Motor Transport 5 October 2020

Sharp ■ Informed ■ Challenging

5.10.20

Ex-employees seek protective award following Cartwright Group collapse

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Former Cartwright staff launch legal challenge

By Chris Tindall

Former employees at Altrinchambased trailer manufacturer www.mtawards.co.uk Cartwright Group who lost their #MTAwards2020 jobs when the business entered administration are pursuing legal action after alleging that it failed to properly consult them.

0940_MTA advert_celebrate_43mm wide 01/04/2020 16:56 1 Despite around 259 jobs being NEWS INSIDE x 64mm high.indd saved when Cartwright Fleet Matlock ceases trading Services, Cartwright Rentals and Family-run firm liquidated p3 Cartwright Finance were sold to leasing firm Zenith, law firm JHP in planning dispute Simpson Miller said it had received Haulier ponders move south p4 calls from “dozens of former staff” and was now attempting to secure Kent ‘border’ permits a protective award for them.

DVSA to enforce penalties p6 Following the group’s collapse on 22 September, S Cartwright & Sons (coachbuilders), and Fabrications ceased OPERATORS INSIDE Cartwright trading with immediate effect, with hundreds of staff suddenly Clipper Logistics...........................................p15 losing their jobs.

Clive Hurt Plant Hire ...................................... p3 CWM Transport ............................................. p4 David Jones, employment law Fox Brothers.................................................. p3 expert at Simpson Millar, said: Gnesta Frakt.................................................p14 “Sadly, the collapse of both S JHP Transport ............................................... p4 Cartwright & Sons and Cartwright KBC Logistics ................................................ p6 Fabrications has left many Malcolm Logistics ........................................p14 ex-employees out of work with Matlock Transport Company .......................... p3 Peter Green Haulage...................................... p4 little more than a moment’s notice.

Wincanton ...................................................p15 “Despite the current circumXPO Logistics ................................................ p6 stances, employers do still have a Yodel............................................................. p3 duty under current employment

law legislation to carry out a proper consultation with staff at risk of redundancies.

“Where this does not happen, they are able to bring claims for a protective award.”

A protective award is a payment granted by an employment tribunal in cases where an employer failed to follow the correct procedure when making 20 or more redundancies.

The sale of parts of the Cartwright business to Zenith creates the UK’s largest HGV and specialist fleets, with over 50,000

vehicles and one of the largest trailer rental fleets in the UK. n Cartwright Conversions, a subsidiary of the Cartwright Group, has been sold to Sheffield-based Trek Group in a £4.8m deal.

The sale of the Belton, North Lincolnshire-based business, which is a specialist convertor for blue light emergency vehicles, saves 66 jobs.

Trek Group said the new company, which will be led by Cartwright Conversions’ MD Steve Shaw, will be called Cartwright Vehicle Conversions.

POWERFULLY ATTRACTIVE: Scania has launched four new SCR-only V8 engines, including a 770hp, 3,700Nm flagship, which trumps the Volvo FH16 750 as Europe’s most powerful production truck. In addition to being more powerful (530hp, 590hp, 660hp and 770hp), the engines are 2% more fuel-efficient than their predecessors, or 6% better when paired with Scania’s Opticruise automated manual gearbox. Commenting on the new engines, Vincente Connolly, UK sales director for Scania (GB), said: “Our V8 engine has a tremendous following and these new models are sure to attract interest from operators across a variety of sectors.” While Connolly confirms the engines are well-suited to heavy haulage and forestry work, he believes they will also prove popular with long-haul operators who run at high weights for extended periods of time. “Then, of course, there are operators looking to make a statement with a flagship model for their fleets. The Scania V8 is an engine that stirs the emotions, and the new range-topping 770-horsepower variant is sure to raise the aspirational bar even higher.” Sales will commence this month, with the first deliveries expected in February 2021.

Business barometer p8 Viewpoint: alternative fuels p10 CM Show news p12 Repair and maintenance p18 Bridge strikes p22

News

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Family-run haulier closes down after last-minute rescue falls through

By Chris Tindall

Matlock Transport Company, the family-run general haulier founded more than 70 years ago, has ceased trading.

Insolvency practitioners from Sheffield-based Hart Shaw LLP were appointed on 11 September to help liquidate the business.

The firm was almost saved from closure in the days leading up to

its liquidation but the unnamed purchaser eventually withdrew its offer, leaving the haulier with no option but to cease trading with the loss of 27 jobs.

Third-generation cousins Julian and Richard Lowe were most recently at the helm of the Darley Dale company, which operated 46 HGVs and 42 trailers out of two depots.

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Matlock ceases trading

New orders boost SDC after fall in profits SDC Trailers is working “flat out” to fulfil new orders created by demand from the internet retail sector and by the recent demise of rival trailer manufacturer Cartwright Group.

The company is predicting this latest boost to its order book, combined with moves to streamline production and reduce over-

Yodel faced with strike action over pay offer Yodel could be facing strike action among staff after the parcel carrier offered them a “miserly” 1.6% pay deal.

GMB members at the company overwhelmingly turned down the offer, describing it as a “kick in the teeth” after reportedly handling Christmas volumes every day due to the Covid-19 crisis.

The row erupted as Yodel announced the creation of 2,950 more roles in the run-up to Christmas.

5.10.20

heads, will help improve on its latest set of financial results for the year to 29 December 2019, which saw the company’s pre-tax profit fall by more than half.

Despite a rise in turnover to £176.2m in the period (2018: £175.2m), the trailer manufacturer saw pre-tax profits fall to £2.7m (2018: £6m).

Speaking to MT, SDC Trailers president Paul Bratton said the company’s performance had suffered from the impact of Brexit on exchange rates, which had the knock-on effect of driving up component and material prices.

However, the company has recently picked up an order for 300 curtainsiders and box vans from a rental and leasing company that had been a client of the Cartwright Group. n SDC Trailers owner CIMC UK is set to open a new factory in Southampton, which will assemble sliding skeletal trailers for the UK and European markets using parts from OEM manufacturers in Ireland and Germany.

Bratton refuted claims that the factory would be assembling trailer kits from China: “There is no market in the UK for massproduced standard kits,” he said.

Milton resigns from Nikola amid fraud claims Trevor Milton, chief executive of electric and hydrogen-powered truck start-up Nikola Motor Company, has resigned amid allegations that the company made fraudulent claims about its technology.

The resignation comes just two weeks after Nikola signed a $2bn (£1.6bn) partnership with General Motors.

Nikola also has a joint venture with Iveco to produce an electric truck. The deal saw Iveco invest $250m in the partnership in September last year.

Milton’s departure follows a report from hedge fund firm Hindenburg Research, which claimed the company’s success was “an intricate fraud” based on “an ocean of lies”, including a video of a truck rolling downhill to give the impression it was cruising on a highway.

Both Nikola and Milton refute all claims made about its vehicles.

In a message to employees Milton said he was stepping aside because “the focus should be on the company and its worldchanging mission, not me”.

Nikola has said it will be taking legal action. It stated that the Hindenburg report is “replete with misleading information and salacious accusations directed at our founder and chairman”.

Milton is succeeded by Stephen Girsky, a former General Motors executive who was already on the company’s board.

Fox Brothers anticipates growth with Clive Hurt purchase Blackpool-based aggregates haulier and earthworks contractor Fox Brothers has acquired Clive Hurt Plant Hire for an undisclosed sum.

The acquisition creates a business with 320 staff and an annual turnover of almost £50m. In addition to its fleet of 150 trucks, made up of 70 vehicles from Fox Brothers and 80 from Clive Hurt Plant Hire, the business will also operate around 400 plant machines.

Paul Fox, group MD at Fox Brothers, said the acquisition will be a “catalyst” for future growth and create “significant opportunities” to compete for larger projects and expand the group’s geographical coverage.

Fox Brothers and Clive Hurt Plant Hire will continue to conduct business under their existing

brands, with day-to-day operations carried out from their respective locations.

MotorTransport 3

News

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No solution to long-running council row could force haulier to set up shop south of the border

By Chris Tindall

A Scottish transport company is threatening to move its business south of the border after the council claimed it had been operating illegally for four years.

Chilled and ambient haulier JHP Transport in Rigside, south west Scotland, told MT it would move its 130-strong workforce and 31 HGVs if South Lanarkshire Council did not see sense and grant it retrospective planning permission.

Problems began when the council discovered the company had not applied for a change in use of the land, from agricultural to storage and distribution, and therefore it would have to apply for planning permission.

Jillian Slater, JHP Transport financial controller, said it thought correcting the mistake would just be “a paperwork exercise”.

However, the council then said it would refuse the application on the grounds that the company was

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JHP Transport eyes move from Scotland over planning dispute

operating at night and there were noise issues.

A council spokesperson said a noise impact assessment showed

that several nearby properties were affected by HGVs at night.

“In addition, lorry movements to and from the site have already caused significant damage to the public road and it has been concluded that road widening and strengthening would be needed if the company were to remain at the site,” the spokesperson said.

“Officers have discussed several options over the last four years and they are still considered appropriate.”

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CWM joins The Pallet Network in effort to diversify operations

Felixstowe says sorry for headache caused by way too many ‘empties’ The Port of Felixstowe has apologised for disruption to hauliers after a perfect storm of surging import volumes, empty containers and Covid-19 led to long delays at the country’s largest container terminal.

In a statement, the port said it was increasing its vehicle booking system (VBS) availability, opening on Sundays for haulage collections and attempting to slow down the number of empty containers being returned in an effort to keep on top of the disruption.

“The situation has been caused by a sharp spike in import container volumes, along with a high proportion of late vessel arrivals,” it 4 MotorTransport

said. “The weekly import volume for the last two weeks has been over 30% higher than average levels.

“This is exacerbated by unusually high levels of empty containers at the port and the impact of the ongoing Covid-19 crisis on resource availability.

“As a result, our service standards are not currently where we would like them to be and we apologise for any inconvenience caused.”

The British International Freight Association (BIFA) said the current problems could be traced back to 2018 when Felixstowe undertook “a disastrous migration to a new in-house terminal operating system”.

The Pallet Network has signed Basingstoke-based CWM Transport as its owners look to diversify the business.

The two-year-old company, which provides full-load haulage between depots for major logistics groups such as Fedex/TNT and Amazon, went live on 14 September.

CWM director Carl Wood said drops in freight volumes during lockdown highlighted the importance of diversifying from the fullload haulage it had specialised in.

“During lockdown we were still delivering for major customers but the only network we saw on the motorways was TPN. That told

me which network to call,” he said.

“And a very profitable call it was.

“I worked as a driver for 20-plus years after leaving the army, and I’ve been in and out of many hubs.

Some of the networks aren’t very professional at all. By contrast TPN’s hub operation is very well organised.”

Utilisation strikes chord for Peter Green Somerset’s Peter Green Haulage said a focus on fleet utilisation and reducing high fixed costs helped boost turnover by more than 10% last year, to £17m.

The Shepton Mallet temperature controlled haulier also increased its pre-tax profit by 54.2% to £637,777 in the year ending 31 December 2019.

The company, which holds a standard international licence for 69 HGVs and 69 trailers out of three depots, said it was optimistic that its continued focus on utilisation, strengthening key partners

and improving volumes would improve results this year too.

It added: “The Covid pandemic provided further opportunities, particularly for the warehouse division. A small drop in demand for transport services was experienced and the business reacted quickly, reducing requirements from subcontractor companies, allowing margins to be maintained.”

Peter Green Haulage provides a daily pallet distribution service across the UK and Ireland, as well as services to a number of countries in Europe.

5.10.20

News

Haulier digs in to beat unfair PCN An Essex haulier that stood up to a parking firm threatening to take it to court for non-payment of a parking charge has urged other companies to follow its lead.

KBC Logistics refused to pay the initial £60 parking charge notice issued by UK Car Park Management (CPM) while its 44-tonne truck was making a legitimate delivery on the Southall Business Park in Middlesex.

Its refusal prompted a flurry of letters from CPM’s lawyers as the disputed amount – plus legal fees – grew. CPM offered the haulier the chance to settle out of court for £180, but when that was refused it eventually backed down.

Dave Ashford, KBC Logistics transport director, said: “These companies are out of order.”

KBC’s victory comes as communities secretary Robert Jenrick announced proposals to tackle unfair private parking tickets.

He said a new Parking Code of Practice and Framework will challenge the methods used by rogue firms and “restore common sense” to the way parking fines are issued.

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Vehicle seizures and £300 fines possible under contentious KAP regime

Enforcing Kent ‘border’ falls on police and DVSA A permit system for trucks leaving Kent for continental Europe after the EU transition period will be enforced by the DVSA with £300 fines and vehicle impoundings.

The Kent Access Permit (KAP) is expected to significantly reduce the number of unready HGVs reaching Kent from 1 January and reduce pressure on Kent’s roads, the port of Dover and Eurotunnel.

The KAP will support the Smart Freight software, which is intended to be used by companies exporting goods to the continent – but enforcement agencies such

as the DVSA and the police will enforce the process in an effort to avoid chaos on the roads.

Transport minister Rachel Maclean said that the DfT, HMRC and Defra contractors would

confirm if HGV drivers have valid KAPs. She added: “Fixed penalty notices or financial penalty deposit notices of £300 would be issued by the police or the DVSA if an HGV driver did not have a valid KAP. “The DVSA would be able to impound vehicles should the driver choose not to pay the fine.”

Meanwhile, Logistics UK said it had secured “full commitment” from the government that a fully working version of the smart freight operating system will be launched in December.

XPO Logistics lands Border Force support role for Brexit XPO Logistics has landed a major logistics and warehousing deal which will support the Home Office’s Border Force operations.

Under the five-year agreement, which should begin in March 2021, XPO will be responsible for transporting items from the point where Border Force takes

control of them to the appropriate storage location.

The deal comes as the UK prepares to leave the EU at the end of December. XPO will operate from existing government facilities and provide services covering the UK and Northern Ireland, as well as the UK border in France, at Coquelles.

Focus: apprenticeships Amid a backlog of HGV tests, an obvious solution is at hand, says SfL

DVSA must delegate driver testing According to the DfT and DVSA, in Q2 of 2020 just 631 HGV tests were carried out in the UK, a thumping decrease of 96.5% against the same period last year.

It’s no secret that the driver shortage is a key challenge in the transport sector, bearing in mind that we have: ■ a 60,000 pre-pandemic HGV driver shortage ■ a 20,000 shortage of drivers due to a backlog of tests ■ a 20,000-strong future demand for drivers.

The temporary halt in training and examining during the first wave of the pandemic aggravated the issue, leaving a testing backlog of 100,000 HGV drivers over the next 12 months.

Not only did the reopening of DVSA test centres see a staggered start (13 July in England, 17 August in Wales and 14 September in Scotland), but services continue to remain limited to three tests per day per examiner, compared with the pre-Covid total of four.

Pre-Covid requirements were demonstrably challenging for the DVSA, so how can the organisation now cope with the testing backlog and future demand?

Early in September, we launched the first trade association to act for and promote transport and logistics training providers in the UK. Already, new members of the Logistics Skills Network represent over 30% of the HGV provision in the UK, accounting for around 500 HGV tests per week. Ultimately, we believe the Logistics Skills Network will represent 80% of HGV provision in the UK and will be an extremely powerful voice for the sector.

We’re already working closely with the DVSA, which has 6 MotorTransport

endorsed the aims and objectives of the new network, and we believe the solution is one of two routes: either the DVSA should look to recruit and train around 60 more HGV examiners; or we need to see a change to current legislation to allow experienced HGV instructors to become HGV examiners.

There is a ready-made solution in the 60 customer-owned approved HGV test centres around the country operated by private organisations. We urgently need the DVSA to allow delegated examining authority for at least the next six months, to make inroads into what is a crisis in our industry.

The impact on the UK economy is severe and for recently redundant individuals wishing to take up a new vocational skill, being told to come back in six months’ time is demoralising at best. We have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to solve the driver shortage and the answer lies with the DVSA. If your organisation carries out training, you can help to keep the wheels turning in this vital sector by joining the Logistics Skills Network. Visit logisticsskillsnetwork.co.uk or email info@logisticsskillsnetwork.co.uk for more information.

■ What’s your view on this? Contact david.coombes@skills forlogistics.co.uk. David Coombes is CEO of Skills for Logistics.

5.10.20

Business barometer

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Forecasters are feeling more optimistic about the UK’s economic recovery, but it remains fragile

Reasons to be cheerful

GDP

In addition to the traditional quarterly figures, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) started to publish monthly GDP estimates in 2018, intended to monitor Brexit effects in a more timely fashion.

The data now also helps to assess Covid’s economic effects.

After catastrophic declines in March and April, the monthly GDP figures have turned sharply upwards. Growth in July was an impressive 8.7%, but it weakened to 6.6% in August.

September’s figure is due this Friday (9 Oct). Analysts are not interpreting August’s lower rate of acceleration as a sign that the recovery is faltering. The Treasury’s latest monthly survey of independent forecasters reports that their 8 MotorTransport

average forecast for GDP growth in Q3 (compared with Q2) is 14.4%.

The 18 forecasters were surveyed between September 2 and 10. When making the same forecast a month earlier, the average was 14.3%, so there is no evidence of growing pessimism among these experts.

And their expectations for GDP growth next year have also improved in the last month, up from 6.5% in August to 7.0% in September, although this doesn’t factor in new lockdowns.

EUROPEAN REGISTRATIONS JANUARY – AUGUST 40,000 35,000

25,000

Manufacturing confidence

UK manufacturers are sending out a reasonably upbeat message, reporting a steady recovery in business. The IHS Markit/CIPS UK Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) is a monthly survey of purchasing managers in manufacturing, asking if their businesses are growing or shrinking. A PMI score of 50 indicates stability; scores above 50 show expansion, lower scores denote contraction. The PMI plunged to 32.6 in April, its lowest and the sharpest drop since the survey began in 1992. It has picked up steadily since then, hitting a

-35%

20,000 -47%

15,000

-24%

10,000

-46%

-31%

5,000

-41%

0 Germany France

Haulage rates

Rates in Q2 were 0.1% down on Q1’s, according to the survey carried out as part of the ONS’s Services Producer Price Index (SPPI).

This quarterly reduction is the first in almost four years and is broadly in line with the overall softening of prices of most services used by UK industry.

Overall SPPI inflation fell sharply from 0.7% in Q1 to 0.1% in Q2 as the economic effects of Covid drove down both demand and some core costs like energy.

With fuel accounting for 25-30% of most operators’ overall costs, it is unsurprising that Q2’s soft diesel prices are reflected in this slight reduction of the SPPI’s average haulage rates. Rates in Q2 were only 0.8% higher than during the same period last year according to the SPPI. Note that this is a provisional result, subject to amendment. A previous rate reduction of 0.2% quoted for Q4 last year has since been amended to 0.0%.

Includes % reduction compared with Jan – Aug 2019

-37%

30,000

UK

Italy

Poland

Spain N´lands

MONTHLY GDP 15.0%

% change vs. previous month

Europe’s truck market is hurting, and especially so in the UK. Data from the European vehicle manufacturers’ association ACEA show that EU registrations of new trucks with gross weights of 16 tonnes or more were 38% down during the first eight months of the year compared with the same period last year.

UK registrations are reckoned to be down by 47% – the steepest decline of all Europe’s major truck markets. Our estimated total of just 15,045 in the first eight months is the lowest since 2014, the first year of costlier Euro-6 trucks.

The collapse is not solely Covidrelated. Some decline was inevitable, following last year’s first-half boom as operators rushed to register new trucks before ‘smart tachographs’ became mandatory in June 2019. On top of that, there was an added pull-forward in the UK last year to beat the threat of post-Brexit tariffs on new trucks.

The timing of that turned out to be premature, but it makes the UK’s 2020 downturn look even worse.

Our chart shows ACEA’s data for Europe’s seven largest heavy truck markets. Some of the smaller markets have fared even worse.

Registrations in the three Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, who joined the EU in 2004, have collapsed by almost 60%. Ireland is at the other end of the spectrum, down just 15%.

8.7 %

10.0% 5.0% 0.0% -5.0%

0.1 %

0.0 %

Jan

Feb

6.6 %

2.4 % Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

-6.9 %

-10.0% -15.0% -20.0%

-20.0 %

-25.0%

HAULAGE RATES % change on previous quarter

Truck registrations

1.4% 1.2% 1.0% 0.8% 0.6% 0.4% 0.2% 0.0% -0.2% Q3'18 Q4'18 Q1'19 Q2'19 Q3'19 Q4'19 Q1´20 Q2´20

30-month high of 55.2 in August.

As MT went to press, the so-called ‘flash’ estimate of September’s PMI was released, showing the index had edged down again, to 54.3. Manufacturers’ optimism had also slipped to its

lowest since May. These responses were made during 11 to 21 September and so reflect Covid worries and recent tensions over Brexit. Growth in exports was a notable bright spot, doubtless boosted by sterling’s weakness.

5.10.20

Viewpoint

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Virtual conference looks to the future T

he first virtual Commercial Motor Show took place this week and congratulations to our colleagues on CM for taking the initiative in these strange times and trying something new. While the final audience numbers are still being Steve Hobson collated the experiment has been a great Editor success and, although no substitute for a Motor face-to-face event, it was a very worthwhile Transport exercise.

While the three-day conference included sessions on the Road to Zero, skills shortages and Direct Vision, naturally enough the early presentations focused on Brexit.

Transport minister Baroness Vere introduced the event with a welcome tribute to the logistics industry which kept the UK fed and watered at the height of the pandemic, while in response RHA chief executive Richard Burnett thanked the government for its help in the crisis. But he pointed out we are far from out of the woods just yet, with more support needed on improving lorry parking, preparing for the end of the Brexit transition period and solving the skills shortage.

The conference then looked at the role of the transport and logistics industry in shaping the future retail landscape, which has seen a rapid shift in volumes from the

high street to online. Infrastructure built to serve conventional bricks and mortar stores is not easily repurposed to handle home deliveries, and the uncertainty of what will happen as we gradually emerge from the current restrictions on our lives means it is hard to plan what will be needed for the rest of this decade.

Flexibility and agility were words which often cropped up – two things that our industry is famous for – and they will be required in bucket loads in the coming months and possibly years.

The need for more collaboration among logistics providers – possibly driven top down by the retailers – to improve flexibility and responsiveness to changing shopping habits will also be key, and this will become even more important as the pressure to cut carbon emissions grows.

Sending eight diesel vans down every street every day to deliver parcels and groceries may be great customer service but surely isn’t sustainable from an environmental point of view. And consolidation may be the only way to justify the increased cost of the new generation of electric vehicles.

But while competition remains at the heart of how this industry operates it is hard to see this collaboration happening without customers taking the lead.

Getting the UK on track with hydrogen T Ellen Daniels Chief executive BCGA

he British Compressed Gases Association (BCGA) is keen to ensure hydrogen, CNG and LNG get a broader hearing across the transport sector.

The UK has already committed to ‘net zero’ by 2050. Vehicle fuels are a huge part of that and are reckoned to account for 25% of UK CO2 emissions. The UK has committed to banning the sale of new petrol and diesel cars by 2030, and there are already calls to bring that date forward.

There are several possible alternatives to petrol and diesel, such as fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs). Hydrogen, particularly green hydrogen, offers a zero emissions option, realistic range and familiar driving and filling experience. Hydrogen is also seen as the future for the gas grid, with the potential for hydrogen boilers.

Natural gas also offers a stepping stone away from petrol and diesel. Compressed natural gas (CNG), liquefied natural gas (LNG) and biomethane are all cost-effective and environmentally friendly options.

However, we need the same sort of government support for these as for battery

10 MotorTransport

electric vehicles (BEVs). The government has already put extensive backing into R&D and production of battery technology and charging infrastructure, but BEVs are not the total answer. Electric vehicles still have several issues, including long charge times, poor range, a current lack of charging infrastructure and insufficient electricity grid capacity. There’s also still the question of what happens with lithium battery waste at end of life.

BCGA members are on hand to support this emerging industry with trusted innovation and safety standards, to help support a nationwide shift and bring more CNG, LNG and hydrogen vehicles into action. But there needs to be a greater emphasis on hydrogen, CNG and LNG in policy going forward. We are really excited at the prospect of working with government on such an innovative area.

The newspaper for transport operators

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If you would like to contribute to MT’s Viewpoint, email steve.hobson@roadtransport.com 5.10.20

News Hydrogen-diesel technology could ‘radically transform’ truck emissions

ULEMCO plots a dual-fuel future ULEMCo was at the Commercial Motor Show to demonstrate how its hydrogen technology can take operators’ vehicles beyond Euro-6 on the road to decarbonisation.

Recent results from HyTIME, a Low Emission Freight and Logistics Trial project partly funded by the Office for Low Emission Vehicles in partnership with Innovate UK, showed that more than 14 tonnes of CO2 were saved over a two-year period from 11 urban trucks and vans running on green hydrogen dual-fuel.

This was based on displacing between 20% and 45% of the diesel fuel with hydrogen on the various vehicles, which if replicated across a whole fleet would lead to a “radical transformation of emissions”, said ULEMCo. Any Euro-6 diesel commercial vehicle can be hydrogen-enabled using ULEMCo’s H2iCED technology, which allows hydrogen to mix with diesel directly in the engine.

If there is no hydrogen available for any reason, the vehicle will still operate as a standard diesel unit, ensuring operational reliability.

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By Hayley Pink

This approach, said ULEMCo, allows ultra-low emission mileage now without any need to change operation, other than filling up with hydrogen as well as diesel.

The technology is most suited to urban, city and regional duty cycles where the vehicles return to base daily, and the scale of local demand will unlock the investment case for the infrastructure.

Commercial vehicles have now been trialled in a range of operations. They include a water tanker for Yorkshire Water, a road sweeper

and domestic waste trucks for Aberdeen City Council, an RCV for operator Grundon, and a regional haulage truck for Wykes.

If an operator has a fleet of around 30 vehicles based at one location, ULEMCo said, there are numerous investors in the UK who will work with that operator to supply the fuel cost-effectively.

12 MotorTransport

could have otherwise turned into a collision.

This commitment to best practice comes at a time when commercial fleets are contending with busier roads, as the government encourages people back into

the workplace with public transport still being avoided by many.

Damian Penney, vice-president of Lytx Europe, said: ‘‘Our data shows that commercial drivers are responding incredibly well to busier roads.

“We know from conversations with our customers that many fleets have increased their driver coaching during the pandemic and we can see that it has had a positive effect, with best practice behaviours intuitively kicking in when drivers need them most.’’

He added that as the UK continues to “get back to normal”, it remains crucial fleet managers keep using data insights to understand what is happening in and out of the cab – and that those allimportant conversations between driver and manager are still taking place.

Brigade Electronics took to Commercial Motor Show’s virtual platform to dispel the myths around the new London Direct Vision Standard (DVS).

Emily Hardy, marketing manager at Brigade, said: “There is a lot of misinformation in the industry right now.”

Brigade offered a free service to check vehicle star ratings and help with any equipment operators need if they fall short.

Requirements include camera monitor systems, ultrasonic sensors and audible warnings.

For operators dealing with multiple standards or fleets driving through different continents, nearside detection requirements may differ in minimum and maximum distance.

Brigade’s new SideScan Flex allows the operator to choose from four detection configurations, each with different detection distances and audible and visual alerts.

Also on display was Brigade’s range of high definition (HD) cameras and new monitor.

The firm is also launching an HD Backeye®360 system, which features a new software interface.

It will be introducing three internet protocol (IP) cameras which prevent image quality degradation for applications that use extended cable length. To complement these, Brigade’s power over network (PON) switches can increase the number of channels available for mobile digital (MDR-5XXX) recording systems.

This enables the eight-channel system to cater for up to 16 cameras.

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Commercial drivers in the UK are being more safety conscious than ever, despite facing new challenges on the roads, fleet video telematics provider Lytx told delegates at the Commercial Motor Show.

New data derived from Lytx’s UK driving risk database shows that despite increased pressures as a result of the pandemic, risky driving behaviours are still significantly lower than in the same period in 2019 – in many cases, by up to 50%.

This is having a positive impact when minimising the chance of collisions: in the five-week period from 8 June to 12 July, more than half (53%) of near-collision incidents were ‘unavoidable’ – meaning the commercial vehicle driver exhibited perfect driving safety behaviours and did nothing to contribute to a near-miss, which

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Driver behaviour better despite new challenges on roads

Brigade clarifies DVS requirements

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Logistics sector praised at Commercial Motor Show for keeping goods moving in the pandemic

Baroness Vere highlights industry’s ‘army of heroes’

By Colin Barnett

Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State Baroness Vere of Norbiton (pictured), has praised the logistics sector for its work during the pandemic.

Opening the Commercial Motor Show with chief executive of the RHA, Richard Burnett, last week, the Baroness said the transport sector had been “the lifeblood of our economy” during the Covid crisis. “You’ve kept supermarket shelves fully stocked, and food on our plates. You’ve kept factories operating, and ports working 24/7 to keep essential trade moving.

You’ve delivered supplies of PPE that have allowed medical staff to save many thousands of lives, and without the materials you delivered, it would have been impossible to build the Nightingale hospitals in just nine days.

“You are part of an army of heroes who have kept Britain going under extremely difficult conditions. And for that you have my enduring gratitude – but more importantly, the gratitude of the whole country.”

Responding, Burnett said nothing could have prepared the transport industry or the government for Covid-19, but hauliers just got on with the job in hand.

“The industry has kept critical

goods moving, supermarket shelves full, factories open, and medical supplies in hospitals,” he said. “We have just done our job.

The UK’s road transport industry has always been the lifeblood of the UK’s economy and perhaps now there is even more recognition of this.”

While some sectors have been exceptionally busy, others in construction, non-essential retail and hospitality have seen volumes slump.

“The full impact of the pandemic will not be clear for months if not years, but for many road hauliers the consequences have already been catastrophic,” Burnett continued. “At the peak of the crisis half of the UK’s truck fleet was parked up and much of it remained inactive – waiting for key sectors to be unlocked.

“T he outlook for these businesses hangs in the balance.

There is real risk of widespread failure if further intervention is not provided.”

Burnett said the RHA was grateful to Baroness Vere and others at the DfT who supported the industry so that it was able to maintain critical supply chains.

“Never has the government and this industry worked as closely, providing intelligence and complet-

ing surveys to understand what is working and what is failing, all of which has been an invaluable education,” he said. “I hope that there is now a much wider recognition for the essential role the industry plays in supporting our everyday life.

“This industry has for far too long been undervalued and taken for granted and I hope that in this most diff icult year it represents a turning point for us all.”

But he added that there is still more the government can do to

help road transport through the coming months, including improving the current “shamefully inadequate” lorry parking and driver welfare facilities.

He also called on the government to act over clean air zones, which risk stranding 125,000 Euro-5 trucks that do not comply with policies introduced after purchase.

On skills, Burnett said the Apprenticeship Levy had failed the industry. “Between April 2017 and June 2020, the road haulage and logistics industry has paid £480m into the levy pot and only drawn down 10%,” he said. “We thought the shortage of HGV drivers may have abated during Covid, due to the slowing economy and reducing volumes. However the impact of losing 20,000 practical driving tests, coupled with drivers retiring at a higher rate, means the shortage is still very much alive.”

Commercial Motor editor Will Shiers added: “We need to seize this opportunity, and remind everyone just how important trucks are to society. Let’s inform them that in London, the tailpipe emissions from a modern truck are cleaner than the air we breathe. And let’s drum home the message that without trucks we’d all be hungry, naked and homeless.”

Expert panel weighs up the case for biofuels, electric vehicles and gas Biofuels, electric vehicles and natural gas all came under the spotlight in a panel discussion at the Commercial Motor Show.

Justin Laney, partner and general manager of central transport at John Lewis, said biofuels had a big role to play in the future, adding: “Our ambition is to be fossil fuel free by 2028 and to save half a million tonnes of CO2 by 2030.”

Laney said a range of 500 miles was achievable with biofuel and that 10-20 filling stations were being developed to add to the 30 already operating.

He went on to say he was confident about biomethane supplies for HGVs but was less convinced by the case for electric and hydrogen. “Electric for HGVs is still 5.10.20

some way off. The future is the e-Highway system. [But] I’m not convinced by hydrogen,” he confirmed.

Mervyn McIntyre, head of fleet at Hermes, said John Lewis had helped it in its quest to make sustainability a priority.

“CNG is a usable fuel for a large part of our network,” he said, while conceding that there is a 65% restriction in range against fossil fuel vehicles.

Training courses have helped Hermes drivers understand the ease of refuelling, and they had also been impressed by the significant noise reduction with gas trucks, he said. Hermes continues to trial other alternative fuel vehicles, however. “We believe that gas may not be the long-term

solution. It may be hydrogen we see as the more long-term solution, or certainly a fuel cell product which will give you all the benefits of quick refuelling and none of the restrictions on distance of some of the other alternative fuels,” said McIntyre.

DPD marketing director Tim Jones said DPD was looking to develop microsites for electric vehicles in city centres, the latest one to be established in Hull.

Charging infrastructure and the availability of rapid charging need to improve, said Jones. Other barriers to electric, he said, include vehicle availability and price, with the Mercedes eSprinter currently valued at £55,000 and the VW eCrafter at £60,000.

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News

Road trains and real trains help reduce the environmental impact of freight How can we move freight with reduced environmental impact? Speaking in a session on Eco trucks at the Commercial Motor Show, Kevin Buck (pictured, below), MD of HazComp, highlighted the concept of the 25.25m long, 60-tonne GCW road train over seven, eight or nine axles.

As two such vehicles could be used in place of three standard 16.5m semi-trailer combinations, with 52 pallets being carried per vehicle rather than the normal 35, the benefits include improved efficiency and productivity, fewer trucks on the roads, reduced overall fuel consumption and reduced emissions, as well as fewer drivers being required.

Of the four possible modular combinations of truck and trailers, Buck said the B-double – comprising of tri-axle tractor with short tri-axle semi-trailer equipped with a second fifth wheel connected to

a second 13.6m tri-axle semitrailer – is the best option. These vehicles conform to standard construction and use limits with the exception of length and weight, but without additional axle loadings. With steering axles, they can comply with 16.5m combination steering requirements.

Parking may be an issue, however, and it may be necessary to restrict their use to main roads.

Thomas Hull, owner of Gnesta Frakt of Sweden, which has been operating 25.25m long B-double combinations in Sweden and Norway, said that compared with a standard articulated vehicle, fuel consumption rose by 20%. More space was needed on corners, he said, but experienced drivers have had no problems.

Parking is an issue so Hull recommended use of set depot-to-depot routes.

Andrew Malcolm (above right), chief executive of the Malcolm Group, pointed to rail as another solution. Malcolm Logistics has been involved in multimodal road and rail transport since 2001 and has seen

demand grow from two trains per week to two trains per night, via terminals in Grangemouth and Linwood in Scotland and the Daventry International Rail Freight Terminal (DIRFT) in England. The current service takes 68 loads per night off the roads for the rail section of the journey.

Malcolm also outlined the company’s planned “48 for 48” trial, which would see standard length 13.6m semi-trailers used at an increased gross weight of 48 tonnes under STGO regulations over dedicated and agreed routes for the 48 miles to the railhead, similar to the licence granted for the DfT’s longer semi-trailer trial.

The additional weight would not add to permitted axle loadings and would compensate for the additional weight of the container or swap body, compared with a standard articulated truck.

Commerical Motor Show highlights growing problem of finding heavy goods vehicle drivers

By Steve Hobson

While Covid-19 saw volumes in parts of the industry fall off a cliff, a combination of suspension in HGV driving tests and the end of the Brexit transition period in December could see the current 50,000 shortage of trucks drivers start to worsen, delegates at the Commercial Motor Show heard.

Jennifer Swain, head of talent and operations at Road to Logistics, a programme spearheaded by the RHA, said it has ambitions to recruit and train 3,000 new drivers in the next five years.

With the average age of truck drivers around 55, many have decided to retire early to avoid the risks posed by the coronavirus, while a high proportion of the 60,000 EU drivers working in the UK have already gone home because of Brexit. Add in the 20,000 LGV driving tests cancelled in the lockdown and Swain warned the shortage could only get worse.

Road to Logistics is going to address the issue by sourcing candidates to come into the indus14 MotorTransport

try to be trained in driving and other key roles. There will be a focus on women, ethnic minorities, ex-offenders and the long-term unemployed.

“We want to create a more diverse workforce,” said Swain.

“We will have the expertise to screen candidates and this will be a bespoke service to find the right people for your business.”

Another route for employers to recruit the right talent has been developed by Yuno, a start-up that has developed an app to assess the suitability of candidates for specific roles.

Co-founder Lorenz Fischer said Yuno’s research had found that logistics firms took an average of 50 days to recruit a staff member compared with 20 days in retail.

While the sector suffered a worsening skills shortage the pool of available labour is actually increasing due to Covid-19, and 6.2m people in the UK are already earning less than the living wage.

“They are in low skilled jobs in areas like hospitality and retail, and it is estimated that 3m more blue collar jobs will be affected by automation in the next five years,” said Fischer. “So millions of people need to reorientate their careers.”

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Skills shortage in focus Focusing on the suspension of LGV driver testing by the DVSA in the pandemic, Skills for Logistics development director Paul Spink told delegates more about a new body set up to represent training providers, the Logistics Skills Network (see page 6).

Spink said there were around 200 vocational driver training providers across the UK and between them they had trained most of the 600,000 LGV drivers on which the UK depends.

These training companies are generally small operations, with on average six to seven vehicles and employing 10 to 12 staff. “That resource props up the whole UK economy,” said Spink.

“So on 1 September we launched the Logistics Skills Network to represent the training providers.

We already have 30% of the indus-

try and hope to get to 80% of the marketplace.”

The Logistics Skills Network is open to in-house as well as thirdparty training providers .

Career Ready head of logistics Ian Nichol told delegates about the Think Logistics programme to introduce school and college pupils to career opportunities in logistics, encouraging them to commit their time to form links with 400 educational establishments and spread the word about the industry.

“It is not just trucks and sheds,” he said. “We need to challenge this stereotype that many young people see. Only 9% of our workforce is under 25, and 91% is male. The industry is not fishing in a diverse pool of talent and other industries are out there talking to young people.”

The issue of diversity was also picked up by Dan Myers, managing director, transport, UK and Ireland, at XPO Logistics, who said that ignoring parts of the available workforce was “shrinking the ocean of talent into a puddle” and that diversity produced better financial results.

“It makes business sense,” he insisted, adding: “Companies with diverse workforces perform better.”

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Big changes needed for a zero-carbon world

Infrastructure the key factor

By Tim Wallace

The road to zero carbon emissions will require big changes to refuelling and charging infrastructure, warned industry experts at last week’s CM Show, with hydrogen now a viable alternative to electric.

In a panel discussion comprising Mark Griffin, market development manager – clean fuels, BOC Gases, Danny Jones, director, Off Grid Energy, David Horsfall, director of property, Tylesey Energy Park, and Dr Duncan Yellen (pictured), MD, ITM Motive, Yellen claimed there is still considerable “misunderstanding” over hydrogen but that it is “the Heineken of fuel – reaching the parts other fuels can’t reach”.

“Lots of people are saying ‘electrify everything’, and I completely agree,” he said. “But if we do that we will need about six times as much zero-carbon electricity as we produce now. We’ll also have to get it down the grid which will need about four transmission and distribution grids. It will be extraordinarily difficult, but fortunately we have an alternative in the shape of hydrogen. We can produce hydrogen from electricity.

“That’s why we need to go big with hydrogen. The UK now has the world’s largest gigafactory; it’s a leader in green hydrogen.”

Griffin agreed that there was “huge potential” for hydrogen, either used on its own or injected as a dual fuel.

He called for the development and storage of more green hydrogen close to city clusters and suggested the existing gas network could be used to transport it.

“There’s now a strong appetite for hydrogen HGVs and we need to engage with vehicle OEMs to develop something for the UK market,” he said. “It will be a mixture of battery electric and hydrogen for net zero but we need to support the expansion of those vehicles in the UK by having hydrogen available at ports, for example.

“There’s been a lot of investment in LNG and CNG and it might be that hydrogen is next.”

Yellen agreed it was still early days for 44-tonne hydrogen HGVs 5.10.20

but added: “Come next summer it will be a lot easier to gain access to that size of vehicle when we have refuelling stations available.

“I’m sure we’ll go down the same route as we’ve seen with CNG trials,” he continued. “We’re already in talks with manufacturers offering trial vehicles.”

Meanwhile, Jones admitted there were still many challenges in terms of alternative fuels, particularly over grid capacity and “range anxiety”.

“Moving to alternate premises or investing in a grid upgrade could be very costly,” he said. “And large fleets descending on refuelling stations at the same time can cause huge spikes in demand for energy.”

However, he said solutions were now available including smart charge management to control peak demand.

“Sometimes even that isn’t sufficient,” he said. “So another option is to introduce battery energy storage as a solution. The key benefit here is that it can be delivered in a short time, it becomes a valuable asset and it can potentially earn revenue. It can be combined with smart charging.”

Horsfall said Tylesey would be used as “a test centre for alternative fuel where the winners can evolve”.

“There will be a combination of fuels to meet demand over the next 10 years,” he said. “We want to cater for all the different needs. We want local fleets who can’t afford to transition but want to participate in trials to engage with us, right up to a big carrier ready to invest in hydrogen or electric or bio gases, all of which we can cater for.”

Panel consults its crystal ball on the post-Covid future for transport How will transport and logistics look after Covid-19 has eventually receded? There is no shortage of companies who would like the answer to that question and visitors to the Commercial Motor Show conference gained some valuable insight in a special panel discussion.

Speakers included former John Lewis partnership COO Dino Rocos, Clipper Logistics chief executive Tony Mannix, head of sales – transport at Wincanton Steven Cleary, and British Vehicle Rental and Leasing Association (BVRLA) director of corporate affairs Toby Poston.

The retail sector has undoubtedly experienced an upheaval through the Covid-19 crisis, with supply chains severely tested as consumers began to panic buy early in the pandemic, accompanied by further pressures on the supermarket supply chains as customers switched to home delivery in large numbers. Dino Rocos said there is a secure future for the retail sector, but that it will need to reinvent itself. “I’m confident that we can navigate Covid and be transformed,” he said.

Tony Mannix (pictured) described the early period of lockdown as “like Black Friday every day”, as panic-buying took hold.

Mannix said stock management is now the battleground as retailers try to second-guess what future customer trends will be like. This has an inevitable impact on the supply chain and Mannix highlighted a series of important issues for operators, including recruiting and retaining talent and raising the profile of logistics as a career.

To this end, Clipper Logistics has become involved in a degree course at Sheffield Hallam University. “We need more thinking and planning in supply chains,” said Mannix, adding that there needs to be a greater reliance on data for which technology will be the key.

Like Rocos, he said that collaboration and partnership are vital for the future and a model for future city deliveries could involve one vehicle handling deliveries to a number of competing shops, instead of each shop maintaining its own separate delivery operation. This could open up further economies, reduce vehicle mileage and reduce pollution. “Covid has shown the importance of collaboration,” said Mannix. “A desire to support has got to be the way ahead.”

Wincanton’s involvement in large infrastructure projects including in the defence sector has given the company particular insight into collaborative working practices, said Steven Cleary. In recent projects, the company has embedded its own teams in the projects and used logistics management systems to ensure smooth running.

Cleary said that working closely with the key stakeholders enabled the company to plan for the future and deliver tactical solutions. “You can’t do everything, for instance all the specialist solutions in a large construction programme” he noted.

“Collaboration with other parties allows us to carry out our business while they carry out theirs. Focus on customer needs and how you deliver that. The reality is that things change really quickly and you need to be able to react.”

Motor finance is generally seen as low risk, suggested Toby Poston of the BVRLA. The organisation sees no big liquidity issues from the Covid-19 crisis, but insolvency remains an issue.

“Members feel that we are living in something of a false scenario with a reckoning to come as bad debts grow,” warned Poston.

While banks and finance houses are now focused on the recovery stage and new business, he warned that decisions may take longer at the moment because the banks have more limited capacity and are looking at requests on a case-by-case basis. Low finance costs mean that it continues to be a good time to borrow for new vehicles, he noted.

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Repair and maintenance

Fit for work?

Keeping people in good health hasn’t been the only problem in the pandemic: keeping vehicles ready for work has also been a challenge, writes Malory Davies

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lat batteries and flat tyres are the sort of problems you would expect for trucks laid up during the Covid-19 lockdown. But, says Phil Lloyd, head of engineering policy at Logistics UK, the big surprise has been the number of birds nesting in vehicles as well as rats chewing through their wires.

This highlights the challenges faced by operators over the past few months as vehicles have been taken off the road. It has been estimated that anything between 25% and 50% of trucks were laid up at the height of the lockdown.

Operators, dealers and third-party repair and maintenance providers have all had to move quickly to respond to the lockdown with new working practices to ensure social distancing and sanitising of equipment.

Lloyd points out that operators only got three hours’ notice of the decision to suspend MoT testing back in March.

And vehicle testing has been one of the big concerns for operators. In the initial phase of lockdown, the government gave three-month extensions. Logistics UK has expressed concerns about the government’s initial implementation of the testing extensions, however. “We did not agree with the government’s decision to apply the three-month exemption to the whole of the national fleet,” says Lloyd, pointing out that it meant operators with a red (highest risk) Operator Compliance Risk Score (OCRS) could go for 15 months without having vehicles tested. “That’s not a good thing,” he says.

The extensions were needed but they have disrupted

operators’ carefully worked out testing schedules, which could result in vehicles needing to be tested in the critical pre-Christmas period. Some of that pressure has been taken off by the decision to offer extensions up to 12 months.

Regulations that came into force in August have been designed to offer longer exemptions to the least risky vehicles.

Vehicles and trailers between one and two years old get a 12-month extension. Vehicles over two years old get a three-month extension. However, an operator can also qualify for a 12-month extension if it is a DVSA Earned Recognition operator, or if it has a green OCRS for roadworthiness.

Scania’s aftersales director Mark Grant points out that the great unknown is the OCRS. A large fleet might have some O-licences with a green OCRS and others without.

This would mean some vehicles on some licences need to be tested earlier than others, increasing the complexity of the situation faced by the operator.

Growing build-up

Manufacturers and R&M providers have been working to minimise the impact. Sandro Fantini, Iveco’s aftermarket solutions, product and customer support manager UK and ROI, says: “We are working closely with our customers to support them. Looking forward, a backlog of vehicles requiring testing will see increased demand on testers to fulfil the tests and reduce what will be a growing build-up.”

DAF’s fleet aftersales director Ian Grant says: “Quite a few operators schedule their test to coincide with the quiet periods, so a full 12-month slip would allow this to stay on schedule but many are still wanting to have the test performed regardless of exemption.”

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At the moment, there is sufficient testing capacity to meet this demand, says Grant, but he points out that the government could help by allowing delegated testing in authorised testing facilities (ATFs). “This would allow our dealers to work extended hours and give our customers a better offering regarding service levels,” he argues.

One of the issues that could theoretically arise as a result of delays to testing is that an R&M contract could run out before the ‘extended’ MoT test is due. If this were to arise, the operator would be responsible for any repairs after contract expiry but DAF would cover the cost to present the vehicle for the later test, says Grant.

R&M operations have faced a number of challenges during the Covid-19 lockdown, such as maintaining the availability of parts. However, manufacturers moved quickly to ensure there was no disruption. Scania’s Grant says: “Our European parts centre is in Belgium and if it had to close it would be a big concern.” However, he adds: “They have been fantastic on delivery.”

DAF has not suffered any availability issues, says Ian Grant. This was due to “careful planning and management of faster moving stock lines and the acquisition of additional stock in our main distribution centres”.

Ian Gray, Iveco’s aftermarket solutions parts and services country manager UK and ROI, says: “Our warehouse and transport teams operated fully during lockdown with no team members being put on furlough. For dealer parts supply we saw phased furlough with a reduction in team members during April and May due to reduced demand from our dealer network. This did not, however, result in a reduced service level to either dealers or customers as this service was prioritised, with only back office tasks being put on hold temporarily. Since 1 July dealer parts supply has been back working as a full team with no furlough in place.” ➜ 20 5.10.20

THE END FOR IN-HOUSE R&M? Motor Transport’s Repair and Maintenance report last year found that over one third of operators (36%) still use an in-house repair and maintenance facility, very often saying that they had always done it that way. But will the challenge presented by Covid-19 cause a rethink?

Ian Grant of DAF (right) thinks it might: “We have not seen an impact yet apart from volume, but yes we would expect some different strategies as vehicle maintenance is not their core business.”

Pullman’s Kevin Wildman argues that most businesses across a wide span of industry sectors will need to consider outsourcing strategies more than ever, while focusing on their core operations. “I believe in-house operations are often less efficient, effective and productive than specialist companies and financial pressures will push a greater volume of work into third-party suppliers. This may become more prevalent with Brexit, but as yet we are not seeing many specific Brexit plans from companies while they tackle the pandemic and recovery.”

Sandro Fantini points out that operators trust the professional support that manufacturers and their service networks provide to protect their valuable investments. “This is true now more than ever as this will ultimately translate into fixed costs and peace of mind, allowing them to run their businesses while avoiding unpredicted costs in their operations.”

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Repair and maintenance

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Assessing the risk

Risk management specialist Inspire International was invited by some leading truck brands to put together a risk assessment for Covid-19 and the application of government guidelines to commercial vehicle dealerships.

Technical director Harvinder Virdee highlights the problem of driver waiting rooms. Vehicles can be in the workshop for hours and so dealers need facilities for drivers. With the arrival of Covid-19 the easy solution for dealerships was simply to close driver rooms.

The latest stepping up of safety measures is going to put more pressure on the provision of facilities for drivers. What happens in the winter months, asks Virdee, if a driver can’t use the driver room? Will he be sent back to the depot, or made to stand outside in the rain?

Scania was quick to hold briefings with staff to ensure safe practices such as hand-washing, says Mark Grant.

“We have never had to shut a workshop, but we have introduced ‘air-lock breaks’ between shifts so people are not mixing.”

Keeping customers safe with social distancing has been another issue, involving signage, screens and barriers, he says. “We shut driver waiting rooms in the early days. Now we have processes in place for proper cleaning.”

“We have learned as we have gone along. We have people working from home, with the minimum of people in the workshop to keep it working.”

Pullman Fleet Services is the largest independent R&M provider in the UK. Director Kevin Wildman says: “We have been working collaboratively with our customer base and adopted and implemented all government guidelines, as well as wider company protocols both internally and for external customer needs.”

After the initial shock, business has been increasing.

Mark Grant says that for Scania the situation started to improve in May and mileages are now back up to preCovid-19 levels.

Pullman has also reported a steady return of volumes on the workshop side. “However we aren’t anticipating levels will return to ‘normality’ this year. Vehicle annual test demand has been significant at our testing sites and we have managed this demand effectively and haven’t experienced any issues with securing and holding the necessary parts for servicing,” says Wildman.

Ian Grant says that on DAFaid, activity is back in line with last year. Nevertheless, DAF expects it to take a couple of years for the market to fully get back to normal.

He points out that some of this is down to the fact that businesses have been changing the way they work and some of these new ways of working could become permanent.

Fantini agrees, but he argues that the government could provide more support for the industry. “Operators

NEW MOT EXPIRY DATES (SOURCE: DFT) Month MoT was originally due to expire March 2020 April 2020 May 2020 June 2020 July 2020 August 2020 September 2020 October 2020 November 2020 December 2020 January 2021 February 2021 March 2021

New MoT due date (three- or six-month extension) September 2020 October 2020 August 2020 September 2020 October 2020 November 2020 December 2020 January 2021 February 2021 March 2021 April 2021 May 2021 June 2021

New MoT due date (12-month extension) March 2021 April 2021 May 2021 June 2021 July 2021 August 2021 September 2021 October 2021 November 2021 December 2021 January 2022 February 2022 March 2022

who have suffered during the lockdown period and who are consequently experiencing a significant drop in their operations do urgently need financial support to keep their businesses running safely and sustainably. Cash shortages will translate into the necessity to reduce cash expenditure in the short term. An incentive plan from government to ensure operators who are experiencing difficult times are looked after, and can still rely on service agreements with their trusted service network to keep their vehicles roadworthy, would be invaluable.

“Another measure government could possibly consider would be to offer an incentive scheme to encourage operators to replace their older vehicles with newer, more sustainable products. Covid-19 has definitely put sustainability and social responsibility even more firmly on the table,” says Fantini. ■

A PERFECT STORM? While Covid-19 has been the focus of attention over the past few months, there is still the challenge of Brexit to deal with, when the transitional arrangements come to an end on 31 December.

A hard Brexit combined with a predicted rise in the number of Covid-19 cases over the winter could prove to be a perfect storm for the transport industry affecting, for example, spares availability.

Ian Grant is very clear that DAF is ready: “We use a very complex system called MDI to manage our stock requirements and we are able to gradually increase stockholdings within both the distribution centres and the wider dealer network based on previous usage patterns to allow us to mitigate any potential supply delays caused by Brexit.”

Iveco has a two pronged approach, says Gray: “We will firstly increase the stockholding at our Daventry facility by between three and six months’ additional demand in an effort to minimise any risk of delays in bringing goods into the country post-Brexit. Secondly, we will discuss options with all of our dealer partners to find capacity within the dealer network to further increase our stock levels and ensure the final customer does not see any reduction in availability.”

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Bridge strikes

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ridge strikes have increasingly become a thorn in the side of the infrastructure manager, as the number of incidents have risen and the costs of repair and delays have spiralled. Almost 100 operators have been reported to the traffic commissioners (TCs) in the last 12 months after their vehicles were involved in bridge strikes, as Network Rail ramps up its campaign for firms to “Wise Up, Size Up”.

Sir Peter Hendy CBE, chair of Network Rail, has put bridge strikes high on his agenda, along with hauliers now being held legally accountable for associated damage to bridges and compensation costs to train passengers.

“The prevalence of bridge strikes and the resulting danger they pose, combined with the disruption they cause, should be a major concern for us all,” he says.

“The transport sector must therefore make every effort to work together to actively reduce incidence levels.”

Network Rail says that on average, there are five “entirely avoidable” bridge strikes across Britain every day, costing around £13,000 per strike and leading to an annual bill of £23m.

Last year alone there were 1,787 bridge strikes reported.

They included multiple strikes at 328 locations and the most costly single strike amounted to £1.8m in train delay costs.

Earlier this year, a skip lorry seriously damaged a railway bridge on a key freight route in Warwickshire, resulting in repair work costing £200,000.

Network Rail’s route asset manager Marc Vipham can barely contain his frustration at the disruption the collision caused. “All of this hard work should have been unnecessary,” he declares. “Bridge strikes like this are entirely avoidable, cost taxpayers millions of pounds, and cause delays to tens of thousands of rail passengers and freight every year. Lorries can’t limbo. I can’t stress enough how important it is for drivers to know the height of their vehicle.”

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Driver apathy

Strike it unlucky Bridge strikes have become a serious problem. Now the traffic commissioners are taking action against operators’ licences, reports Chris Tindall 22 MotorTransport

Network Rail’s research into these incidents shows that 43% of HGV drivers admit to not measuring their vehicles before setting out and 52% say they do not take low bridges into account.

Clearly irked by these findings, the rail company has launched a campaign to highlight the problem and encourage companies and their drivers to be more aware of the height of their vehicles (see box).

In tandem with this, Network Rail has also begun referring incidents to the TCs, with action against a haulier’s licence a possibility.

A spokesperson for the Office of the Traffic Commissioner (OTC) says: “The traffic commissioners for Great Britain take bridge strikes seriously. Not only do they pose a threat to public safety, they also cause disruption and delay on Britain’s rail and road networks.

“The responsibility for avoiding bridge strikes falls on all operators and transport managers. They must make sure routes are planned in advance to reduce the risk of bridge strikes, while giving their drivers all the training and information they need. Failure to put measures in place to avoid bridge strikes can have serious consequences for drivers, passengers, other road users, train operators, and the economy.”

The OTC spokesperson adds that TCs address bridge strike incidents in the same way as any other serious incident – on a case-by-case basis – and stresses that the full force of their powers hangs over an operator who has failed to take appropriate action.

“The full range of regulatory action remains open to traffic commissioners when considering cases involving a bridge strike,” the spokesperson confirms.

In the last year, 12 operators whose vehicles have crashed into bridges have ended up in front of a TC at a public inquiry (PI), although the OTC spokesperson points out 5.10.20

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SMILE – YOU’RE ON CCTV

DEALING WITH THE RISKS The OTC advises operators to ensure that: ■ drivers check the height of their vehicle and trailer before setting off ■ the in-cab height indicator is an accurate indicator of the ride height ■ the driver is properly trained to plan the route ■ the driver has the equipment to plan the route.

Further guidance on avoiding bridge strikes is available at gov.uk/government/publications/ prevention-of-bridge-strikes-good-practice-guide and at networkrail.co.uk/communities/safety-inthe-community/railway-safety-campaigns/ wise-up-size-up/ 5.10.20

MAJOR CONCERN: Network Rail chair Sir Peter Hendy CBE says every effort must be made by the transport sector to reduce incidence levels

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that there may have been other factors that contributed to their appearance.

“The OTC does not record what factors led to a PI as there are usually a myriad of issues at play. It may even be the case that the bridge strike is not the reason they are called to public inquiry. Looking through our records, however, has revealed that of the 99 operators involved in a bridge strike incident reported to the TCs, 12 were subsequently called to a PI. A further 22 were dealt with by way of a preliminary hearing, with others receiving warning letters.

“It should be noted that some of these matters are ongoing and may yet proceed to a PI or preliminary hearing,” adds the OTC spokesperson. “This time period also encompasses the suspension of PIs due to the Covid19 pandemic, meaning some hearings may have been postponed or dealt with by way of a warning letter.”

At the beginning of the year Kevin Rooney, TC for the south-west, told the Pro Tect Solutions 2020 conference that the TCs’ starting point for drivers hitting a bridge was to suspend their entitlement for six months. “There is no excuse for hitting a bridge,” he commented.

Rooney also highlighted a PI in which it became clear that an operator had done a lot more than most to solve the problem.

“They had given the driver a primary route to take, and if there was a problem with the route, a secondary route. However, this driver decided to go and see his girlfriend, which was off both routes, and ended up taking a different route. You could not really criticise the company for that,” he said.

“When they showed up at the PI, they explained that they had geofenced their routes and now track all the vehicles so when a vehicle goes off the route, it sends an alert to the traffic office.

“They had good systems in place but were let down by an agency driver that day. They reacted and it’s the best system I’ve seen of any operator to make sure it doesn’t happen again; they asked what went wrong, and what they could do to change it and make sure it didn’t happen again. A question I ask operators is: how do you route your vehicles? Often the driver has a sat-nav and they let the driver get on with it but that is not good enough, it is your responsibility the driver doesn’t hit a bridge.” ■

The latest tactic being used by Network Rail to reduce the impact of bridge strikes is fitting structures with CCTV systems as part of a £190,000 investment programme.

The top 10 most bashed railway bridges in Anglia and East London are being fitted with the cameras “to reduce delays and cancellations”.

Network Rail says it will capture images of the bridge deck, allowing for faster examination by experts in the event of a collision.

“Structural engineers can examine the footage and damage as it was caused, which is particularly useful if the culprit has driven away. The footage allows for quicker assessment that helps engineers get train services running again, meaning fewer delays and cancellations.”

Ellie Burrows, Network Rail’s route director for Anglia, says: “Bridge strikes are a significant safety risk and cause widespread disruption and delays for passengers.

“While this new system will reduce delays, I can’t stress enough how important it is for drivers to know the height of their vehicle and plan ahead to prevent these serious incidents happening in the first place. Drivers who chance it at bridges are at risk of losing their licenses and leaving their employers with a hefty bill for repairs and train delay costs, along with a strong threat to their own operator’s licence.”

WISE UP, SIZE UP Network Rail’s campaign to combat bridge strikes has been running since 2018, predominantly targeting the peak times for collisions in March and October.

‘Wise Up, Size Up’ seeks to remind drivers and operators that their vehicles need to be checked and their routes planned to avoid low bridges before setting off. It also offers tools, training and guidance in several languages to help avoid bridge strikes.

Network Rail says its efforts have started to bear fruit.

“We’ve had a fantastic response from our partners from across the haulage industry to our Wise Up, Size Up campaign and have seen some encouraging figures from our most recent set of results,” a spokesperson says.

“Bridge strikes have reduced by 11.3% over the past year, resulting in a reduction of more than 50,000 delay minutes from 204,013 last year to 150,300 this year, which is promising, but there is still a lot more work to be done and we are fully committed to bringing these numbers down further.

“We’re working very closely with a number of partners in the industry on another phase of activity as part of the campaign for October this year, where we traditionally see a spike in the number of bridge strikes.”

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