content Hayley Pink 2165 Group production editor Clare Goldie 2174 Deputy production editor Jo Saunders 2173 Key account manager Andrew Smith 07771 885874 Display telesales Barnaby Goodman-Smith 2128 Event sales Tim George 0755 7677758 Classified and recruitment advertising rtmclassified@roadtransport.com Head of sales Emma Tyrer 07900 691137 Divisional director Vic Bunby 2121 Head of marketing Jane Casling 2133 MT Awards Katy Matthews 2152 Managing director Andy Salter 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 Tel 0330 333 9544 Quadrant Subscription Services, Rockwood House, Perrymount Road, Haywards Heath, West Sussex RH16 3DH Rates UK £135/year. Europe £163/year.

RoW £163/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 © 2019 DVV Media International Ltd ISSN 0027-206 X

Got something to say?

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

7.10.19

We are talking Complete Compliance Control!

This is all about three leaders in their field working in sync to achieve the optimum in compliance solutions: fast, efficient, cost-effective, legal. Volvo’s Dynafleet management system and TruTac’s tachograph analysis software – the perfect combination for complete compliance control!

Richard Brown. Transport Manager, Fly By Nite.

For peace of mind and complete compliance control of your fleet, call us today! 024 7669 0000

info@trutac.co.uk www.trutac.co.uk

Complete Compliance Control

KEEP A WATCHFUL EYE ON YOUR FUEL

WITH FUELTEK FUELTEK CAN PROVIDE A SIMPLE AFFORDABLE SOLUTION TO YOUR FUEL STORAGE, FUEL DISPENSING & FUEL MANAGEMENT PROBLEMS.

SIMPLE…

SECURE…

RELIABLE…

MAKING YOUR FUEL GO FURTHER...

CONTACT US NOW 01254 291391 or visit fueltek.co.uk FUEL MANAGEMENT & MONITORING SYSTEMS

17640 Fueltek Watchful Eye Motor Transport Quarter Page Advert_June19_v1.indd 1

24/06/2019 15:40

Tail-lifts

Telling tails

T

Tail-lifts are crucial for truck operators and have been around in one form and another for many years. But designers continue to raise their game to provide better solutions, as Chris Tindall finds out

ruck tail-lifts have featured prominently in the media over the last few years, mainly due to the debate over maximum pallet weights in home deliveries. But every day countless vehicle operators are benefiting from the equipment without having to worry about whether they are handling loads over 750kg. In short, tail-lifts are doing their job – and doing it well.

There are three types of chassis-mounted lift: cantilever, tuckaway and slider. All can be fitted to both rigids and trailers, though as Tony Sturgess, director of trailer design at Transdek, observes: “Generally, tuckaway and slider have a limit to the size of platform that can be fitted due to the space available and the geometry of the lift.

But they allow tail-lifts to be fitted to any vehicle with any type of rear closure.”

That platform restriction can be circumnavigated via the second type of lift, column tail-lifts, which can also be used on double-deck vehicles.

While much of the focus has been on the fitting of tail-lifts to vehicles at the lighter end of the market recently, developments and innovations for HGVs continue apace.

Sturgess says: “Transdek recently developed a column tail-lift which has been designed to enable safe, singleoperator loading at loading docks as well as enhancing driver and operator safety.

“As with most tail-lifts, it has a powered closure platform which presents a potential problem in that if the operator attempts to close the platform too close to the floor,

16 MotorTransport

it can bind on the ground and snap shut, similar to a mousetrap, causing serious harm to the operator. We have developed patent-applied programming to prevent the lift from ‘binding’ on the ground. The platform, which is stowed against the back of the rigid or trailer, automatically deploys 300mm above the ground as the tail-lift lowers. And once the loading operation is completed, again, the platform will not close against the back of the vehicle until the tail-lift is 300mm off the ground.”

Sun flare

Johan Edstrom, HIAB product manager, says the use of solar panels in tail-lift design is growing, meanwhile.

This, he says, is primarily for trailer lifts with battery packs, to make the trailer independent of the tractor or truck power source, and make it possible to use while detached, potentially reducing the need for idling.

“Solar panels also have an important role to play in creating greater autonomy for the lift in the fast growing trend for electrification of commercial vehicles,” he adds.

Edstrom says tail-lifts are usually run on electrical power converted to hydraulic power, so if the haulier doesn’t mind the power draw then they can be mounted and connected to the 12V or 24V system of the truck.

However, he adds: “If the tail-lift has to be autonomous then solar panels with dedicated batteries are the most probable solution.”

Palfinger says it is still the only tail-lift manufacturer 7.10.19

motortransport.co.uk

that offers a purely electrically driven 1,000kg capacity cantilever lift without any hydraulics, and its spokeswoman says it is also exploring the potential of tail-lifts for electric vehicles. “We are currently engaged in a couple of projects with major commercial vehicle OEMs for the next generation of electric trucks,” she confirms. “The power supply topic of any truck or trailer mounted component in frequent usage applications is – at least in our projects – currently handled by the vehicle manufacturers themselves. We as a supplier of tail-lifts have to make sure that we match the given OEM requirements.”

vehicle body. DEL has a range of full closure lifts where the frame of the lift forms the rear of the vehicle body.

The main benefits are reduction in weight due to removing the need for a roller shutter door or barn doors, and increasing the loading aperture.”

Further innovations

Andy Thiele, aftersales director of DEL Equipment, says further innovations are also in the pipeline. “Our trials being conducted with solar panels charge an auxiliary battery that runs the tail-lift,” he explains.

“We offer many optional extras with our products.

One option is a battery guard. I believe to date this has only been fitted to conventional vehicles, but its purpose is to monitor the voltage getting to the tail-lift. If the voltage drops too low, a light on the control warns the operator. If the operator continues to operate the lift for a further minute, rather than turn the engine on to charge the battery, the tail-lift cuts out until the voltage received is back up to an acceptable level. This is done to protect the battery.”

Safety-wise, Palfinger says it offers customers MBB Controls, which enable control of the tail-lift from the driver’s cab. “All of our tail-lifts are equipped with a programmable MBB Control PC board,” says its spokeswoman.

“This gives Palfinger the opportunity to create individual and customised software that provides additional comfort and safety, for example for the operator, by taking over some tasks. In addition, our control can also be linked with the commercial vehicle via the CANbus and is also capable of providing data over the air, such as to fleet operators.”

On the hardware side, meanwhile, she says Palfinger is experiencing an elevated number of enquiries for safety gate applications for tail-lift platforms. ■

Driving developments

Asked who is driving these developments – the customer or the manufacturer, the Palfinger spokeswoman adds: “On the customer side, it needs to be differentiated between the demands of a bodybuilder and an end user.

While the bodybuilder is typically interested in procurement cost and a fast and easy installation of the unit, for example, the end user is typically asking for specific lift features and of course also the life-cycle cost performance of his lift.”

Philip Pearson, commercial director of HIAB Tail-Lift, stresses that the two most important needs of a tail-lift are safety and availability, which is to say that it needs to work safely when you need it.

“A number of the more recent developments include the use of guards and ramps to make the environment in which a tail-lift is operated safer for the operators and other people in the vicinity,” he points out. “Programmes are [also] ongoing to make lifts more robust and reliable which, when combined with a preventative maintenance programme, increases uptime and reduces the likelihood of faults occurring.”

Pearson says that DEL, a UK tail-lift business that is part of the HIAB family, also provides customers with extended warranties and repair and maintenance contracts to help fleet managers optimise lift performance and minimise the total life cost of operating the equipment.

“There is developmental work going on at DEL to determine how we can use telematics to improve the performance and effectiveness of a tail-lift,” he adds.

“Traditionally, tail-lifts have been attached to the back of bodies,” he continues. “Over the last few years new tail-lifts have been developed as integrated parts of a

7.10.19

MIND THE GAP Examinations of tail-lift equipment must take place every six months and it is a legal requirement for operators to hold an up-to-date report of this ‘thorough examination’.

The Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations (LOLER) require such inspections to be carried out by ‘a competent and impartial person’; however, with no definition of what this means, the rules are open to interpretation.

David Byford, agent support at Palfinger distributor RPL Distribution, says: “What deems someone as a competent person? At the moment, it’s a case of: ‘I have been working on tail-lifts for 15 years,’ and that’s OK. I used to go through LOLER with engineers and what most wanted was a certificate to say they were competent. But you can’t do that.”

However, a solution is now available. The first EAL Level 3 Award in vehicle tail-lift inspection and maintenance was launched in September to plug a gap in training and help operators sleep soundly at night. Its development was led by tail-lift consultant Grant Williamson, in conjunction with Motus Vehicle Solutions (MVS).

“When you consider the intense effort and scrutiny that goes into general vehicle maintenance and operational compliance, it was astonishing that tail-lifts – such an integral part of so many trucks, trailers, ambulances and other vehicles on road and rail – had no requirement for engineers to have any accredited training or provable levels of competence for inspection and maintenance,” says Williamson. “With hundreds of thousands of vehicles being used every day of the week, the opportunity for life-changing incidents with tail-lifts is an all-too-common reality.

“Apart from the potentially devastating effects on the victims, this can also impact heavily on the individuals and operators’ management in terms of fines and even jail.”

The competency course requires a minimum of 80 hours' formal training, which can be spread over three months. It provides hands-on training on all manufacturers’ tail-lift products, as well as experience in completing thorough examinations, weight testing and fault finding.

Peter Glover, MD of MVS, says: “This is long overdue. When you think about the thousands of tail-lifts in daily use, the fact that there has been no recognised standard of competence for inspections, maintenance and repair, testing and even operation is staggering.”

MotorTransport 17

Interview: Martin Hay

Make Hay while the sun shines Last year Martin Hay took over as MD of Scania (GB) after 30 years with the manufacturer. Steve Hobson quizzed him on a wide range of topics

W

hen it comes to interviewing the UK MDs of the major truck importers, it is quite rare these days to be talking to a Brit. Martin Hay took over as MD of Scania (GB) in September 2018, succeeding Claes Jacobsson, who returned to Sweden to take up a role within Scania HQ in Södertälje.

In his 30 years with Scania, Hay has worked within the dealer network, including spells with the former Scantruck operation and Scania South East, in Scania (GB) HQ as sales director and in Södertälje as vicepresident – truck sales, where he was instrumental in the launch of Scania’s new generation trucks.

Our meeting takes place in Scania (GB)’s swish new customer support centre, built on the site of its old HQ on Delaware Drive, Milton Keynes.

“I have been with Scania for more than 30 years, mainly on the dealer side, which I suppose has always been my passion,” Hay says. “It is closer to the customer. Where we are now with the network, you still get the benefit of that side of it as well. You're still interacting regularly with customers.”

Scania’s 84-strong dealer network is a mix of OEM owned – Scania recently opened a new £6m flagship site near Gatwick – and independent, with Keltruck now Europe’s largest Scania dealer with 18 locations and annual turnover exceeding £150m.

Hay says that while there are no immediate plans to add more sites to the network the investment will continue.

Site upgrades

“For the remainder of this year, we are going to be investing quite heavily in upgrading our existing sites,” says Hay. “We’ve carried out a network planning exercise and that will highlight some further changes or additional investments. We’ll be looking to continue with our investment as we go into 2020.”

Again, unlike most other incoming MDs, Hay’s most pressing goal is not to increase Scania’s market share by shifting thousands more trucks. While the Swedish OEM does do the occasional large fleet deal – Stobart, Malcolm and Maritime spring to mind – it prefers to protect its customers’ residual values by ensuring the market is never flooded with used trucks. Maintaining high service levels is also a top priority.

18 MotorTransport

“We need a balance and like to have a certain amount in fleet and a certain amount in what we class as retail,” says Hay. “The traditional owner-operator is the foundation that our business has been built on for many years.

But we do understand that the business is changing and that we need to be active and have relationships with the fleet players, because we do need to have at least a certain volume in the marketplace.

“Residual values are always a challenge and it’s a top priority to protect our customers’ balance sheets. We’ve had a lot of success in that in the past, but it’s a really challenging area. We’ve got to continue to keep that balance, particularly as you look towards a future where you could have alternative power units coming in.”

Scania is having something of a purple patch in the UK, with Q2 sales of 3,134 units, more than double the same period in 2018, giving it a 20% share of the market over 6 tonnes, according to the SMMT. Bearing in mind that Scania does not play in the market below 16 tonnes, these figures are even more impressive and it remains market leader in 6x2 tractors.

“Are we driven by market share? I would probably say not ,up to a point,” says Hay. “But it’s not necessarily our ambition to remain where we are today. Interestingly, I was talking to a customer recently who said, ‘it sounds like you're doing really well,’ because our market share has increased quite a lot this year. He then added, ‘please just make sure you don't lose the excellent backup you give – that’s what important to me’. It’s important to me too; I certainly wouldn’t want to see our customer service levels sacrificed to volume ambitions. So for me, market share is not the be-all and end-all.

“If we’re going to grow, and there are certain applications where we would like to be growing, then we’ve got to make certain that we can back the product up.”

Starting in 2016 with the R-series and S-series tractor units, Scania’s new generation trucks have been steadily replacing the previous 10-year-old models. After some early supply issues, the new generation has been well received by operators who are traditionally cautious when something as tried and tested as a Scania cab range is replaced.

“In terms of percentage of sales, it is still very similar and it is taking the lion’s share of our sales,” says Hay of the new generation R-series. “Our biggest challenge with the new truck generation was actually the renaming of 7.10.19

motortransport.co.uk

and the Mercedes-Benz Econic.

Whenever a new – usually more expensive – model is launched, one justification for operators to trade up is lower running costs. Now that the new generation has racked up a fair few miles, what is Scania hearing about fuel economy?

“That too has exceeded our expectations, according to what customers are saying,” says Hay. “We generally don’t like to quote fuel economy figures because we do believe it’s different for each application. It’s really important that customers try them in their own application and we’ve had some really good success stories in terms of improvement in fuel.

“That’s actually led to people changing their fleets a little bit earlier, and deciding to buy bigger volumes of new generation trucks in the early stages. It hasn’t let us down, that's for certain.

“We’ve been looking at total operating economy within Scania for many years. We believe that we have to focus on our customers’ profitability as well as our own and the two have to go in line with each other. We believe in terms of the business, and the repeat business, the new generation is improving customers’ profitability.

Residual values

the cabs. We had the Highline and Topline in the past and really the new normal cab is the equivalent of the Highline, while the new Highline is technically the equivalent of the Topline. That’s given us a few challenges to get people to understand the differences, particularly on the used side, because we’re starting to see those come through now.

“There's roughly an equal split in sales between the normal and Highline cabs and we don’t see that changing. We think that the normal cab is still very good for drivers with plenty of space inside. Because of the driver shortage, customers are prepared to up-spec their cabs and go for the bigger and better specification cabs.

“The S-series cab has actually exceeded our expectation. It’s taken a slightly bigger share, particularly this year. We still do really well with the P-series which is strong in construction. We’ve got a relatively small market share in the urban market and I think that’s an area where we’d like to develop further. The G-series is more of a niche for us in certain applications.”

Scania’s push into urban transport has been boosted by the launch of the L-series low-entry, high-visibility cab designed to take on the established players like Dennis 7.10.19

“We’re still in a honeymoon period when it comes to residual values of new generation. They’re probably even higher than where we expect to see them settle. At the moment, there are so few on the secondhand market that we are seeing some very high levels of residual values.”

UK truck sales in Q1 were inflated as operators brought forward purchases ahead of the original end of March Brexit deadline, amid fears that a no-deal exit would lead to a 22% import tariff on new trucks. As Scania has seen strong worldwide demand for the new generation UK buyers did not get all the trucks they wanted.

“We were in a position where we struggled to bring in all of the customers’ vehicles,” admits Hay. “That was due to constraints in production, but also in outbound transport for the factory to actually get the vehicles here.

There was only a certain number we had in situ that we could bring through on that side and we weren’t fortunate enough to prepare for stock.

“We outperformed the market in the first three months and we’re trading probably 20% above our normal market share. We’re in a very strong position as we stand.”

Truck sales in Q2 this year were also very buoyant as operators avoided new requirements to fit smart tachographs introduced in July, but economic uncertainty around the latest Brexit deadline in October could dampen registrations in H2. In 2018 the market stood at 43,000 vehicles over 6 tonnes and, with 27,000 trucks already sold in H1 2019, there could be a sharp correction in H2.

“It’s very difficult to judge the overall size of the market, particularly where Brexit is involved,” says Hay. “We would expect it to be at least on a par to where we’ve been in previous years.

“People have got to that stage now where they are sick of Brexit and they’re going to continue with their business. I do think a lot of people already protected themselves because of the March pull forward. People that maybe hadn’t fully understood what the duties might be at that point have since taken the opportunity to protect themselves.

“There will be a natural drive before 31 October to get more vehicles on the road. I would expect things to go a little bit quieter after that.”

Although Scania launched its range of natural gas trucks back in 2014, adding a 13-litre, 410hp gas engine in 2017, and customers such as Waitrose have ordered sizeable gas fleets, Hay says sales remain slow.

“At the moment, it’s a very small percentage,” he says.

“We’ve just come up with a new initiative with compressed gas – customers have wanted a range of over 500 miles ➜ 20 MotorTransport 19

Interview: Martin Hay

from the tractor unit, and we’ve just achieved that with one customer. We’ve developed a product that’s been on trial with them and actually it’s far in excess of 500 miles.

It’s still on a 2-axle tractor unit rather than 3-axle.”

This is a problem as 90% of tractor units sold in the UK are 6x2s, and while supermarkets are happy with 2-axle gas units that can be refuelled every day back at base, hauliers need 3-axle tractors with a decent range that can be refuelled anywhere.

“There’s quite a big market that can be accommodated with 2-axle tractors and we believe that’s where the market was pulling us,” says Hay. “We hope that will see us selling more into that marketplace because the product is very good. It’s very quiet and has some real benefits commercially.

“The customers that are pioneering in this area are getting a good payback. We do believe there is a window for gas now as an alternative fuel.”

While Scania can help operators install gas fuelling stations on their sites, Hay says it is disappointing that the government isn’t doing more to help develop the national gas refuelling network.

“We think that gas needs that push in the marketplace and that could only be done by subsidising the infrastructure in quite a big way,” he argues. “If you go back five or six years, there were a lot of commitments to put more gas infrastructure in place.

“I do think it’s coming. If you look at the developments that are taking place, by the end of 2020 we’ll be in a much better place than we are today. Maybe that will open it up more, but we would like it to go quicker. Because it does work.”

Biodiesels

Hay reckons that switching from diesel to natural gas reduces CO2 emissions by between 10% and 20% and the government has committed to maintaining the duty differential on gas until at least 2032 to encourage take up. But Scania also offers a range of engines that can run on even lower carbon biodiesels for which there are no tax incentives.

“We believe the government is really focused on electric technology at this stage,” says Hay. “To us, it’s a concern 20 MotorTransport

motortransport.co.uk

because the existing technologies we have today can still be more efficient. There seems to be tunnel vision in that perspective.”

With the EU targets to reduce CO2 emissions from trucks over 16 tonnes by 15% by 2025 and by 30% by 2030, gas is viewed as an intermediate technology, and much lower-carbon drivetrains such as electric will be needed. While Scania has a prototype diesel-electric hybrid truck that can run 10km on battery power, and is taking part in trials of electric trucks using overhead wires, it has so far left battery electric trucks to its sister company within Traton MAN.

Concept vehicle

Scania has, however, revealed its NXT battery electric self-driving urban concept vehicle, designed initially as a passenger vehicle.

“Everybody’s talking about electrification, and every manufacturer will be developing their electric range,” says Hay. “We have plug-in hybrids today and battery electric vehicles will follow in the not too distant future.

They’ll be limited in terms of their applications, and will it happen in long-distance haulage? – no. I don’t believe we’re there in any form for long haulage, because the cost and range are a real challenge for battery technology.”

Unless there is a real break through in hydrogen fuel cells, electric heavy trucks are unlikely to make much contribution to even the 2030 EU target.

“The sales mix will be a combination by 2030,” says Hay. “Clearly, diesel will still be prevalent at that point but we believe that it will be a mix of different fuels. Gas will play a part, maybe HVO [hydro-treated vegetable oil], maybe ethanol. It’s going to be a combination, and not all things are going to suit every country.

“If the infrastructure is there, the potential for gas in the UK will be maybe 20% to 30% of sales. But the infrastructure may not grow because of the move to electrification. I just wonder whether or not there will be enough investment in gas infrastructure, and that will be ultimately what stops it.

“The product is very good today but some operators cannot access it because it doesn’t fit in with their operations.” ■ 7.10.19

MotorTransport is now available on an app!

The FREE MotorTransport app delivers news in an easy-to-read format. Get breaking news immediately without downloading a slow PDF

MY NEWS

INDUSTRY NEWS

OPERATOR NEWS

Eddie Stobart - Former Stobart boss Andrew Tinkler ‘preparing bid’ for company September 20, 2019 Tim Wallace

The app is compatible with mobile, tablet and desktop devices

Newbridge bridge weight restriction September 20, 2019 Chris Tindall

Bridge - Companies whose drivers MY NEWS

INDUSTRY NEWS

OPERATOR NEWS

Eddie Stobart - Former Stobart boss Andrew Tinkler ‘preparing bid’ for company

September 19, 2019 Chris Tindall

September 20, 2019 Tim Wallace

Birmingham - Motor Transport and Birmingham City Council invite operators to free clean air roadshow on 10 October September 18, 2019 Hayley Pink

The latest news is automatically updated base on reader’s preferences

September 20, 2019 Chris Tindall

Bridge - Companies whose drivers

AO - AO signs three year-partnership deal with Aldi for bulk deliveries September 17, 2019 Carol Millett

Newbridge bridge weight restriction

September 19, 2019 Chris Tindall

Birmingham - Motor Transport and Birmingham City Council invite operators to free clean air roadshow on 10 October September 18, 2019 Hayley Pink

The MotorTransport app is FREE to download

AO - AO signs three year-partnership deal with Aldi for bulk deliveries September 17, 2019 Carol Millett

Download now via the App Store and Google play

Available now Personalise the news you want to read about Get the latest news direct to your mobile Simply download the MotorTransport app

www.motortransport.co.uk

Fleet optimisation

The next step to greener road freight From the theory of optimisation to the reality: FreightShare Lab needs your input

D

o you want to achieve greenhouse gas emission reductions from your fleet of 20%? Are you prepared to make the leap of imagination to the most sophisticated optimisation of your fleet? Are you keen to explore all avenues to improve your bottom line? If you’re answering ‘yes’, you need to know more about FreightShare Lab. First, let’s jump back to a previous issue of MT (2 September), in which Professor David Corne of HeriotWatt University defined the holy grail of fleet optimisation thus: “Joint optimisation of vehicles and depots, involving

WHAT’S IN IT FOR MY 100-PLUS TRUCK FLEET? What if you’re a major fleet operator and have spent the past 30 years gaining a competitive advantage through scale: why would you hand that over to smaller companies by getting involved with FSL? The intention of the research project is to understand just that: if there were a platform that could offer maximum transport efficiency, what would be the barriers to market acceptance? FSL suggests that such a platform could offer small and medium-sized fleets the same economies as a major fleet operator, but “we would expect there to be other benefits for large logistics companies”.

One such benefit could be ensuring your customers always have the most efficient route, mode and delivery schedule.

22 MotorTransport

two or more fleets working closely together, sharing a large portion of their joint resources to optimise the service of their current delivery tasks. The notion is that we treat the combined resources as if they were those of a single fleet operator, so that any vehicle in the combined fleet can serve any of the required deliveries, while the goods associated with both fleets are present at each of the depots. Essentially, this means that each fleet’s depots serve as a consolidation centre for the combined fleet’s goods, while the schedule optimisation task is able to ignore the ‘original’ affiliation of each resource.”

A 2016 World Business Council for Sustainable Development report, co-authored by Corne, showed this sort of asset-sharing can deliver greenhouse gas emission cuts of between 7% and 30%, and an average of 20%.

Inspired by this report and the Council’s work (and in the knowledge that the worldwide demand for freight transport is set to grow – see box, right), a consortium was formed in the UK nearly two years ago with the aim of demonstrating how strategic data- and asset-sharing between multiple road/rail carriers and shippers can reduce empty running and under-utilisation of freight vehicles – that consortium is FreightShare Lab (FSL) and now it needs your input.

With some funding from the UK’s innovation agency, 7.10.19

motortransport.co.uk

Innovate UK, FSL’s 30-month project consists of a number of elements: ■ a digital platform that will aggregate loads and vehicles; ■ algorithms to calculate the most efficient way to move goods between points of collection and delivery; ■ recruitment of freight operators willing to explore how collaboration can impact on operational efficiency; and ■ a virtual demonstration how the digital platform can be applied to unlock transport efficiency.

FSL partners are leaders in the field of optimisation, algorithms, fleet efficiency and market knowledge: Trakm8, Heriot-Watt University, Connected Places Catapult, and Motor Transport owner DVV Media International respectively.

Andy Salter, MD of DVV Media, establishes FSL’s position: “It’s a platform of platforms for vehicle and asset optimisation in the freight and logistics sector. FSL aims to demonstrate that technology can enable companies to share their road freight assets and improve profitability. The objective is to drive logistical efficiency, reduce wasted miles and cut carbon emissions. Anybody that’s been involved in logistics will know we’ve been talking about this for years.”

That sounds suitably grand, but there’s devil in the detail that FSL has addressed. First, the algorithms – that apply sophisticated routeing and scheduling to multiple companies’ assets as if they were a single fleet – have got to work, and that’s where Corne comes in. He tells MT: “I worked on the algorithms over a six-month period; that included a couple of weeks solid to design the algorithm – getting it to work in a commercial and robust fashion is what takes the time. It was 10% writing the initial code and 90% fixing the problems [that arise in testing].”

The secure data store and the digital platform have been developed by Trakm8 and are powered by Corne’s algorithms. The platform looks at all the delivery tasks and the criteria for each task, and then assigns each delivery to a vehicle in a way that maximises utilisation and minimises empty running. Naturally, the platform takes into account: ■ rules for compatibility of goods on the same vehicle; ■ access to third-party distribution centres or loading bays; and ■ integrity of delivery and client satisfaction.

THE ENVIRONMENTAL CONTEXT The global demand for road freight, measured in tonne-kilometres, will almost triple between 2015 and 2050, according to the International Transport Forum, with the growth concentrated in developing economies.

According to an EC white paper, demand will grow particularly strongly in countries where rail infrastructure is not well developed, such as African or South-East Asian countries. It is also expected that road will remain the primary mode of transport for short distances.

The International Energy Agency states that transport accounts for 20% of final global energy consumption. In the EU, transport produces a quarter of greenhouse gas emissions, of which road transport contributes to more than 70%, consequently accounting for 15% to 20% of emissions.

According to UK freight transport statistics, 74% of freight moved in the UK in 2015 was by road, 11% by rail, and 15% by water. 30% of driven kilometres carried out by trucks in the UK in 2016 were empty (ie. zero tonnes carried).

Unless interventions such as FSL are put in place, this growth in road transport will result in the continued increase in greenhouse gas emissions.

7.10.19

THE FREIGHTSHARE LAB CONCEPT This concept is illustrated by the figures below: 40% full

40% full 40% full

Figure 2:

Figure 2: Single fleet: One vehicle, one

a a

company’s delivery. This is the status

b b

a

of most fleet operations and only

b

optimises the route taken by a single fleet.

c c

c

40% full

Figure 3:

Figure 3: Freight exchange: One vehicle,

40% full 40% full a a

b b

a

b 40% full

40% full 40% full c c

c

two companies’ deliveries. This is the

service provided by several more recent companies. These existing offerings find sharing opportunities between two fleets on the basis of “pre-optimised” (or simply pre-planned) routes.

b (the same truck) b (the samebtruck) (the same truck)

Figure 4: FreightShare Lab platform:

Figure 4:

One vehicle several companies’

100% full

deliveries.

100% full 100% full a a

a

b b

b 100% full

100% full 100% full c c

c

b (the same truck) b (the same b truck) (the same truck)

We will optimise route for several fleets together, including sharing opportunities as part of the optimisation process. The four main steps of the process are outlined below:

The best way to visualise how this all comes together to generate CO2 Fleets andprovide costtheir savings with the graphic data to theis platform pictured abov.

In figure 2, wePlatform have knows one each vehicle from one company fleets’ sharing rules and arrangements carrying out a delivery. This is the status of most fleet operations and only optimises the route byroute a single Platform jointly optimizes the fleets,taken optimizing and sharing opportunities together fleet.

Figure 3 depictsPlatform a freight exchange where one vehicle provides the results: a route for each fleet, indicating sharing opportunities used handles deliveries for two companies. Figure 4 illustrates the FSL model with one vehicle carrying out deliveries for several companies.

Of course, asset-sharing as envisioned by FSL will not work for all transport operators. Corne notes: “Clearly for full optimisation, you’ve got to have a standard licence – a restricted licence limits you to carrying your own goods. Specialist goods with specialist transport requirements [petroleum, hazardous goods, tippers etc] greatly limit the opportunity for asset-sharing, although there could be a model for closed membership groups.

“However, transport of boxed, non-perishable freight, for example, opens the door to great asset-sharing possibilities.”

“Unlocking the spare capacity inherent within the logistics sector will deliver substantial efficiency savings to commercial vehicle users and the British economy,” Salter adds. “We have a number of logistics companies on board to work with the consortium: this is a very exciting project, with enormous potential both in the UK and the rest of the world.”

Now is the time for other parties to get involved in FSL. There are three phases to participation. In the first research phase, FSL will understand your operation, your current systems, fleet profile, customer base and any barriers to collaboration.

The second phase involves the supply of delivery and vehicle data. This includes delivery location, cargo type, time of delivery, vehicle profile, carrying capacity and vehicle location. This historic data will be entered into the platform and a virtual trial will run the optimisation algorithms, to give trialists an example of what would be possible if they were to use the platform for their operations. Finally, FSL will discuss the results with the trialists and explore the potential business models for use of the platform at the end of the project.

The plan is for the project to close in April 2020 and then share its findings.

■ To find out more about FSL and get involved, go to freightsharelab.com or email info@freightsharelab.com.

29956_Freight_Share_Lab.indd 5

19/01/2018 16:12

MotorTransport 23

06/11/2019 | Alexandra Palace, London www.freightinthecity.com

CELEBRATING FIVE YEARS OF URBAN LOGISTICS BEST PRACTICE Freight in the City Expo is back at Alexandra Palace, London on 6 November bringing you an exciting agenda focused on the key trends in the realm of urban deliveries.

Policy-makers, vehicle experts and leading freight operators will share their insight with delegates and generate lively debate to help solve the challenges and share best practice on city logistics. Topics will range from zeroemission zones through to autonomous lastmile deliveries and smarter ways to transport goods, from the smallest parcels to the largest aggregates.

Event Sponsor

New this year A brand-new seminar theatre will this year take delegates right to the heart of the exhibition zone, where there will be ample opportunity to check out the latest clean and safe vehicle technology. There will also be some exciting new urban delivery vehicles making their UK debut at the event, so you can be first in the industry to chat with the manufacturers and explore their potential. We do hope to see you there, so make sure to register today for your free place!

Register for your free tickets at: www.freightinthecity.com

Seminar Sponsor

Media Partners

Confirmed speakers from: Calor Gas, City of London Corporation, City of Stockholm, Freight Transport Association, Magtec, Ontruck, Savills, Scania GB, Sheffield City Council, Tevva Motors and Volvo Trucks, with many more to be announced!

We have 20 expert speakers at Freight in the City this year including: Robin Billsjรถ

Denise Beedell

Bridget Outtrim

Urban Freight Strategist, Transport Department City of Stockholm

Policy Manager Vans & Urban Freight Transport Association

Director for South East & London Industrial & Logistics Savills

The future of urban logistics is here, register free at www.freightinthecity.com

Pallet networks

The only way is up The pallet network sector has become a markedly different beast in recent years. Chris Druce takes a look at what has changed and what the prospects are for the future

T

he evolution of the pallet network sector in recent years leaves a mature and enduring sector with a markedly different complexion.

New figures have joined; expansion sealed and growth signalled; and the ownership of the networks has changed, attracting trade buyers in for the first time.

With Eddie Stobart Logistics (ESL) snapping up The Pallet Network more than a year ago, the emergent interest of trade buyers in the sector became clear.

This, combined with the continual buy-in of private equity, means investors see plenty of upside remaining within the pallet network sector, according to the recently retired boss of Palletways Group, James Wilson.

“These people don’t do this unless what they are investing in is viewed as having something that sets it apart and can grow further, so I take that as a positive,” he says.

“Equally, we are now seeing trade players that haven’t played in this world starting to invest, such as Stobart and Imperial [Palletways’ own trade buyer from 2016].

“Every corporation wants to grow generically or through acquisition, so again I take this as a positive sign that these companies think there is future potential in doing so for their investors.”

Wilson argues that if investors felt a sector had failed, that it lacked innovation, they would shy away from it.

“So what we have [with pallet networks] is [a sector perceived as] higher yield and with higher growth potential than other parts of transport,” he says.

This attraction saw TPA Capital become the majority owner of Wolverhampton-based Pallet-Track in March, when founders Nigel Parkes and Carol Jones sold up some of their stake in the pallet network to the private equity firm.

Significant shareholding

Directors Parkes and Jones held 52% and 24% of PalletTrack holding company Palman ahead of the deal and retain a “significant shareholding”.

TPA partner Greg Allen said at the time: “We’re incredibly excited to be in a position to support Pallet-Track with the next stage of its growth story. Under Nigel’s stewardship the business has grown into one of the leading pallet networks in the UK, which is a testament to the quality of the Pallet-Track team and its members.”

Allen added that the firm had been attracted to the collaborative culture of the network.

The Fortec pallet distribution network’s situation is different as it has been owned by French giant Geodis.

However, a refreshed team led by Adrian Bradley – who is approaching his one-year anniversary at the helm – has the backing of a parent company that also sees value in owning a UK pallet network.

“We have an absolute commitment to remain in the UK and for Fortec to remain here,” says Bradley.

That commitment has provided the confidence to 26 MotorTransport

7.10.19

motortransport.co.uk

PALLETISED GOODS

expand the central hub’s operational warehousing space at its Watling Park, Northamptonshire home by 50%, or 70,000sq ft, to 215,000sq ft.

A new camera system to trace pallets throughout their journey through the hub and the likely opening of a northern hub in Warrington (MT 24 June) later this year are all part of an investment in the business.

However, most striking is a shift in the network’s previous policy of a strictly arm’s length relationship with parent company Geodis, with which it shares its location.

With ESL’s arrival and the purchase of Palletforce by EmergeVest – which has seen it become the express division of conglomerate EV Cargo – Palletways is no longer the only big fish in the pallet pool.

Fortec has therefore adapted to develop its USP, and is leveraging the fact that its parent company is a $1bn (£801m) turnover international logistics group.

“We are critical to our members’ business but we are not [always] a substantial part of it. Their businesses fundamentally are haulage and logistics and we complement their services,” says Bradley.

To that end, where there are opportunities alongside Geodis divisions in the UK, Fortec members can access them be they storage or contract logistics and all those sorts of things we can offer a member a lot more in our opinion than the standard solution of a pallet member.

“We have members that are storing pallets for our contract logistics; members that are moving goods under our nuclear contract; and we have members servicing Geodis’s European customer requirements for the domestic legs,” says Bradley.

Ultimately, in a sector based on the movement of goods, it is a truism that standing still is never an option less you want to become the next UK Pallets.

“It’s very easy to become a dinosaur in any industry.

You become a market leader, you don’t change, you don’t adapt. You become a dinosaur that dies,” warns Wilson of a fate that a reinvigorated pallet network sector seems certain to avoid. ■ 7.10.19

Palletforce announced earlier this year that it had come full circle. Having been purchased by private equity company EmergeVest for £30m in 2015, it became part of its owner’s EVCargo group last autumn, taking up the role of the Express division.

This, in turn, has facilitated the sale of two of the haulier members it had acquired in recent years – UK Freight Masters to TTT Logistics and QTR Transport, which has been rebranded as Downton Thatcham, part of Palletforce’s sister company CM Downton.

The move has returned Palletforce to its roots as a pure-play pallet network serving an independent membership – another, albeit internal, change in ownership structure.

Palletforce chief financial officer Steve Back says of the decision: “Our focus is on managing and developing the best pallet network, we are number one in the sector.

“This transaction will allow us to concentrate fully on delivering the best quality, service and long-term growth opportunities to our members.”

The change came after Palletline, the original pallet network, revealed in May that it had set up Palletline Logistics to better develop its directly owned member business.

Headed by Paul Elson, the new business comprises S&S Distribution, Mike Watson Transport, ABE Ledbury and Fast Forward Distribution, as well as Palletline London.

According to Graham Leitch, group MD of Palletline: “Palletline Logistics has emerged as a major contributor to the UK logistics sector in its own right, and we are proud of our achievements thus far. However, we are looking forward and towards continued growth under Paul’s leadership.”

With an annual turnover in excess of £30m, Palletline Logistics qualifies financially for inclusion in the Motor Transport Top 100 of the biggest companies in road transport.

Of course, no one stands still in the pallet sector and the United Pallet Network (UPN) is spending more than £2m on a new 250,000sq ft central hub. A new long-term lease commences from January 2020.

This will have a capacity for 11,500 pallets a night, compared with 8,500 at its current Fradley Distribution Park home (the network will be remaining on the business park).

“The UPN board of directors are extremely excited about this move and the significant potential for growth and expansion that it will bring for both us and our network,” says David Brown, MD of the pallet network.

Stealing a march on UPN, chemical transport specialist the Hazchem Network moved to a new 10-acre hub in Hinckley, Leicestershire in January of this year.

The move followed the arrival of new MD Rob Symes, who replaced co-founder Ali Karim.

Symes says of the move: “The new hub is a statement of confidence in the future “It’s 10 acres and 200,000sq ft and it’s all ours – there are no landlords, debt to service or restrictions. It’s bang in the middle of the country and gives our 50 members confidence for our continued growth.”

The Hazchem Network's previous home in Rugby was 58,000sq ft in size.

MotorTransport 27

MT Awards 2019 winner profile Low Carbon Award

Project Green How did Guernsey Post navigate its way through a perfect storm of rocketing diesel prices, soaring emission levels, inefficient routes and rising parcel volumes to deliver a winning solution?

A

delivery company that can slash CO2 emissions by 98%, cut route mileage by 15%, power its entire fleet with solar energy and achieve a financial return on investment after four years deserves a prize.

Which is why Guernsey Post’s Project Green Fleet is this year’s winner of MT 2019 Low Carbon Award.

Like many successful innovations the project was born out of necessity.

By 2016 Guernsey Post’s delivery service was under strain. While parcel volumes were growing, its traditional letter volumes were declining by 11% each year, making the firm’s separate letter and parcel delivery networks no longer fit for purpose – not least because bicycles were used on 30% of its routes.

Guernsey Post chief executive Boley Smillie recalls: “Prior to 2016 we had two different delivery networks, basically one for letters and the other for parcels.

“Due to digital substitution, letter volumes were declining between 5% and 10% a year, which meant it was a continual and time-consuming challenge to realign hours with workload to maintain efficiency.

“Conversely, parcel volumes were increasing by 10% a year, a combination of the organic growth of internet shopping and our success in winning new contracts.”

He adds: “To continue to meet the quality and value for money expectations of our delivery partners, we needed to increase our capacity and improve our efficiency by making a substantial investment in our vehicle fleet.”

Something had to be done, but rocketing diesel prices on the island meant the obvious option of increasing its existing fleet of diesel Nissan NV200 vans was off the table, since any route efficiencies gained would be swallowed up by fuel costs and undermined

GUERNSEY POST Guernsey Post is a logistics and delivery company based in the Channel Islands. It employs more than 240 people, with annual revenues exceeding £30m.

Each year, alongside its global partners, it exports more than 23 million items worldwide and delivers 17 million items to more than 30,000 addresses.

Guernsey Post provides a delivery service for some of the largest UK mail and courier brands, including FedEx, Hermes, Parcelforce, Royal Mail and Yodel.

28 MotorTransport

by the increase in CO2 emissions.

The company decided it had to take a much more radical route and so Project Green Fleet was launched.

The mission had four key objectives: to cut mileage; eliminate tail-pipe emissions by going electric; generate solar energy to power its fleet; and deliver a financial return on investment.

Radical change

Guernsey Post recognised that if this radical change was to work, the firm had to ensure the workforce was brought fully on board. To this end the delivery teams were given the key role of overhauling the delivery service.

Using their knowledge and experience, along with data from handheld GPS scanners and Guernsey Post’s Quartix vehicle management system, the firm’s delivery teams set about redesigning their own delivery routes, converting cycle rounds to van rounds and creating “once over the ground” routes to maximise efficiency and cut mileage.

Smillie says the benefits of staff involvement were clear. “Within small teams of up to six, all of our delivery staff were given time to redesign their own routes,” he says. “The first section took about six months to complete, which was twice as long as we had hoped, but when eventually the new ways of working were established,everything fell into place.

“After that we threw away the route-planning tools and left the staff to it, the final team completed their work in less than two weeks from start to finish.”

The results were impressive, with 98% of routes converted to van deliveries, ensuring sufficient capacity to meet Guernsey Post’s forecast parcel volumes growth.

In addition, the previously separate letter and parcel delivery networks were combined, delivering a 15% reduction in mileage.

The level of employee engagement also helped them win the Investors in People (IPP) gold award.

The IPP assessor’s report noted that staff were particularly positive about the route rationalisation process.

“People clearly really value the consultation and involvement that they say engendered a feeling of things being done ‘with’ them rather than ‘to’ them,” it said. “People confirmed that these leadership behaviours affect how they feel about engagement and also about how they feel about Guernsey Post as ‘an employer of choice’.”

The next step for Project Green Fleet was to transition to an electric fleet by replacing the firm’s existing fleet of diesel vehicles with electric e-NV200 vans. With the diesel fleet consuming more than 48,000 litres of fuel, resulting in the production of around 129 tonnes of CO2 a year, this was key to the success of the project.

7.10.19

Sponsored by

Guernsey Post chief executive Boley Smillie (third left) collects the award from Ed Cowell, CEO of sponsor Fraikin

Smillie explains: “Up until 2016 our delivery fleet van of choice was the diesel Nissan NV200. The vehicle met all our operational requirements in terms of size and volumetric capacity.

“However the consequential increase in diesel consumption was unsustainable both from a financial and environmental perspective.

“In 2016 fuel duty in Guernsey exceeded the equivalent rate in the UK for the first time ever, with forecast increases set to continue to be above inflation. Over a five-year period the price of diesel in Guernsey had increased 35%.

“So the efficiency benefits of any route optimisation would be consumed by the rising cost of diesel and compounded by the increased CO2 emissions.”

Nonetheless, it was tempting to stick to diesel vans as the safe and easy option. Smillie adds: “We would still have achieved our capacity and delivery efficiency objectives without having the risk of achieving a return on our ‘green’ investment.

FROM THE JUDGES’ MOUTHES The judges hailed Guernsey Post's seamless transition to an all-electric home delivery fleet, the use of technology to reduce mileage and the innovative collaboration with Guernsey Electricity to install the largest solar array in the Channel Islands on the roof of Postal Headquarters.

They said: “Guernsey Post's transformative project is an extremely bold and innovative solution to reduce emissions. It has been a superbly executed project that took staff and customers with it on its journey."

No looking back

“However, when we trialled our first electric vehicle there was no looking back – the feedback from our staff was unanimously positive.

“The environmental objectives were also important to us, we wanted to do the right thing as increasingly our customers and suppliers expect us to consider the environment in everything we do.”

The staged transition to the Nissan e-NV200 van saw 18 vehicles introduced in 2017, a further 31 in 2018 and the final cohort of 33 all joining the fleet by July this year.

The results are impressive. The fleet’s CO2 emissions fell by 15% in the first year, 34% in the second year and are predicted to fall by 53% this year.

Meanwhile servicing and maintenance costs have

7.10.19

SOLAR, SO GOOD: The 645 solar panels will produce 200,000kWh a year

fallen by 35%, with running costs plummeting from 28.5p to just 2p.

Smillie says the vehicles have more than met the company’s targets. “There is very little that can go wrong with electric vehicles and the fleet has exceeded our expectations. Our servicing and maintenance costs have fallen by 35% a year. We are closely monitoring the performance of the vehicle batteries, but it’s so far, so good.”

Not content with these savings, in 2018 the company set about gaining planning permission for the largest solar array in the Channel Islands on the roof of its postal headquarters.

Financed through a deal with Guernsey Electricity, the 645 panels were set to become operational in summer 2019 and will produce 200,000kWh of electricity each year, which will exceed the amount of energy required to power Guernsey Post’s fleet of delivery vehicles.

The project also includes the installation of more than 50 charging points on the site. The electricity generated will be supplied to Guernsey Electricity for the grid, so all electricity customers will access locally produced solar energy.

Smillie says: “We are excited that the project completion date is nearing, where all islanders will have access to even more renewable energy. As a business this will help us to continue our efforts to reduce our impact on the environment.”

The power produced by the rooftop solar array, combined with the investment in its fleet, will see Guernsey Post deliver a 98% reduction in CO2 emissions by 2020.

The financial benefits have been significant, with the company achieving a return on investment in just over four years – with no government grant.

But Smillie believes an even more important goal has been achieved: “The achievement we are most proud of is that the project shows that objectives relating to optimum financial efficiency and consideration for the environment do not have to be mutually exclusive.” ■ MotorTransport 29

MT Awards 2019 winner profile Fleet Van Operator of the Year

ACCESS all areas Transforming the way it approached its fleet management strategy resulted in a well-deserved Fleet Van Operator of the Year award this year for City Plumbing Supplies

M HUGE CHALLENGE: CPS head of fleet Richard Horton: our main objective was compliance

30 MotorTransport

anaging 370 autonomous operating centres that are responsible for 680 vehicles is a tall order by anyone’s reckoning, particularly when staff have historically been geared up for sales rather than transport.

But City Plumbing Supplies (CPS) overcame this huge logistical challenge with an innovative transformation programme that led to it winning an MT award for Fleet Van Operator of the Year in 2019.

The plumbing and heating company, part of the Travis Perkins group, spans the trade, home improvement and DIY markets and employs more than 4,500 staff across the UK and Ireland.

A realisation five years ago that the company had grown so much it had lost vital contact with its customers led to a process of divisionalisation, making each branch closer and more in touch with its end users.

The programme was a success, but also created a new challenge: how to keep on top of its transport compliance obligations across a scattered and autonomous network?

The answer was ACCESS, the brainchild of CPS’ newly appointed head of fleet, Richard Horton.

“When I joined the division I was given a broad remit,” he says. “The main objective was around compliance, but I wanted to look at everything else too. I knew all the things a good fleet operator should be looking at, it was just about pulling it all together in one programme.”

Horton’s solution was a programme that could give customers the best delivery service in the industry.

It comprises six key areas, which Horton abbreviated to ACCESS: Availability, Compliance, Commerciality, Efficiency, Safety and Service.

“I didn’t want to tackle one area at a time,” he explains.

“Compliance was the big one for us, but we were already thinking about efficiency, safety and service too.”

Led by a small, dedicated team headed up by Horton, the ACCESS initiative has enabled CPS to move further ahead of the competition and deliver record sales figures.

The first step of the programme was to ensure that the right fleet vehicles were in the right branches for the delivery operations required – ‘Availability’.

The fleet is controlled via CPS’ master control database, which links fleet data such as registrations; vehicle builds,

transfers and disposals; MoT expiry dates; PMI service dates and LOLER inspections; and improves visibility of the fleet and compliance.

Fleet replacement

An annual fleet replacement process is also conducted to review the current fleet requirements and compare against projected future needs.

This is co-ordinated in conjunction with CPS’ finance team to ensure funding is secured as required in advance of the company’s annual operating plan.

Just in this one area alone, a focus on first use checks, more frequent PMIs and a review of national hire agreements led to a reduction in spend on ‘big ticket’ repair and maintenance issues.

Performance, or ‘Compliance’, is measured through a monthly non-compliance scorecard that shows the overall ranking of branches, as well as areas for improvement at a regional level. This is supported by a fleet activity calendar, which delivers communications on a range of topics throughout the year.

CPS says performance was delivered by integrating branch systems, vehicle technology and Google apps, and by homing in on non-compliance, the fleet team could review all areas of O-licensing remotely.

Next comes ‘Commerciality’, where monthly fleet costs are analysed to calculate actual spend per vehicle, per branch. The branch view enables managers to review their average cost per drop charges and the company says it gives them the information to make informed decisions about the best route to market for delivered products.

‘Efficiency’ involved partnering with Microlise and relying on its software to obtain data on areas such as fleet utilisation, delivery zones, route plans and idling.

Then follows ‘Safety’, with a Top 10 list of actions to reduce the risk of accidents, which includes daily alerts on all notified incidents and a monthly report of drivers with multiple incidents in the past 12 months.

Finally comes ‘Service’, which ensures customers receive a great delivery service and has been instrumental in boosting CPS’ sales growth.

“A lot of people would say safety should come first, but if you look at the flow of the topics, safety kicks in once you leave the branch,” Horton explains. “All the four parts before that come into play before you’ve even moved a wheel.”

However, before all of this could be implemented, Horton’s first challenge was to get the branches on board.

“The perception could have been: ‘this is one more thing we are having to do’.”

He needn’t have worried. CPS outlets quickly caught on to the potential cost savings available to them if they 7.10.19

Sponsored by

followed the programme and that, ultimately, it’s all part of an operator’s existing licensing responsibilities anyway.

“When we first began, there was no history to benchmark, so we created a non-compliant scorecard. A lot of our fleet are vans; we have some 7.5-tonners, but we applied O-licence principles to the whole fleet regardless,” he continues.

“We drew a line in the sand and said, this is the date we start to measure compliance and we expect to see improvements. No-one wants to be on the non-compliant scorecard, but in the past we just didn’t have that visibility.

“ACCESS really brought the transport agenda to the fore and every single year we have seen improvements.

The results were phenomenal!”

These improvements really caught the eye of the judges and were instrumental in it winning the MT award.

There has been a 79% reduction in non-compliance; £277,000 in tracked cost savings against plan in 2018; a 17% reduction in blameworthy incidents over the past three years and CPS is currently sitting pretty with a green OCRS. One judge pointed out the “significant change” that has been brought about now that vehicles are being managed from a fleet perspective, rather than from a branch sales team.

Scattered network

Another commented that CPS had shown “it is doing a lot that is right and there is excellent use of IT and telematics, not least in improving control of a scattered network.

“The steady reduction in tachograph and other compliance infringements is impressive. And I like the involvement in Cranfield in accident investigation.”

Knowing that your infringements will be recorded and used to rank your branch inevitably helped alter driver behaviours, but even Horton was taken aback by how much it was improved.

“We issued the scorecards every month,” he says.

“When the programme began, branches were getting 100 points, but now it’s between 10 and 15.

“It’s improving every year, because of the focus we put 7.10.19

on it. It’s a calendar of activity that will continue; it’s about ‘beating the drum’, getting the message out and then it’s business as usual.

“And we’ve added new bits to the cards as well. With a van fleet, the driver can treat it like a car so we look at the efficiencies of the fleet: where are they delivering?

Are they straying into other areas?

“As and when we see new opportunities coming up we will add them to the programme.”

Horton stresses that ACCESS offers no financial incentives to drivers or branches: “It’s not optional, it’s the law and what we do,” he says.

“It makes you a good operator. We run a driver of the month competition; we look at telematics and centrally we identify who is driving well through Microlise and then this goes into an annual competition. Even with that there’s no financial incentive, just recognition for the driver.

“It’s about everyone in the branches taking personal responsibility for being the best. The company strategy is about being personal and being local. We all have a responsibility to each other and our customers. It’s hardwired into everything we do here.”

Another judge on the awards panel congratulated the company on a “fine effort” and added that it was “a very good submission that for a smaller company exemplified the professional approach they have adopted and the successful results they have achieved: “This was a highly positive and welcomed submission by a company that has striven to be better at what it does and continue to push customer service and all round operator professionalism in the process.”

Horton says he was confident ACCESS would work; it wasn’t a complicated programme and was simply about focusing the minds of employees on its transport assets.

But he also sees it as part of a broader aim to help CPS deliver increased business profitability: “Five years ago I came to work here in the plumbing and heating division and then we started this programme.

“It was a real opportunity following the divisionalised programme to make our mark. It was more than just managing the fleet, it was a vision of the future and how to improve efficiency and compliance.” ■

Presenting the trophy is Carlos Rodrigues, MD of sponsor Renault Trucks (far right), with Richard Horton, head of fleet at City Plumbing Supplies (holding trophy)

MotorTransport 31

VT-360-degree-ad-Motor-Transport-newOctober.pdf

C

M

Y

CM

MY

CY

CMY

K

1

27/09/2019

16:19