Motor Transport 8 June 2020 by Motor Transport

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NEWS INSIDE

Eddie Stobart mulls job cuts amid audit probe

0940_MTA advert_celebrate_43mm wide01/04/2020 x 64mm high.indd 16:56 By1Carol Millett

Snapped up!

Fowler Welch sold to Culina p3

Paying for the pandemic 100 jobs to go at Gregory

OPERATORS INSIDE Abbey Logistics ��p20 Armstrong Logistics ��p20 Beacon �� p4 Bibby Distribution ��p22 Bleckmann �� p4 C Butt ��p20 Culina �� p3 Davies Turner �� p5 DHL Supply Chain �� p3 DPD �� p6 Fowler Welch �� p3 Gregory Disribution �� p4 Karl King Transport �� p3 Knights of Old ��p20 Sam Anderson (Newhouse) �� p4 Tesco ��p22 T McMillan Transport �� p4

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Eddie Stobart Logistics (ESL) is preparing to make redundancies across the group, MT has learnt, with sources claiming around 100 jobs are at risk. The company confirmed this week that redundancies are on the cards but declined to say how many jobs are under review. In a statement it said: “Like many other businesses, we are dealing with unprecedented circumstances due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Across some areas of our business, we have engaged with our colleagues who are at potential risk of redundancy. “We continue to review the structures of our business, while remaining focused on meeting the business needs and services of our customers. We are unable to comment further at this time.” ESL did not say how many jobs will be lost, but industry sources

claim it is looking at around 100 across a number of divisions. Unite pledged to oppose any “opportunistic” job cuts, however. Adrian Jones, Unite national officer for road transport and logistics said: “There is a total lack of any genuine consultative structure within ESL, so the company saying it is engaging with employees does not hold much water. “Unite will represent all members whose employers are threatening redundancies while the government’s job retention scheme is still in operation.” Last December, as the company came close to collapse, shareholders voted to accept a £75m takeover bid by private equity firm DBAY Advisors. In February, ESL released interim results showing a loss before tax of £199.8m in the six months ending 31 May 2019. ■ The Financial Reporting Council

FITTING TRIBUTE: Boughey Distribution’s NHS support trailer has visited Broadgreen Hospital in Liverpool to acknowledge the contribution made by the city’s key workers during the Covid-19 crisis. The company’s specially designed curtain-sided trailer has been travelling throughout the country in recent weeks. Boughey driver Ian Ledward and operations manager Steve Newton developed the idea and then engaged a local curtain manufacturer who provided artwork and printing free of charge. Boughey transport operations director Neil Trotter commented: “We wanted to express our own gratitude for the amazing care that NHS staff continue to provide throughout the crisis and we thought that creating a dedicated trailer with a positive message would be a fitting tribute."

(FRC) is investigating KPMG’s audit of ESL’s accounts for the year ended 30 November 2017 and an audit carried out by PwC for the year to 30 November 2018. The investigation will be conducted by the FRC’s enforcement division and comes just nine months after ESL shares were suspended following the discovery that its 2018 profits had been overstated by £2m. PwC was appointed by Eddie Stobart in 2018 following KPMG’s resignation. KPMG’s letter of resignation accused ESL management of making it difficult for it to obtain “sufficient audit evidence” as it tried to compile the company’s 2017 accounts. PwC signed off the full-year 2018 accounts but met criticism from shareholders and unions for the continuing delay in publishing the firm’s 2019 interim results.

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Food logistics firm divestment to help Dart Group focus on other sectors

Fowler Welch sold to Culina for £98m By Carol Millett

Dart Group has sold Fowler Welch to Culina Group for £98m. T he acquisition of the Lincolnshire-based chilled and ambient food logistics company marks further consolidation in the transport and logistics sector. It comes as Dart Group, which owns Jet2.com and Jet2 Holidays, continues to struggle with the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the travel industry. Announcing the sale, Dart Group said the deal will allow the group to focus on its long-term strategy of growing its leisure and travel business. It added that the sale “importantly enables Fowler Welch to continue to flourish and grow profitably under new ownership”. ■ Fowler Welch is preparing for a 20% absence rate this winter in the expectation that the cold

weather will push up Covid-19 infection rates once again. Chief executive Nick Hay said: “Clearly this winter could be a very, very challenging time,” adding that the last few months have been “quite a journey.” He continued: “We had two weeks of unprecedented volumes – indeed in one week in March

the largest variance we had [in volumes] was 44% higher than the peak day before Christmas. “Then we had two weeks where they were 10% to 15% below where we would have expected to be. And now they have recovered to pretty steady volumes, broadly in line with what we would expect but much smoother.”

RHA welcomes £10bn government support pledge The RHA has hailed a new government pledge of £10bn to support thousands of businesses by protecting against customer defaults and payment delays. The Trade Credit Reinsurance scheme, agreed following extensive discussions with the insurance sector, will see the vast majority of trade credit insurance coverage maintained across the UK.

Commenting, RHA chief executive Richard Burnett said: “The announcement follows months of intensive lobbying by the association on behalf of the industry.” A new RHA survey of 600 road haulage operators has revealed that 16% of them could be insolvent within four weeks, with government furlough payments and bounce-back loans only offering a temporary reprieve.

“The RHA has been lobbying government tirelessly on this issue and this news will come as a shot in the arm for thousands of road transport operators," Burnett continued. “If the economy is to get back to its pre-pandemic levels, supply chain confidence is vital and we are pleased that our efforts to achieve this have, quite literally, paid off.”

DHL faces union unrest over Tradeteam depot closures DHL Supply Chain is facing widespread industrial action following a decision to close its Tradeteam drinks distribution depots at Sheffield and Ebbw Vale and cut hundreds of logistics jobs. Union Unite said the decision to close the Sheffield depot is “about as brutal as it gets.” It said that it will ballot for industrial 8.6.20

action at Tradeteam depots across the country, which have been delivering to over 30,000 pubs, bars and other trade outlets each week, if a resolution is not reached. The union is also seeking assurances on jobs at the Ebbw Vale site. The closure of the Sheffield depot at the Tinsley Industrial Estate will see 200 warehousing

and driving jobs lost. The workforce is currently on furlough. A DHL Supply Chain spokeswoman said challenging trading conditions and the impact of the coronavirus had forced a review of the drinks logistics operation, leading it to decide “that we can support our north-east customer base with two rather than three depots”.

Karl King Transport goes under after port deal is terminated A Felixstowe-based transport and warehousing company has collapsed following a decision by the nearby port to terminate its storage agreement, according to administrators. Karl King Transport operated 60 HGVs split between three depots, including premises within Felixstowe Port, which were used to service its major customer Aldi. Expansion of this contract in 2018 meant it had to source premises with additional capacity and, as well as a warehouse at the port, administrators at Parker Andrews said the haulier also struck a deal to have extended free use on Felixstowe quay. But in March 2019, it said the port “purported to terminate the separate agreement, which had a devastating effect on the company’s business, including a significant reduction in the import storage of containers for Aldi". This prompted a full operational review, which led to cost savings of £2.3m, the closure of two warehouses and a reduction in staff numbers from 92 to 59. However, in a report to creditors, Parker Andrews said: “This was not sufficient to turn the company’s business around and led to a devastating effect on the financial position of the company.” It was then presented with a winding up petition by one of its creditors and entered administration on 19 December last year, 28 years after it was established. ■ Debts of almost £40,000 relating to road traffic accidents racked up by former drivers of Birmingham haulier Contact Transport have been written off after it was concluded it would not be cost-effective to track them down. The company entered administration in April 2017. MotorTransport 3

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Covid-19-related difficulties at customers force a review of staffing levels

Amazon founder invests in UK freight forwarder

Gregory Distribution has announced 100 job losses across its operation due to “difficulties” faced by its customers brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic. The company, which is one of the largest privately owned hauliers in the UK, is a member of both Palletline and Palletways and employs 2,700 staff. It operates from six depots in Exeter, Plymouth, Shepton Mallet, Cullompton, Bristol and Birmingham, and is part of a group that includes Hayton Coulthard Transport and ARR Craib Transport. The wider group has a total of 36 sites across the UK with a combined fleet of over 1,000 trucks and 2,700 staff. It has an annual group turnover of in excess of £251m. Announcing the job cuts, MD Angela Butler said: “Thankfully the majority of the areas which

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but we have worked hard to limit the impact on our people and we are now looking at the possibility of up to 100 redundancies spread across a number of locations,” she continued. “This has been a very difficult decision and we will endeavour to keep job losses to a minimum, reassigning people where possible and giving them every assistance to find a new job.”

Call to join the debate on decarbonising road freight The Centre for Sustainable Road Freight is inviting academics and practitioners to take part in an online debate on the implementation of policy measures to

Anderson mulls closure options The Anderson Group is mulling the closure of two of its haulage operations – Sam Anderson (Newhouse) and T McMillan Transport – as it begins to make redundancies at both firms. The group, based at Motherwell in Lanarkshire, said low profitability at both haulage firms combined with the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the economy had triggered its decision to cut jobs. Sam Anderson (Newhouse) specialises in container transport

have been adversely affected are expected to recover fully. However, some areas will remain significantly impacted throughout the lockdown and beyond, due to the impact of Covid-19 on the wider economy. “Unfortunately, it has been necessary to review staff levels within the areas of the business that have declined as a result of difficulties faced by our customers,

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London-based freight forwarding and supply chain finance company Beacon has attracted funding from Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. The start-up, launched in 2018 by two former Uber executives, has raised over $15m (£12m) in its first funding round, attracting heavyweight investors including Bezos, former Google chief executive Eric Schmidt, and US venture capital firm 8VC. Beacon aims to disrupt the freight forwarding industry which it says is a “highly fragmented” market in which the top 10 firms globally control just 43%. The company also sees an opportunity to capture more of the market from traditional forwarders as the Covid-19 pandemic drives increased demand for more digitalised services. In a statement on the progress of its funding round, it stated: “Many of the logistics incumbents have been slow to digitise, and with fewer than 30% of shippers being satisfied with the customer service they receive, the industry is ripe for disruption.”

By Carol Millett

– a sector which has been hit by both Brexit and more recently the Covid-19 pandemic. In its latest annual results, to 31 December 2018, the company, which has an operating licence for 70 trucks and 170 trailers, made a pre-tax loss of £491,582. T McMillan (Transport) is a general haulage company and operates 15 trucks and 40 trailers. In its latest annual results to 31 December 2018 it suffered a pre-tax loss of £171,339.

decarbonise freight transport in developing countries. The conference will take place on 28 to 30 October 2020. It aims to create an international network of interested parties working on all aspects of sustainable road freight transport, and to facilitate collaborative research among specialists. The online workshop will be presented from 0800 to 1300 GMT each day. Keynote speakers include: Bernard Aritua, The World Bank; David Cebon, Cambridge

University; Alan McKinnon, Kühne Logistics University – Germany; G Raghuram, Indian Institute of Management Bangalore; Boyong Wang, Smart Freight Centre China; and Louise Naude, WWF South Africa. Participants are invited to submit research investigating the sustainability of the freight transport sector. These should focus on recently completed research, be a maximum of 1,000 words and be submitted by 19 June. ■ For further information email SRF@hw.ac.uk.

EXPANDING OPERATIONS: Fashion and lifestyle supply chain specialist Bleckmann is expanding its UK operations with the opening of a new DC in Lutterworth. The warehouse covers more than 430,500sq ft and is part of a drive by the firm to expand into the UK and international B2C and B2B channels. Bleckmann, owned by Turkish logistics giant Netlog, plans to create at least 200 jobs at the DC at Magna Park. Mark van Onna, general manager of real estate at the company, said: “We are proud to be opening this new site, which is a big milestone to accommodate further growth of our business in the UK. With further planned investments in high-end automation on-site, we will provide our customers with even greater flexibility and higher service levels, while growing their business.” Shutterstock

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Gregory to axe 100 jobs

8.6.20

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One World Express survey suggests firms want to broaden global reach

UK companies hunt for fresh markets A survey of UK companies has found more than half are now considering expanding into new global markets as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. In the survey, commissioned by logistics and e-commerce provider One World Express, 45% of firms also said the pandemic had made them realise they were overly reliant on one market. Of the 924 managers, founders and owners surveyed, 57% said they were thinking about seeking out new markets abroad and 44% said they were considering looking outside the single market due to Brexit. A further 43% had shifted their service or product offering since lockdown began, a figure that rose to 57% among firms with

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By Tim Wallace

more than 250 employees, and 24% were now selling to new demographics of customers. Last month, the Hazchem Network’s MD Robert Symes said new members were looking to diversify in the current climate and that they had been attracted to the network’s ability to offer customers a full service.

Symes said: “For some this means being able to offer ADR, for others it means being able to offer a parcel service, and for some it is both of these.” Atul Bhakta, chief executive at One World Express, said: “Exporting globally could be the difference between life and death for businesses in 2020.”

Davies Turner bolsters daily service to the Netherlands

DC win for DPD DPD has secured planning permission for a new DC at Symmetry Park, Bicester. The delivery company plans to move operations from its existing Bicester hub to the zero carbon, 60,000sq ft distribution centre, creating 250 new jobs. The centre will be DPD’s 36th new-format hub built since 2011.

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The development builds upon the working relationship the independent freight forwarding and logistics company already has with Mainfreight in Belgium and France and will yield further synergies in its cross-channel trailer

operations for the Benelux region. Daily overland trailer services will operate between Mainfreight’s hub in ’s-Heerenberg, on the Dutch-German border, and Davies Turner’s regional distribution hubs at Dartford and Coleshill.

Motor Transport was launched in 1905 as Motor Traction. We look at a story published 100 years ago: motor traction as national insurance To say more than once during the late terrible struggle the cause of the Allies and civilisation was saved by motor transport is merely to repeat the obvious, but the more obvious a fact, the shorter the public memory for it. And at present it is very necessary to remember how the automobile trade saved not the country only, but all the Allied nations, because in the natural order of things the provision for future motor transport in national emergency must immediately come up for consideration. On the one hand, the nation is faced with the need for cutting down expenditure; on the other, it has already learnt – or at least it should have done so – the meaning of inadequate provision, and knows the price paid for false economy. We have seen the value of motor traction as a form of national insurance. Can we afford to neglect it? What should we think of a man with interests so huge that they could only be covered by insurance, who yet elected to take his chances merely to save the premium? Any answer is superfluous.

DVSA adds three months to annual testing suspension The DVSA has confirmed that the suspension of annual HGV testing has been extended to include vehicles due for test shortly. Vehicles due for their regular annual test in June, together with those which were due for test in March and were subsequently extended to June, will receive a further three-month extension, it has announced. The extensions will be applied

automatically, and operators are reminded that they can use the

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Davies Turner has strengthened its scheduled daily overland trailer services between the UK and the Netherlands with the signing of an exclusive co-operation agreement with the Dutch subsidiary of the Mainfreight Group. Davies Turner said the new alliance, which began on 1 June, is another sign of its commitment to the so-called ‘short haul’ markets of the Netherlands, Belgium and France, where competition is fierce and many freight forwarders no longer provide a full network.

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online MOT history service to check the test status of their vehicles. The agency also said it is currently talking to stakeholders including staff, vehicle operators, ATF providers and repair workshops with a view to devising a safe testing service that will enable the restarting of normal regular testing during June, and has promised to provide more information in due course. 8.6.20

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The coronavirus may be receding but business and the economy face new challenges

Out of the frying pan…

Haulage rates

Haulage rates stalled in Q4 last year, down by 0.1% on Q3, after 12 successive quarters of increases. But the upward trend returned in Q1 this year, with the Office for National Statistics’ Services Producer Price Indices (SPPI) reporting that rates rose by an average of 0.3% versus the previous quarter. This slim uplift reflects the fact that it was set against a backdrop of falling fuel prices. Q1’s average bulk diesel price was 4.5% lower than Q4’s. That explains why the haulage rate rise in Q1 was only 0.3%, whereas the overall rise in all the services covered by the SPPI was 0.7%. The SPPI’s measure of price inflation in the services supplied 8.6.20

to UK companies feeds through to general inflation and the whole UK economy. The ONS points out that the services sector accounts for approximately 80% of UK gross domestic product (GDP). The information gathered for this quarterly SPPI survey was largely unaffected by the virus lockdown, which took effect on 23 March, just a week before the end of the quarter.

unprecedented collapse. Tourismdependent countries such as Spain, Italy and Greece are expected to be badly hit, with contractions of over 9%. The EC believes that the UK economy will shrink by 8.3% this year, France’s

Road traffic

International comparisons

UK GDP contracted by 2% (versus the previous quarter) in Q1 this year, a desperately poor result, but not the worst in Europe. The downturn across the EU as a whole was 3.3%: it was 4.7% in Italy and 5.8% in France. But Q1 results reflect differences in timing of coronavirus’s arrival: its overall effect on countries’ economies may be completely different. The most recent forecast was published last month by the EC and suggests that EU-wide GDP in 2020 will be 7.4% down on 2019’s. That is an

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Provisional data published last month by the DfT suggest the UK may have hit ‘peak traffic’ in 2019. Traffic volume in the first quarter of 2020 was already 9% down on the same quarter a year earlier, despite coronavirus skewing only the tail-end of the period. With the economy, employment and personal finances likely to be affected for years to come, and suggestions that home-based working practised in the lockdown will become more commonplace in the future, it could be many years – if ever – before traffic returns to last year’s record level. Traffic actually peaked at an alltime high in Q3 last year, before dipping in Q4. That downturn even included van traffic, which has increased by 24% in the decade to December 2019. That is almost three times the growth rate of total traffic (8.7%). Growth in truck traffic during the decade was modest: just 3.7%. But that is during a period that has seen many more double-deck trailers and the advent of 2,200 longer semi-trailers, boosting productivity while minimising the negative effects of traffic and emissions.

by 8.2% and Germany’s by 6.5%. Beyond Europe, the EC expects the US economy to contract by 6.5% and Japan’s by 5.0%. Only China and India are expected to boost their economies this year, by 1% and 1.1% respectively.

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The average price of Brent crude oil in April was $18.38 (£15), its lowest monthly average for 21 years. It picked up to average $30 in May, so will we see a sharp upturn as coronavirus restrictions are eased around the world? In its latest ‘Short-Term Energy Outlook’ last month, the US government’s Energy Information Administration (EIA) forecast a slow and gradual pick-up in Brent’s price, suggesting it will be another 18 months before it is back in familiar territory. This steady recovery is driven by a combination of rising demand and falling inventories as the record glut of oil sitting in storage tanks slowly diminishes. The EIA warned that much depends on agreed production caps being observed by the world’s oil producing nations – always a risky assumption. A rising oil price will encourage duplicitous production hikes in oil-producing countries whose economies are hurting. The EIA’s forecast suggests that UK bulk diesel will remain below £100ppl until the end of next year, all things being equal. But all things are not equal. Brexit negotiations and November’s US election could both affect the crucial dollar/pound exchange rate. And UK fuel duty has been frozen for nine years: it looks a soft target for a chancellor needing to balance the books after massive coronavirus expenditure.

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News extra MT talks to 11 truck operators to gauge the effects of the lockdown on their business

Impact testing during Covid-19 To measure the impact of the Covid-19 lockdown on the transport and distribution industry, MT has put together a panel of operators across the UK to give regular feedback on their volume of work and vehicles laid up. We will check in regularly with the panel as the lockdown eases to assess how the industry is fighting back as the UK economy recovers from the expected recession. The 11 operators surveyed on 19 May (excluding DPD which did not supply vehicle numbers) together operated 3,338 trucks on 23 March, 2,623 on 4 May (a fall of 21%) and 2,669 on 18 May (a rise of 2% on May 4). Together they employed 4,832 drivers on 23 March, of which 4% were furloughed, 4,234 drivers on 4 May, of which 8% were furloughed and 4,289 on 23 May, of which 10% were on furlough.

Cullimore Group, Moreton Cullimore, MD

Coverage: UK, but predominantly the Midlands and south-west. Main business sectors: transport and general haulage, aggregate supply and ready mixed concrete. Between 4 May and 18 May volumes for us decreased again as demand settled or stagnated. How many trucks were you operating on these dates? 23 March: 60; 4 May: 6; 18 May: 8. How many HGV drivers did you employ, what percentage of shifts were filled by agency drivers and what percentage of your employed drivers were on furlough on these dates? 23 March 4 May 18 May Full-time drivers 50 50 50 Agency shifts 0% 0% 0% Drivers on furlough 0% 95% 90%

Before Covid-19, the RHA and FTA estimated that the UK had a shortage of approximately 50,000 HGV drivers. Looking ahead to this time next year when the UK has left the EU and the pandemic should have eased significantly, do you expect the shortage will have got bigger or smaller? Smaller. I think there will be fewer companies doing more of the work which will manage the shortage differently.

Owens Group, Doug Jeffery, group general manager

Coverage: UK mainland. Main business sectors: FMCG, steel, retail, express and home delivery, construction and automotive. From an initial reduction of around 20% in April compared with March volumes, in May they have increased by around 5% as a result of some customers commencing production and distribution. How many trucks were you operating on these dates? 23 March: 350; 4 May: 280; 18 May: 300. How many HGV drivers did you employ, what percentage of shifts were filled by agency drivers and what percentage of your employed drivers were on furlough on these dates? 23 March 4 May 18 May Full-time drivers 656 651 656 Agency shifts 7.6% 5% 2.6% Drivers on furlough 12% 11% 10% Do you expect the driver shortage will have got bigger or smaller by this time next year? Bigger.

Clipper Logistics, Mick Doe, transport operations director

Coverage: UK from 13 transport operations with a higher presence in the â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;golden triangleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; and south-east. Main business sectors: Retail fashion and high value goods including pre-retail, e-commerce, storage, store replenishment transport solutions and returns management; technical services for brown goods. In the retail fashion sector between 4 May and 18 May we saw a significant uplift in online shopping with some brands selling at levels higher than at Christmas. For some of the customers we operate transport solutions for we have started to collect product from the stores and return it to the DCs to feed an ever growing online volume. Of our 450 trucks, on 18 May we were still operating around 350, servicing existing customers and delivering PPE to NHS trusts from our Daventry warehouses. This is an operation we have been successfully running for two months now. How many HGV drivers did you employ, what percentage of shifts were filled by agency drivers and what percentage of your employed drivers were on furlough on these dates? 8 MotorTransport

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23 March 4 May 18 May Full-time drivers 450 450 450 Agency shifts 25% 25% 25% Drivers on furlough 20% 20% 20% This is due to geographical location and the social distancing guidelines restricting the ability to double-man vehicles on night-time deliveries This time next year do you expect the driver shortage will have got bigger or smaller? Smaller. As pointed out by the chancellor on 19 May, the country is facing a recession and demand in the retail fashion industry will reduce as people have less spare money to spend. This will mean there is less volume, requiring fewer drivers and nobody really knows how the public are going to react when we exit the lockdown. Will people return to the high street or will people continue to shop online? We should remember new generations are learning to shop online as they self-isolate, and I believe that high street brands will need to collaborate much more to reduce costs to be on the high street and to reduce final-mile cost of getting to the high street.

Roger Warnes Transport Ian Barclay, operations director

Coverage: UK mainland. Main business sectors: Bulk agricultural and construction sectors. Between 4 May and 18 May volumes increased by 7.3%. How many trucks were you operating on these dates? 23 March: 87; 4 May: 73; 18 May 60. How many HGV drivers did you employ, what percentage of shifts were filled by agency drivers and what percentage of your employed drivers were on furlough on these dates? 23 March 4 May 18 May Full-time drivers 114 114 114 Shifts filled by agency We do not to use agency drivers Drivers on furlough 15% 15% 17.5% This time next year do you expect the driver shortage will have got bigger or smaller? Smaller. It’s too early to make a call on the economic impact of the pandemic, suffice to say it will be negative. There’s a real danger of a resurgence as we get back to “normal” and with the onset of winter. Unemployment will grow and companies will review their modus operandi, looking for efficiencies that they haven’t previously enjoyed. Staff will be more productive, simply because they know that it’s critical to play their part and they genuinely want to do that. Over the past couple of years we’ve seen an increase in young people who are keen on a career as a driver, modern trucks and the good earnings potential are the main drivers of that. Consistent with that, over the past three years our average driver age profile has reduced from 56 to 41. 8.6.20

Green Tiger (NI) Justin Eynon, UK director of operations

Coverage: UK national, but mainly M62 corridor, as far south as Stoke, Derby and up to Kendal. Main business sector: Car transporters. By 18 May all deliveries stopped with the exception of essential vehicles, which has kept one transporter running. How many trucks were you operating on these dates? 23 March: 18; 4 May: 1; 18 May: 1. How many HGV drivers did you employ, what percentage of shifts were filled by agency drivers and what percentage of your employed drivers were on furlough on these dates? 23 March 4 May 18 May Full-time drivers 10 10 10 Agency shifts 0% 0% 0% Drivers on furlough 90% 90% 90% This time next year do you expect the driver shortage will have got bigger or smaller? The same. Our industry is very specialised and it is very hard to recruit drivers especially as they are working outside loading in all conditions and the cabs are very small compared with general haulage. We may see the labour market improve slightly as I don’t see all car transporter companies surviving the immense cash pressures caused by this pandemic.

Caledonian Logistics, Derek Mitchell, MD

Coverage: Four DCs cover half of Scotland including islands. Distance division covers mainland UK. Main business sectors: Pallet distribution, general goods, food products and storage services. Volumes in early May were down about 35% and by 18 May were down around 25%. How many trucks were you operating on these dates? 23 March: 60 HGVs; 14 3.5 tonne; 4 May: 54 HGVs; 12 3.5 tonne; 18 May: 54 HGVs; 12 3.5 tonne. How many HGV drivers did you employ, what percentage of shifts were filled by agency drivers and what percentage of your employed drivers were on furlough on these dates? 23 March 4 May 18 May Full-time drivers 84 84 84 Agency shifts 0 0 0 Drivers on furlough 10% 20% 20% This time next year do you expect the driver shortage will have got bigger or smaller? Smaller. More and more companies are announcing redundancies due to Covid19, causing more people to be on the jobs market. Although we have the oil industry here in Aberdeen, and we sometimes struggle to get experienced men, on average we are OK. We are very similar in the Inverness area, whereas our Glasgow depot sometimes struggles to attract the right type of manpower.

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Stagefreight, Ian Uttley, director

Coverage: UK mainland. Main business sectors: Live events, theatre and music tours, conferences and exhibitions, and general haulage. Our events volumes remained at zero on 23 May. We don’t expect a return to even the smallest of volumes until at least September. How many trucks were you operating on these dates? 23 March: 33; 4 May: 25; 18 May: 13. How many drivers did you employ, what percentage of shifts were filled by agency drivers and what percentage of employed drivers were on furlough on these dates? 23 March 4 May 18 May Full-time drivers 24 24 24 Agency shifts No agency drivers used Drivers on furlough 40% 45% 55% This time next year do you expect the driver shortage will have got bigger or smaller? The same. We have no problem attracting drivers into our industry.

DPD, Tim Jones, director

Coverage: UK national. Main business sector: Express parcels. Between 4 May and 18 May our volumes doubled. How many truck drivers did you employ, what percentage of shifts were filled by agency drivers and what percentage of your employed drivers were on furlough on these dates? 23 March 4 May 18 May Full-time drivers 800 830 850+ Agency shifts Up to 30% of drivers Drivers on furlough No staff furloughed

AE Gough & Sons, Michael Gough, partner

Coverage: UK national. Main business sectors: Aggregate and agriculture. Between May 4 and May 18 the aggregate sector picked up slightly but the agricultural sector remained stagnant. How many trucks were you operating on these dates? 23 March: 37; 4 May: 22; 18 May: 32. How many HGV drivers did you employ, what percentage of shifts were filled by agency drivers and what percentage of your employed drivers were on furlough on these dates? 23 March 4 May 18 May Full-time drivers 32 32 32 Agency shifts No agency drivers used Drivers on furlough 0% 16% 0% Looking ahead to this time next year do you expect the driver shortage will have got bigger or smaller? Smaller. There will be fewer hauliers and those still operating will have reduced their fleets as customers struggle in the new environment. It will be several years before volumes return in many of the industries sectors.

Freightlink Europe Freight Train/Freight People, Lesley O’Brien, partner

Coverage: UK national. Main business sectors: General haulage transport operator predominantly serving the import and export community. How many trucks were you operating on these dates? 23 March: 24; 4 May: 14; 18 May: 14. On 23 March Freightlink Europe was working to capacity with a fleet of 24 vehicles (14 rigids and 10 artics). On 4 May we had five vehicles standing and had not renewed the contract hire of five more vehicles, which terminated at the end of March. By 18 May the number of vehicles operated had not changed, although volumes had improved and turnover per day had increased by 47% from 4 May. How many HGV drivers did you employ, what percentage of shifts were filled by agency drivers and what percentage of your employed drivers were on furlough on these dates? 10 MotorTransport

23 March 4 May 18 May Full-time drivers 22 22 22 Agency shifts 2 0 0 Drivers on furlough 0% 27% 18% On 4 May, six drivers were on furlough, plus two drivers had received correspondence stating that they were clinically vulnerable and could not drive for 12 weeks. On 18 May two drivers had been brought back from furlough. We weren’t using agency drivers but were using two members of office staff where required. Looking ahead to this time next year do you expect the driver shortage will have got bigger or smaller? Much bigger. I expect that the driver shortage will have worsened. We already have an ageing workforce and I suspect that many of these older drivers, already approaching retirement age, will have a change of mindset and decide they do not want to return to a driving career. I am hearing from drivers who are fearful of returning. Those whose DQC expired during the lockdown period may also decide that they are not going to renew their card. The population is reviewing lifestyles, quality of life and what is important and drivers are no different. We are seeing drivers new to the industry who want to enjoy a better work-life balance and will not suffer being away from home for long periods, with poor rest facilities – unlike the drivers who are now retiring. Irrespective of a probable downturn in the economy, I believe that these reasons, together with a declining availability of EU drivers, will make the driver shortage much bigger.

Turners Group, Paul Day, MD

Coverage: UK national. Main business sectors: Temperature controlled, containers, tankers and general haulage for transport and temperature controlled warehousing and packing services. Between 4 May and 18 May, there was no change in temperature controlled, containers were down a further 5%, in tankers, road fuels were up 17%, aviation was unchanged with no work, cement was up 24%, flour was up 5% and milk was unchanged, and general haulage was up 7%. How many trucks were you operating on these dates? 23 March: 2,193; 4 May: 1,798; 18 May: 1,825. How many HGV drivers did you employ, what percentage of shifts were filled by agency drivers and what percentage of your employed drivers were on furlough on these dates? 23 March 4 May 18 May Full-time drivers 2,590 1,967 1,997 Agency shifts 8% 3% 5% Drivers on furlough 0% 0.3% 0.8% Looking ahead to this time next year do you expect the driver shortage will have got bigger or smaller? Much smaller. I am concerned that the pandemic will inflict serious damage to the economy, which will result in significantly less transport activity. As a result, there will be fewer drivers required by the industry, and thus there will be no shortage until the economy can recover. I believe it will take several years before we get back to 2019 demand. 8.6.20

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Viewpoint

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Seeing parallels with the past I t is said that those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it, and looking through copies of MT’s predecessor Motor Traction from 100 years ago is always enlightening. In 1920 the UK was recovering from the Steve Hobson First World War and – as now with the Editor Covid-19 pandemic – politicians were faced Motor with tough choices. With a weak economy Transport the government was proposing to end the post-war subsidies for the nascent motor haulage industry, something the editor of Motor Traction was understandably opposed to (see page 6 of this issue). He likened road haulage to a national insurance policy – almost a decade after National Insurance to pay for the health service was introduced – and warned of the dangers the country could face in a future emergency without a strong transport sector. The parallels with the situation today are not exact, although the RHA is asking the government to step in and directly subsidise road transport operators to avoid a widespread collapse of the industry. Just as in 1920, such a collapse would have a disastrous effect on efforts to get the

economy moving as it struggles to emerge from the Covid-19 lockdown. While some sectors of the industry – notably food, health care and home delivery – have been busier than ever in the pandemic, others including automotive, high street retail, hospitality, events and construction have seen work dry up. While the lockdown is beginning to loosen, some of these industries will take months if not years to fully recover. Add to the mix the possibility of 10% tariffs on imported trucks when the Brexit transition period ends in December and the prospects facing a sizeable part of the haulage industry are extremely bleak. But we must be careful not to talk ourselves into an even deeper recession than we are already facing. Like the driver shortage, it is hard to assess the actual impact on the industry and while our small TBOOCV-19 industry survey indicates far fewer than half of trucks are laid up, it does highlight the devastating effect the pandemic is having. Many operators are now seeing some light at the end of the tunnel, so let’s hope we are through the worst and on our way out.

Cycle lanes are creating traffic jams P David Tarsh MD, David Tarsh Consulting

ark Lane is London’s most important road running north to south through the centre of the city. TfL has recently added a cycle lane and a new bus lane – so a three-lane boulevard is now bottlenecked to a single lane for regular traffic. Segregated cycle tracks on strategic routes take away precious road space from all road users and give it exclusively to a tiny minority, around 3%, who make use of it for less than 20% of the day. The result is that bike lanes on those routes are often empty whilst the traffic alongside is reduced to a crawl. Worse, there’s already a bike lane in Hyde Park, parallel to this one, which connects to other bike lanes – and it’s a stone’s throw away. Believe it or not, cyclists can use the roads. I know this from having cycled on London's busiest roads for decades. If you don’t believe me, ask regular cyclists where they cycle when not in a bike lane. TfL justifies building bike lanes by reference to air quality, but TfL's own study on the new bike lane it wants built on Hammersmith Road, CS9, indicates there will be no air quality improvement, while traffic speeds will be reduced to 3.75 mph.

12 MotorTransport

Other flawed justifications for bike lanes include tackling obesity and removing the fear from non-cyclists whose excuse is “it’s not safe”. The problem with the first argument is that the new people who are climbing on to bikes are not the obese – they are usually fit, white, middle class males. The problem with the second justification is that there are many reasons why people don’t cycle, but they won’t say what they are – either because they don’t want to, or because they haven’t been asked properly. It might be that their journey involves carrying things, there are no showers at their destination or they just prefer other forms of transport. For proof that the adage “if you build it, they will come” is actually naive and dumb, take a look at Stevenage – a town designed for cycle usage. It’s full of bike lanes, just like Ghent – but cycling uptake is 3%. TfL's job should be enabling the traffic to flow, not jamming it up for prejudiced political reasons.

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 Events and projects editor Hayley Pink 2165 Group production editor Clare Goldie 2174 Supplements production editor Joanne Betts 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 Sales director 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 Email:customercare@dvvsubs.com 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 © 2020 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 8.6.20

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Trucks Need Video With Higher Risk, Video Telematics Can Help Save UK Trucking For this reason, the importance of video telematics technology has become paramount. The average cost of a road collision fatality to a trucking company is between £200k to £1m according to LegalExpert UK. Not only is there a cost to settling this incident but also the valuable time and resources required for investigation and potential litigation. The solution to reducing the impact of these added resources is equipping trucks with a commercial-grade, camera system to safeguard from false and frivolous claims.

The global economy is experiencing an unprecedented event with the COVID-19 pandemic in which many businesses are simply trying to stay afloat. For the trucking and fleet industry, this is one of the most difficult times in living memory to remain operational due to financial hardships and lockdown protocols. A recent survey by Business Insider showed that 3 out of 4 British truckers are anticipated to go out of business within 2 months due to the Coronavirus outbreak. Cash-flow is at an all-time low and many fleets remain parked up with drivers furloughed due to lack of demand or safety requirements. Fleets that remain operational, however, are experiencing a significant increase in risk factors due to higher road speeds as traffic congestion decreases. Because of this, the severity of road collisions has skyrocketed with a much higher cost per incident in comparison to pre-pandemic conditions.

Solutions, like those offered by SmartWitness, have decreased disputed claims to 2% and additionally resulted in a 39% overall risk improvement for drivers. For those struggling with cash-flow, SmartWitness has built a program to reduce the burden of implementation during the pandemic. “In times of financial hardship, our video telematics solutions are paramount in keeping fleets running safely without disruption,” stated Aaron Kim, Vice President of Operations. “Prior to this pandemic situation, a single accident claim against a business could make a major impact and even lead to closure. The current environment amplifies this as many companies are just trying to survive the economic implications.” The special program provides fleet owners with the ability to equip their vehicles with a commercial-grade dashcam (plus an optional driving facing camera) which will provide crucial evidence in the event of a collision incident or third-party claim. Furthermore, with over 40 telematics software integrations, customers have multiple options to choose the application that best fits their needs. These software options will include a full video telematics suite along with many of the reporting features that organizations need to monitor and improve operational efficiencies such as idle times, route data, driver behavior monitoring, and more. With over 350,000 devices deployed in the field, SmartWitness is looking to give drivers confidence and keep Europe’s fleets moving safely.

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Future fuels

Going green for the long haul David Cebon examines the future of electric trucks and whether they should be powered by hydrogen or batteries

here is an increasingly vociferous debate between those who think that long-haul heavy goods vehicles should be powered by hydrogen inn the future and those who favour direct electrification. Most hydrogen-powered vehicles use fuel cells to convert hydrogen and oxygen into electricity and water. Meanwhile, direct electrification involves either carrying the electricity in large batteries or using an ‘electric road system’ (ERS) to transmit the electricity to the vehicle in motion. The major benefit of hydrogen over electrification is its flexibility. A hydrogen truck can be refuelled in approximately the same time as a diesel truck and the operating range is similar. So hydrogen-powered trucks could fit into the existing logistics system without too much change. However hydrogen requires more energy input than electricity to power the vehicle and consequently is inherently more expensive for the economy, the environment and probably for the vehicle operator. Conversely, electrification of road freight transport would require modifications to logistics practice, but would be significantly lower cost and have less environmental impact. Both options would require large-scale infrastructure investments but the urgent need to limit carbon emissions in the short term to avoid a catastrophic 1.5C global temperature rise means solutions are needed quickly. Proponents of both electricity and hydrogen recognise that the choice of energy systems for freight transport interacts with the overall energy economy including electric power, other modes of transport and heating buildings. Consequently, system-level considerations are needed. So ‘electricity vs hydrogen’ is a milestone decision, with major long-term ramifications at national and international levels.

Hydrogen

There are two main ways that hydrogen can be manufactured to power ‘clean’ heavy lorries. ‘Green’ hydrogen is manufactured by electrolysis, using electricity to split water into hydrogen and oxygen while ‘blue’ hydrogen is manufactured by steam methane reforming (SMR), using high-temperature steam to convert methane into hydrogen. Figure 1 (see opposite page) shows three options for powering long-haul vehicles. The lefthand pathway illustrates the use of 100kWh of renewable electricity to generate green hydrogen by electrolysis to power fuel-cell 16 MotorTransport

electric vehicles. The process of making hydrogen by electrolysis, storing and transporting it on a vehicle, then converting it back to electricity in a fuel-cell and powering the electric motors is only about 23% efficient overall. So for every 100kWh of renewable electricity, only 23kWh will reach the road wheels. The middle pathway shows that 69kWh of the original 100kWh reach the wheels of a battery electric vehicle and the righthand pathway shows that 77kWh reach the wheels of a lorry travelling on an ERS. The ERS is the most efficient pathway because the motors are powered directly from the electricity supply, avoiding energy loss through charging and discharging a battery. The very low efficiency of the electrolysis pathway means that the process uses a lot of renewable electricity to make the necessary quantity of hydrogen. The unsubsidised cost of hydrogen created by electrolysis is therefore high and the amount of power required is large.

How it adds up

The UK’s HGV fleet transports about 189 billion tonnekms of freight per year. A 44-tonne lorry at 75% load factor uses about 0.19kWh per tonne-km. Spreading this over 12 hours per day, 365 days per year, the power requirement is approximately 8.2GW. If the wind turbine to road wheel efficiency is 77% (as for the ERS solution), powering the vehicles would require 10.6GW, approximately 3,500 3MW wind turbines. Assuming these were on land rather than offshore, they would require a land area of about 5,300sq km – just under twice the size of Lancashire. If the wind to wheel efficiency is 23%, as for the green hydrogen pathway, powering the vehicles would require 35.6GW, approximately 12,000 3MW wind turbines, requiring a land area of 18,000sq km – more than the whole of Lancashire and Yorkshire combined. The world’s largest electrolysis plant is currently being built in Canada by Hydrogenics, which was acquired by Cummins last year. It has a capacity of 20MW, a fraction of the 35.6GW needed to run the UK’s truck fleet. Given the amount of scaling-up to be done, it is questionable whether a green hydrogen economy could be deployed in time (by 2030) to avoid the 1.5C global temperature rise or that it could be scaled to power UK road freight before 2050.

THE ‘COLOUR’ OF HYDROGEN Green: generated using renewable electricity and electrolysis. Blue: generated from methane (natural gas) using SMR and carbon capture and storage (CCS). Grey: generated from methane using SMR but no CCS. The resulting CO2 is released into the atmosphere. 98% of the world’s hydrogen is currently made this way. Brown: generated from coal using SMR but no CCS. The resulting CO2 is released into the atmosphere. 8.6.20

motortransport.co.uk

FIGURE 1

Energy storage

A key issue in the low-carbon future is energy storage. Because of the variability of sustainable electricity sources such as wind and solar, and because it is not always available at peak demand times, there is a need to store energy at times of excess supply for use at times of high demand. Proponents of a green hydrogen economy propose to solve this problem by using excess electricity to make hydrogen by electrolysis, storing it in underground salt caverns and converting it back to electricity at peak times. However the 32% efficiency of this solution makes it very expensive per stored kWh. A hydrogen-based electricity storage scheme would only break even financially with large subsidies, because 68% of the energy would be wasted through the low conversion efficiencies. There are much more efficient electricity storage technologies such as pumped-storage hydroelectricity (efficiency 70% to 85%), lead acid batteries (80% to 90%), lithium ion batteries (85% to 95%), flywheels (70% to 95%), compressed air (40% to 70%) and liquid air cryogenics (70%). All of these would be much lower cost than hydrogen and could be implemented at scale, without significant subsidies, given an appropriate market structure for electricity storage.

8.6.20

‘Blue’ hydrogen

Steam methane reformation strips the carbon atoms from methane creating CO2 and hydrogen (figure 2 below). It has been argued that blue hydrogen could replace natural gas (methane) for heating and transport in a hydrogen economy. For example, the H21 project in the north of England proposes to extract natural gas from the North Sea oil fields, convert it to hydrogen by SMR at facilities on the UK coast, inject the hydrogen into the national gas grid and pump the CO2 back into empty oil and gas wells to sequester it for ever under the sea. In a ‘net zero’ carbon scenario, all natural gas used by the nation would have to be replaced by hydrogen and all of the CO2 generated by SMR would have to be captured and stored. It is questionable whether this technology can achieve the necessary reliability in storage, with many predictions that significant leakage of CO2 is likely. Since there are no existing large-scale carbon capture facilities in the UK, there is also an important question of whether this technology could be rolled out in time for full-scale deployment for the entire UK energy system by 2030 or even 2050. Hydrogen has a 3.3 times lower calorific value per volume (LCV) than methane, meaning that transferring the same amount of energy using hydrogen instead of methane would require the grid to carry 3.3 times more gas. This problem is recognised by the H21 project, which plans to install an extensive network of new hydrogen gas mains across the north of England. ➜ 18

FIGURE 2

MotorTransport 17

Future fuels

motortransport.co.uk

AMBITIOUS TARGETS FOR RENEWABLES How much renewable energy generation can we build between now and 2040? It is a major target for investors and wind is likely to see the biggest additions. As of the end of January, GB has just 13GW of onshore wind in operation, and 8.4GW offshore. But the government has committed to increasing offshore wind capacity to 40GW by 2030 and the turbines will look very different to the 3MW onshore versions that would have to cover Yorkshire or Lancashire. Moving offshore alters the calculation fundamentally. The turbines will be bigger: 12MW versions are already being ordered for upcoming wind farms. And they will be generating more of the time: while wind conditions onshore allow turbines to run for around a third of the time, offshore is more like 50%, and as turbines are installed further out at sea it has risen as high as 70%. Beyond 2030 it seems likely that still larger floating turbines will be generating hundreds of miles offshore. In an interesting twist, the SuperGEN research cluster suggests that those units could produce hydrogen directly, to be shipped onshore, instead of exporting electricity. Meanwhile, government policy changes mean onshore wind is expected to make a bigger contribution, ending an effective moratorium. Not everyone will agree with a Greenpeace target of 30GW by 2030 but new sites – and new, bigger turbines on existing sites – could certainly get us there. Similarly with solar: we have about 12GW at the moment, but the Solar Trade Association says the industry has proven it can support an installation rate of at least 4GW per year. In its high scenario – required for Net Zero – it envisages around 40GW of UK solar by 2030. Experts such as David Cebon, director, Centre for Sustainable Road Freight and professor of mechanical engineering at the University of Cambridge, suggest we might need 35GW of capacity. These figures suggest we will could have three times that capacity from wind and solar alone. Janet Wood, editor, New Power magazine

FIGURE 3

It is difficult to compare the energy efficiency of blue hydrogen with electricity because of the fundamental inefficiencies of converting chemicals into electrical energy in a power station. One fair comparison is shown in figure 3 (above). On the right is the pathway for creating blue hydrogen from 100kWh of methane by SMR, compressing and transporting it in a lorry and converting it to electricity to propel the vehicle. Just 29kWh would be available at the wheels of the vehicle. On the left is the pathway for using the same 100kWh of methane to generate electricity in a modern gas-fired power station, transmitting the electricity via the grid and using it to power a battery electric vehicle. In this case, 44kWh would be available at the wheels of the vehicle. Both processes would require capturing and sequestering the CO2 to make them zero carbon. The amount of methane needed to power the UK’s HGV fleet for a year is 82bn kWh of methane for the electrification route and 124bn kWh of methane for the blue hydrogen route. So 51% more natural gas would be needed to fuel hydrogen vehicles than to generate clean electricity and power electric vehicles. That inevitably means 51% higher energy costs, plus the knock-on effects on energy security and the national trade deficit, caused 18 MotorTransport

by the much higher demand for natural gas imports. It is also unlikely that the necessary SMR and carbon capture facilities could be built in time for 2030, 2040 or 2050.

Direct electrification

Electrification of long-haul HGVs using large batteries and fast chargers requires the vehicles to carry batteries with capacities of 300kWh to 600kWh or more. Typical power consumption levels for articulated HGVs are 2 to 3kWh per km, so these battery sizes correspond to ranges of 100 to 300km. Such batteries are expensive, heavy and contain large amounts of scarce cobalt. For example, the stated capabilities of the Tesla Semi would require batteries of at least 7 tonnes and would cost $100,000 to $200,000. Charging the batteries quickly would require high local electric power capacity at depots. The Tesla Semi would need a 2MW charger to meet the stated 30 minute fast charge. This implies very large and expensive substations at depots, DCs and motorway services.

Electric road systems (ERS)

ERS technology, particularly the Siemens eHighway which uses overhead catenary cables, contacted by pantographs carried on the vehicles (pictured), is well developed and has been tested in several trials in the past few years. The trials have demonstrated that eHighway technology could be deployed reasonably quickly around the UK’s strategic road network (SRN) of 7,000 kms of motorways and major A-roads within the next 10 to 15 years. The cost of deployment over the entire network is estimated to be about £25bn, which is comparable with the £28.8bn announced in the UK government’s 2018 Budget for the national roads fund for 2020 to 2025 and about a quarter of the projected cost of HS2. Since two-thirds of all HGV mileage is on the SRN, this single measure would go much of the way to decarbonising the road freight system in the UK. The hybrid and battery electric vehicles could all have batteries with capacities of 100kWh or less and would carry relatively inexpensive pantographs on their roofs. Such a system would distribute electricity requirements around the UK land area, with consistent power requirements through the day, instead of major electricity hotspots in depots at night when charging batteries. The remaining third of journeys mainly occur in urban environments. Indications are that, in the relatively near future, these journeys will be performed by battery electric vehicles with modest ranges and battery sizes. So the ultimate question for politicians is whether the future road freight system should be more flexible for operators but have high energy consumption and carbon emissions in the medium term, or be a bit less flexible but much lower energy and carbon in the shorter term. The jury is out at the moment. But with the climate change imperative becoming much more urgent, I know which one I would choose… n David Cebon is director, Centre for Sustainable Road Freight and professor of mechanical engineering at the University of Cambridge.

8.6.20

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MT Awards 2020 shortlists Partnership Award MT profiles the shortlists for this year’s awards Abbey Logistics and Hovis

Since November 2018, Abbey Logistics has worked with Hovis to modernise its supply chain, creating operational visibility by sharing in-depth real-time performance data. Together they have built dependability and flexibility in the supply of flour to Hovis’ bakeries, cut costs, improved working practices and built engagement from drivers and on-site teams. Abbey says the success of the partnership has come through unlocking the operational data held within the contract and maintaining an open and honest relationship. Although the partnership is still in its infancy, the judges were impressed by such a promising start and are eager to see how it develops in the coming years. “The project team had clearly defined objectives and targets, an impressive management dashboard and clear and concise data driving the business decisions," said one of our judges.

Armstrong Logistics and Aldi

Mutual trust and respect are the essence of a true partnership and Armstrong Logistics and Aldi have looked to demonstrate these in every aspect of their relationship. Their long association has evolved over more than two decades into a collaboration which they describe as unique in the retail sector. The partnership has supported Aldi’s rapid expansion in the UK and Ireland while each partner has influenced the other to take key business decisions that have resulted in measurable success. Our judges were impressed by the growth that the two companies have enjoyed and their successful management of change. “It's clear that both companies have benefited from the partnership, enabling one to provide products at lower prices and the other building on the back of the rise of a revolutionary retailer,” one judge said.

C Butt and Sealed Air UK

The partnership between C Butt and Sealed Air UK spans nearly 30 years. Sustainability has become the watchword for the future, C Butt believes, with the Project Reinvent initiative bringing new technologies, targeted focused projects and a passion for success.

20 MotorTransport