Motor Transport 11 May 2020 by Motor Transport

Sharp ■ Informed ■ Challenging

11.5.20

NEW MAN TGX For superhuman drivers. Discover more at truck.man.eu/mantg

CELEBRATE SUCCESS BOOK YOUR TABLE NOW

17 NOVEMBER 2020 www.mtawards.co.uk #MTAwards2020 GROSVENOR HOUSE HOTEL, LONDON

NEWS INSIDE

99220.008 MAN Trucks - New Truck Launch Banner 137x23_aw1.indd 1

18/02/2020 10:06

Network members assess Covid-19 effect and how sector could evolve

April a disaster but we’re fighting back

0940_MTA advert_celebrate_43mm wide01/04/2020 x 64mm high.indd 16:56 1

Up in arms

Subbies see red after Tarmac adjusts night-time rates p3

Getting the message?

RHA says extra government support could be imminent p4

Pulling a beauty

Walker Logistics secures new contract with Lanolips p6

Shutterstock

DOCUMENT TWEAK: The government has issued new guidelines to freight operators entering France. In response to the Covid-19 pandemic, drivers had formerly been asked to complete an International Attestation form to confirm their journey met the criteria for essential travel. But France has now confirmed that, for drivers of vehicles performing international transport of goods by road, a completed Certificate for International Transport Workers will be accepted and that they no longer need the international attestation. Passengers in freight vehicles or others will still need to produce the International travel certificate to mainland France.

By Tim Wallace

Leading pallet network hauliers have described the impact that Covid-19 is having on their businesses and predicted how the industry will evolve. With prime minister Boris Johnson looking to ease lockdown rules as MT went to press, Cambridgeshire haulier Welch’s Transport said its figures for April are “a disaster” as it struggles with only 60% to 70% of normal volumes. However, MD Jim Welch said some of his customers have begun to reopen as they await the government’s ‘roadmap’ for the gradual lifting of current restrictions. “Certainly that’s what some of our customers are getting ready for,” he said. “You can see there’s far more traffic on the road, so the country is starting to unlock itself. “Sectors are going to vote with their feet and the government is going to have to rubber-stamp it.” Welch said the company’s bias towards the badly hit construction sector meant that 40% of his fleet was parked up and 30% of his workforce had been furloughed. “Relatively speaking, April will be a catastrophe,” he said. “There’s a powerful argument that we’d be better off financially if we’d just shut the lot up and furloughed all the staff. We’ve got contractual commitments so that was never an option. But financially it’s going to be a disaster.” Industry bodies are pleading with the government to provide

extra support for the road transport sector amid claims from FTA chief executive David Wells that payment for work that disappeared in April will be due from mid-May, leading to a cashflow crunch (see page 4). However, Welch said the Palletline network isn’t doing too badly. “Volumes are probably holding up better than when we were talking about it four weeks ago,” he revealed. Fellow Palletline member Miniclipper Logistics agreed: “It’s going to take a bit of a nosedive but we were expecting slightly worse,” MD Peter Masters said. “In the pallet sector we were expecting it to be 40% down but now we’re talking 29%. Our profit will take a dip between now and the end of the financial year but it’s not a car crash.” However, Masters said hauliers without a warehousing side might

suffer. “We’re lucky we have the warehousing side which is very buoyant. But hauliers that were running hand to mouth before this crisis kicked off are going to be in a tricky situation now.” ➜ continues on p3

NEW NEW MAN TGX MAN TGX truck.man.eu/mantg man.eu/mantg

Focus: legal p10 Viewpoint: lockdown lessons p12 Low-carbon fuel p14 MT Awards shortlists: Safety in Operation p16; Innovation p18 99220.008 MAN Trucks - New Truck Launch 18/02/2020 Earpiece10:05 42x62_aw1.indd 1

International Truck of the Year 2020. The new Actros. We’re proud that the new Actros has won the “International Truck of the Year 2020” accolade and would like to extend our thanks to all of our customers for their many years of loyalty! Everyone talks, one delivers. The new Actros. For more information scan the QR code.

News

motortransport.co.uk

➜ continued from p1

Pallet Track member Farrell Transport said suppliers could end up going direct to hauliers for all their warehousing and scrapping their own to cut costs. MD Bob Farrell said the strategy was already being used by many of his customers and may become “the new norm” in an adapted supply chain. “We’ve basically cut out the middle man,” he told MT. “Our customers have closed the doors on their own businesses, and instead of us replenishing their warehouses with the stock we’ve got in ours, they’re furloughing their staff and sending the stock out from us. Businesses will wonder if it’s worth having a warehouse when they can send it straight to Farrell’s. They can reduce staffing levels.” Asked how much forward planning hauliers were able to do, he admitted that the company had furloughed about 50% of the staff. “It’s early days knowing where customers’ needs are going to be,” he said. “General haulage is on its knees.” Masters at Miniclipper claimed the pandemic will make it impossible for companies to budget for next year: “They won’t have a clue,” he said. “When they turn the tap back on is there going to be significant volume coming through because there’s loads of back orders? You might have three weeks really busy and then it peters out again. And if the economy is shot, that’s when you might find there’s some casualties because there’s too much supply and not enough demand.” A priority at the moment, Masters said, was chasing overdue payments. The company has furloughed around 36 staff but he revealed he was set to bring them all back with volumes starting to pick up. “Palletline inbound numbers have held up well, mainly because we’ve got six trailers going into Amazon. And we’ve got NHS Supply Chain and they are crazy busy. We’ve got other customers that we thought would fall off a cliff, and initially they did, but now we’re doing a lot of home delivery for them.” Asked if there was a feeling that general haulage was on its knees, Masters said: “We haven’t seen that. I haven’t heard that.” He also predicted changes to working patterns in the wake of the pandemic. “I’ve been using Teams, Zoom and webinars. In the new world you might find there’s less congestion. There might be a hit on commercial office rental or leasing. There are some changes ahead.” 11.5.20

Tarmac cuts night-shift payments, saying volumes are likely to rise

Night rate slashed

By Carol Millett

Tarmac’s plan to roll out new nighttime shift rates will slash operators’ earnings and add further pressure to firms already struggling to survive the pandemic, hauliers have warned. Tarmac is removing the “turnup” payment of around £180 per truck, while add-on payments, such as waiting time and transfer payments – previously paid separately – will be included in a nightly payment of “at least” £300 for rigids and £325 for moving-floor trailers. In a letter to its hauliers, Tarmac

said it is expecting the government to boost infrastructure spending to stimulate the economy. “As a result, work volumes are scheduled to increase and this should increase night volumes and the earnings of night trucks,” it stated. Since the work will be more “consistent”, Tarmac is removing the turn-up payment and rolling all add-on payments into the £300/£325 flat fee, with all hauliers guaranteed “at least” the £300/£325 payment per night. Tarmac partner hauliers reacted angrily to the move, however.

“It is a disgrace,” one said. “To do it when we are already on our knees, with most of our trucks parked up, is unbelievable.” Another partner haulier commented: “For five nights’ work I’ll get £1,500 per truck, compared with £2,000 for four nights’ work under the old system.” A Tarmac spokeswoman said: “The scheme creates the best opportunity for a win-win approach where hauliers are supported with the certainty of nightly earnings and vehicles are used as efficiently as possible.”

Carters bust after rapidly expanding

DOWNTON HAPPY: CM Downton enjoyed a successful first full trading year since being acquired by EmergeVest, with profit increasing by more than 90%. Latest financial results for the Gloucestershire logistics firm show that for the year ending 30 June 2019, it made a pre-tax profit of £2.17m – a significant increase from 2018’s £1.14m. Turnover rose 4.8% to £117.46m. In its review of the business, the company said the increase in revenues was driven by new contract wins, growth of the business from the existing customer portfolio, and contract renewals by several major customers – and described the performance as “encouraging”. It added: “The net asset position has increased by £1.54m or 5.47% over the previous year, and the directors consider the financial position of the company to be very satisfactory.”

Hertfordshire-based Carters Haulage entered administration after expanding the business from one lorry to 40 in just three years in order to service a blue chip client – before losing the customer months later. Administrators at SFP said Carters started work for a company on behalf of the main contractor in 2017, leading to a significant increase in the business. It lost the major customer towards the end of 2018, but managed to secure a large contract with another blue chip business. The SFP report said that by January 2019, the company was no longer working for either of the customers, but still had to cover significant overheads. The company’s director then suffered a family bereavement in November 2019 and was unable to assist with running Carters, where liabilities grew until it ceased trading early this year. MotorTransport 3

News

motortransport.co.uk

Breakthrough in talks with roads minister but FTA warns June will be crunch time for hauliers

Hopes grow for extra support By Steve Hobson and Tim Wallace

The RHA is optimistic that the government will provide extra support for the road transport industry after weeks of “frustrating” discussions with roads minister Baroness Vere. Chief executive Richard Burnett told MT that following a letter sent to prime minister Boris Johnson signed by six industry bodies seeking extra measures to help cover fixed costs and cuts in VED and fuel duty, there had been a “breakthrough” in talks with ministers. “There are signs that the government is finally getting it and now

understands the scale of the problem,” he said. “There are so many hauliers going into liquidation that the recovery of the economy after lockdown will be severely affected unless action is taken now.” In a second letter, sent to chancellor Rishi Sunak on 30 April, Burnett again called for 100% government-backed debt support, a move to a more flexible weekly furlough of staff and a fuel duty suspension and rebate for hauliers. He also called for a business rates holiday for all hauliers’ sites and a lorry retention scheme for out of use vehicles. “Loans are not

what hauliers need,” said Burnett. “With customers also in lockdown and defaulting on payments, debts are growing as fixed costs on trucks such as lease payments and VED still have to be paid. “We are calling on the government to cover these payments by making direct cash grants or taking over these debts, which would in effect turn into a grant if the money was never recovered,” he said. ■ FTA chief executive David Wells has claimed June will be “crunch time” for the future of the industry. “Logistics businesses are starting to face emerging holes in their

cashflows caused by a lack of billable work from April, when the crisis really took hold,” he said. “The work that disappeared in April would be due for payment from mid-May onwards, and that’s when the real cashflow crunch will hit. “Almost a fifth of our members are in danger of financial collapse within eight weeks, but only 5% have been successful with their CBILS applications. More than a third of logistics SMEs are stuck in banking purgatory, either not eligible, unsuccessful, still awaiting a decision, or in need of more information.”

Loss of work led to S Walker’s demise

CHALLENGING TIMES: The Covid-19 pandemic has left Kuehne + Nagel facing an immense challenge in the coming months, the company has warned. Announcing group results in the first quarter of 2020, it revealed a significant drop in volumes in March, particularly in the UK, France and Italy. Its road logistics unit saw net turnover fall by 4.2% year-on-year to CHF863m (£713m) and gross profit decline by 1.4% to CHF281m. Kuehne + Nagel’s contract logistics division also saw its automotive and retail volumes hit. However, demand for basic goods, pharma and e-commerce services increased. In the first quarter of 2020, the contract logistics net turnover fell by 6.1% to CHF1.2bn compared with the same period the previous year, gross profit by 4% to CHF946m, and EBIT by 34.6% to CHF17m.

Redditch haulier S Walker Transport closed down with the loss of 39 jobs after losing two major customers amid an ongoing struggle to recruit drivers, according to its administrator. Leonard Curtis was appointed to wind down the business on 25 February. It had 35 trucks and 39 trailers based across two depots. It said the company lost a large customer, which had acquired its own haulage operation, and that this placed pressure on the company’s cashflow. At that time, its most recent financial results showed the haulier made a pre-tax loss of £257,709 on revenues of £4.37m.

Hauliers rally round to show appreciation of NHS Castledene Transport in Kent has teamed up with fellow hauliers Lenham Storage and Alan Firmin to donate 1,000 face visors to a local hospital after discovering the vital PPE was sitting on a floor in Gillingham. Director Matt Clarke said it was shameful that it was proving difficult to resolve a critical shortage of kit in NHS hospitals when the problem could easily be resolved overnight. After conversations with a customer in Gillingham that had diversified into making hospital face masks, as well as a friend who is an intensive care nurse, Clarke mobilised his business and got two 4 MotorTransport

other hauliers to purchase and deliver the equipment to the William Harvey Hospital in Ashford. The three hauliers intend to deliver more locally in the coming weeks. ■ West Yorkshire haulier ADD Express has introduced a new livery on its trailers in support of the government’s message to stay at home for the NHS. Part of the Pall-Ex network, the company is keeping vital supplies on the move, with MD Dave Fairbrother and operations director Mark Dunne both getting behind the wheel to deliver essen-

tial goods. “We’re on the road around the clock, so it’s an easy way for us to show support,” said Fairbrother.

11.5.20

THANK YOU FOR DELIVERING ESSENTIAL SUPPLIES TO OUR SUPERMARKETS

On behalf of the British Nation, we would like to thank all truck drivers and hauliers for continuing to deliver essential goods the length and breadth of the UK. #TransportTogether #KeepOnTrucking #ThumbsUpForTheTrucker

45262 DAF Thank You Ad (Stalker) AW A4.indd 1

Karen Stalker Managing Director Stalkers Transport Distributing goods to UK Supermarkets

16/04/2020 10:54

News

motortransport.co.uk

Berkshire hub takes on cosmetics brand

By Carol Millett

Hungerford-based Walker Logistics has won a contract to manage the UK supply chain of Australian cosmetics brand Lanolips. The haulier will oversee Lanolipsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; entire UK supply chains, boosting the companyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s base of cosmetics clients. It will also receive incoming stock at its 250,000sq ft logistics hub in Berkshire where it will be picked, packed and dispatched to retailers including Boots, Waitrose and Anthropolgie. The logistics firm will also fulfil online sales generated by Lanolipsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; website. William Walker, sales director at Walker Logistics, said: â&#x20AC;&#x153;With a proven record of success in the cosmetics industry, Walker has the experience and expertise Lanolips needs as it develops its UK market presence.â&#x20AC;? Walker Logistics also manages

the supply chains of cosmetics companies Luxie, New Flag and skin care range Grahams Natural UK. The three companies were added to Walker Logisticsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; customer base after their thirdparty distributor entered administration in November last year. In February this year Walker Logistics reported a 38% year-onyear increase in the number of orders picked, packed and dispatched at its Berkshire logistics hub during the fourth quarter of 2019.

NO PARKING: A Felixstowe company that planned to build an 85-space lorry park to ease pressure on the A14 has withdrawn its application. Prologic wanted to construct the site on land off the old A45 adjacent to the A14, as well as build a covered maintenance bay, offices, driversâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; mess, security fencing, CCTV and site lighting. It said the lorry park for its fleet of HGVs would relieve pressure on the A14 if Operation Stack was rolled out in Suffolk. However, its planning application attracted a number of objections from villagers, who believed it would ruin the countryside. Suffolk County Council Highways also lodged an objection, claiming it would generate a significant number of HGV movements onto an A14 junction with a substandard length on its slip road and that inadequate information has been supplied about traffic. But in a letter published on East Suffolk Councilâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s planning portal it confirmed that the application had now been withdrawn. No one from Prologic, which holds an O-licence for 56 HGVs out of three depots, was available for comment.

Shutterstock

Walker gets new face with Lanolips

Take Compliance Control!

NOW

from May 1st

â&#x201E;˘

DRAG Nâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; DROPTIMISE

Drag, drop and optimise Save time and money with My Transport Planner, the pay-as-you-go route optimisation platform.

TruFleet is a brand-new ďŹ&#x201A;eet and Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Licence system for planning and managing all vehicle compliance requirements.

THE QUEENâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S AWARDS FOR ENTERPRISE: INNOVATION 2020

Vehicle history

Audit checks

Brakes and tyres

Maintenance planning

Real-time updates

LOLER checks and repairs

Safety inspections

Online storage

Tax and insurance

Defect reporting

Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Licence checks

Tachograph calibration

â&#x20AC;&#x201C; TruFleet is fully compatible with TruTacâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s modular suite of TruControl software â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Switch seamlessly between tacho analysis, daily checks and maintenance calendars â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Gain full visibility and control over every vehicle and driver

ÂŁĹŤĆ&#x201E;Ć?ÇŞ ĹŤÇ˘Ń&#x2021;Ć˛ĆźČ&#x2014;Ń&#x2021;Ĺ&#x20AC;Ć˛ĹŁŃ&#x2021;Ć&#x201E;ĹŤ Ń&#x2021; ĆźÇżÇ˘Ń&#x2021;ÉŻÇ˘ÇŞ Ń&#x2021;Ć°ĆźĆ˛ Ć&#x2039;Ń&#x2021;Ć&#x192;ĆźÇ˘Ń&#x2021;EÂŁ..á&#x20AC;&#x2019; Find out more at: www.mytransportplanner.com

Take TruFleet Control today. Call 024 7669 0000

6 MotorTransport

sales@trutac.co.uk | trutac.co.uk

reduce planning time â&#x20AC;˘ reduce total mileage â&#x20AC;˘ cut costs â&#x20AC;˘ increase productivity â&#x20AC;˘ reduce emissions

11.5.20

From 26th October 2020, ALL goods vehicles over 12 tonnes will require a permit to enter London.

Direct Vision Standard Are you ready?

0 How Brigade can help Brigade Electronics can advise transport operators on the requirements of the Direct Vision Standard and how to achieve a permit to enter London if your vehicle falls short of the minimum star rating. If you are unsure what your vehicleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s DVS star rating is, we offer a free service to obtain that information for you.

Brigade Electronics has a range of products to comply with the DVS requirements For comprehensive information about the requirements of the Direct Vision Standard and how we can help you comply; visit our website or give us a call.

brigade-electronics.com

01322 420300

News

motortransport.co.uk

EYES ON EUROPE: Chinese electric vehicle manufacturer BYD has set its sights on the European market with plans to launch a range of electric trucks later this year. BYD Europe said it will launch a full range of battery electric commercial vehicles (BEV), including 7.5-tonne and 19-tonne rigid trucks. The move follows BYD’s announcement that it has signed a joint venture with Toyota’s commercial and diesel vehicle subsidiary Hino Motors to develop commercial BEVs.

MONDAY, MAY 10th, 1920

Motor Transport was launched in 1905 as Motor Traction. We look at a story published 100 years ago: Prospects of Small Haulage Undertakings

Meachers needs space during Covid By Chris Tindall

A 20% increase in storage demand has prompted Meachers Global Logistics to lease a new warehouse in Southampton. The transport company said Covid-19 had sent demand for space soaring as supply chains slowed down. The premises, at Solent Gateway in Marchwood, will help Meachers meet customer demand while the

coronavirus takes hold. Commercial director Gary Whittle said: “The coronavirus outbreak has forced many supply chains to back up as companies with surplus goods have nowhere to ship it. Obviously the knock-on effect of this is needing storage for the goods until the country starts to get moving again, so we have needed to take on additional warehousing locally.”

The popularity of road motor haulage as a means of earning a living among men of limited capital shows no sign of diminishing. This particular branch of the carrying trade also continues to hold strong attraction for those possessing or commanding greater financial resources. The number of small and large undertakings devoted entirely to the transport of goods or passengers is thus increasing at a rate which would not have been thought possible before the war. The latter is, of course, very largely responsible for the present boom in the mechanical haulage business, not only because the cessation of hostilities suddenly released many thousands of motor vehicles from military service, but also because it provided practical training in motor transport for large numbers of men who naturally desired to turn such experience to good account upon demobilisation. We have recently received evidence that many of those who have staked all their savings in small motor haulage ventures are viewing with great concern the rapidly spreading activities of substantially capitalised undertakings which threaten to make their own means of livelihood extremely precarious. Little can be done, we think, by individual effort, whereas much could be accomplished by a combination of resources by groups of small undertakings, under the direction of the most experienced members of each group.

GREAT MOVE A great move starts with a service. Keep your trucks and business moving with Genuine Volvo Service. www.volvotrucks.co.uk/greatmove

8 MotorTransport

11.5.20

We are ensuring the industry has what it needs to survive During this unprecedented coronavirus crisis Motor Transport and motortransport.co.uk have been working flat out to keep the road transport industry informed and updated with the very latest news and views. Our highly experienced team of journalists has been on top of developments as they have happened, with exclusive reports and interviews to ensure our essential logistics industry has all the information it needs to survive. As well as increasing the volume of daily news carried on motortransport.co.uk, we are still printing and distributing the fortnightly magazine that provides readers with a round up of the most important news, plus all the in-depth features operators need to keep their businesses on the road. While there has been no reported disruption to our usual distribution channels, if any reader is having difficulty obtaining their copy of MT please email us on subscriberemails@dvvmediainternational.com to request a full digital version of the magazine. Since the coronavirus crisis started, we have seen record traffic on motortransport.co.uk, with no sign of this trend coming to an end. We are also reaching a wider audience than before, with the website setting new records for unique users. While some of our popular clean air events have been postponed and are awaiting new dates, the 2020 Motor Transport Awards have been moved from their usual July slot to 17 November at the usual prestigious venue, the Grosvenor House Hotel. The Freight in the City Expo is also going ahead at Alexandra Palace on 3 November. As some of our face-to-face events have had to be postponed, we have expanded our portfolio of free webinars, with online updates on the relaxation of driversâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; hours rules and the impending Direct Vision Standard among the hot topics to be covered in forthcoming sessions. Motor Transport thanks and pays tribute to everyone working in the road transport industry for going the extra mile in this extremely difficult period. Without you, the country would not be getting all the food, medical supplies and other essentials that we depend on.

Steve Hobson Editor Motor Transport Follow us on:

Focus: legal

motortransport.co.uk

Will haulage and logistics finally get the appreciation it deserves, wonders James Backhouse

In this troubling era of Covid-19 and lockdown, certain sectors of the workforce can truly be said to have stepped up to the plate. These include the NHS, social care, food retail and many more. Across the UK, individuals employed in these sectors are receiving recognition for their efforts in keeping the country going and fighting coronavirus, as should be the case. Arising from this pandemic, we’ve seen a discussion over who the ‘key’ or ‘critical’ workers are, which has granted to certain occupations that would usually pass unnoticed the gratitude and thanks that they deserve. What makes an occupation ‘key’ or ‘critical’? Well, without these individuals working, the UK simply would not be able to function, let alone hope to eradicate Covid-19. Often, I have compared the general public’s relationship with the haulage and logistics sector to that of humans with oxygen. You do not notice it working, you cannot feel it or touch it, and rarely do you pay it any thought. However, you would be facing a whole host of problems if it wasn’t there. This is probably a more accurate comparison now than it ever has been. As food flies off supermarket shelves, it is the diligent and persistent work of logistics companies and their drivers that ensures there is more to stack the following day. The mobilisation and dissemination of personal protective equipment would not be possible without trucks, nor would the distribution of ventilators and testing equipment. This industry is working as hard as ever to ensure that the effort against Covid-19 can continue and that the country is well provided for during this difficult period.

Invisible operation

It is therefore unfortunate, I think, that the haulage and logistics industry has not yet received quite the same recognition as the other key professions and occupations with whom they stand shoulderto-shoulder. There has been no applause, no mass debt write-off and no real media recognition of the work these people are doing to ensure that goods, medical equipment and treatments, construction equipment and machinery continue to reach their intended destinations. 10 MotorTransport

Shutterstock / Richard Johnson

Waiting for critical recognition

Taking this disparity in acknowledgement into consideration, the transport industry’s efforts seem even more impressive. Truck drivers display considerable endurance, leaving their families at the break of dawn to drive through the day and night with trailers full of essential supplies. The extent of their labours becomes even more humbling when one realises that all the acknowledgement they are likely to receive at the endpoint is a curt nod as someone ‘signs’ – at a social distance – for delivery. The reason for this lack of recognition lies in the fact that a haulage operation’s success is gauged on its invisibility. The only time a customer or a supply chain becomes particularly aware of a haulage or logistics company is when something has not gone to plan and, as a consequence, there is a delay or misplacement. It brings me back to my oxygen analogy – the time when you are most likely to recognise the importance of oxygen is when you cannot breathe.

At the moment, the work of the transport sector in the effort against Covid-19 is summarised in just three lines on the gov.uk website. By this definition, transport includes: “those who will keep the air, water, road and rail passenger and freight transport modes operating during the Covid-19 response, including those working on transport systems through which supply chains pass.” While this does offer some degree of support for the transport industry, in that they can argue for the benefits of being key or critical workers, it does not properly communicate or recognise how vital the industry is. Virtually every other sector listed on that same page as being critical would be unable to work as intensely and as bravely as they are doing without haulage and logistics companies there to support them.

Delayed acknowledgement

It is, therefore, an appropriate time to thank this industry for being there in the UK’s time of need. Comparisons have been made

between the current situation and Britain during wartime. Whether or not that is accurate is for people to judge themselves, but such observations highlight the degree of difficulty the country is facing. Without truck drivers and transport managers, equipped with their dependable vehicles, the other critical workers would not have the means or methods, apparatus or tools for fulfilling their roles. It is my hope that one silver lining to come out of the current pandemic will be that the haulage and logistics industry will at last become more visible and recognised for its work. Undoubtedly, when this period of our history is reviewed, be that over the next year, the next five years or the next decade, the industry can be certain that it has earned the right to stand together with the NHS, social care providers, food retailers and others, and be counted as a critical sector. n James Backhouse is a partner at transport law specialist Backhouse Jones 11.5.20

# M TAw a r d s 2 0 2 0

C E L E B R AT E S U C C E S S B O O K Y O U R TA B L E N O W 7 1 2 9 ( 0 % ( 5 2 0 2 0 w w w. m t a w a r d s . c o . u k GROSVENOR HOUSE HOTEL, LONDON @motortransport

0980_MTA2020 - Celebrate success_SP.indd 1

@motor_transport |

Motor Transport

01/04/2020 11:35

Viewpoint

motortransport.co.uk

Let’s learn from this lockdown W hile the Covid-19 pandemic and subsequent economic lockdown has had a devastating effect on a lot of the transport sector, the UK is now starting to look forward to easing of restrictions and a return to business as Steve Hobson usual. Editor Except that it shouldn’t be business as Motor usual and some of the lessons learned from Transport the crisis should make life better after lockdown. The dramatic fall in traffic has improved air quality and let’s not forget that while more than 30,000 people have died as a result of the virus, it is estimated that 40,000 people die early every year due to poor air quality. Many cities have postponed the introduction of clean air zones but once the

recovery is under way cleaning up our cities’ air should be a priority. Older cars of course contribute most to local air pollution and maybe the lockdown has proved that working and shopping from home for many people is a viable alternative to driving or taking the bus into city centres. If this means a permanent reduction in travel by people then this will hugely benefit freight operators as the roads will be less crowded and trucks and drivers will stay as productive as they have become in recent weeks. Who knows, maybe out-of-hours deliveries will finally be widely accepted to avoid peak hours if traffic congestion does rear its ugly head again.

We need to bridge skills gap together I n response to ‘LGV Apprenticeship rife with confusion’ (MT 27 April), I disagree with the conclusions made regarding the introduction of an LGV driver cat C+E apprenticeship. Firstly, as stated, the number of Jim French UK-registered rigids over 3.5-tonne GVW is MBE 68% of the total number of HGVs on the Co-chair, Transport and road. However, the average annual mileage Warehousing of a rigid vehicle is 26,000, but the average annual mileage of an artic is 69,000. Hence Trailblazer Group there will be a requirement for more cat C+E driver shifts than there will be for purely cat C shifts. Since the introduction of the apprenticeship format in 2017 the number of LGV driver apprenticeships has declined each year and 3,000 LGV apprentices a year will not even replace those drivers retiring, and therefore will not have any impact in offsetting the shortage of approximately 50,000 drivers. Since its formation, the Transport and Warehousing Trailblazer Group has sought to gain approval for two LGV Driver Apprenticeships, one for cat C and one for C+E. However, it has always been thwarted by the Institute for Apprenticeships. The need for the two apprenticeships is proven and the group is in the process of seeking to gain approval for both roles. The work horse of the industry is the articulated vehicle and the frustration of the sector was demonstrated in a poll conducted in 2019 when 78.8% of transport operators stated that the cat C LGV Driver Apprenticeship did not meet their needs and 87% preferred a cat C+E

12 MotorTransport

apprenticeship rather than just cat C. One year later and the C+E apprenticeship has still not been implemented, but we are hoping it will be in place next month. Covid-19 will have a detrimental effect on training and apprenticeships in the sector. Nevertheless, the Trailblazer Group will be endeavouring to gain approval for the new cat C Urban Driver Apprenticeship as well as the C+E and a Transport and Warehouse Supervisor Apprenticeship, which will incorporate the transport manager’s CPC qualification, in readiness for the recovery in the UK economy. I volunteered to co-chair the Trailblazer Group because of my concern for the logistics sector and the perception being formed both within and outside the industry. Logistics employs 2.5 million people yet we have just six approved apprenticeships in the new format. At the beginning of this year the industry had paid more than £400m in to the Apprenticeship Levy yet the latest figures available show that less than £30m has been recovered in logistics-based apprenticeship funding. We need the whole sector, own account and hire and reward operators, the trade associations and training providers to support this initiative if we are to bridge the skills gap.

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 Deputy 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 11.5.20

#CMAwards2020

2020

DRIVING SUCCESS Save the Date 26 November 2020 The Vox Centre, Birmingham For more details or to book: Email: cmawards@roadtransport.com Tel: 020 8912 2152 www.commercialmotorawards.com @commercialmotor

@commercial_motor

Commercial Motor

Low-carbon fuel

motortransport.co.uk

Following the success of a five-year trial powering Aberdeen City Council’s buses, BOC is now running a hydrogen refuelling station as a commercial operation. Steve Hobson reports

ydrogen fuel cells now seem to be the most viable future low carbon power source for HGVs – but barriers including a shortage of renewable electricity, cost, and the size and weight of vehicles tanks remain. Buses often lead the way in developing and proving new low-carbon fuels, due to the subsidies available for PSV operators, and the largest UK trial of hydrogen buses has been running for the past five years in Aberdeen. Run by BOC, part of German gases group Linde, for Aberdeen City Council, the project has been a great success and a new fleet of 15 hydrogen double-deckers is due to start running this summer, joining around 60 other hydrogen vehicles on the streets of Aberdeen.

Leading the way

It is ironic that the Granite City has chosen to lead the way in low-carbon hydrogen fuel, having been the centre of the North Sea’s oil and gas industry for the past 50 years. BOC hydrogen market development manager Mark Griffin says: “Aberdeen has been hit hard by the downturn in oil and gas, so the council wanted to see what the future held. It decided to go with hydrogen and BOC formed a collective with Van Hool, Hyer, Element Energy and Planet and applied for funding. In 2014 it was the early stages of hydrogen as a transport fuel.” Findlay MacNeill, operations manager at BOC in charge of the Aberdeen refuelling station at Kittybrewster, says: “Aberdeen City Council wanted a clean bus scheme and BOC won the contract to supply the fuel as it could provide a turnkey solution. The project has run since 2015 and has proved we can run a reasonably large bus fleet reliably.” As well proving the technology, the project has reduced CO2 emissions by 1,500 tonnes since first operation from just 10 buses. The project had a budget of £19m made up by contributions from bodies including: the Fuel Cell and Hydrogen Joint Undertaking under two separate projects, High Vlo City and HyTransit (£8.3m); Innovate UK (£2.4m); Aberdeen City Council (£2m); Stagecoach and First Bus (£2m); Scottish Government (£1.7m); and Scottish Enterprise (£1.7m). The buses – said to cost around £1m each – were bought by the council, which then leased them to the operators First Aberdeen and Stagecoach. This summer, First Bus will take delivery of the first 15 hydrogen-fuelled double-decker buses in the world, built by Wrightbus in Ballymena, Northern Ireland. The arrival of the buses was delayed by Wrightbus briefly going into administration last year. Luckily, Aberdeen council was one of the 14 MotorTransport

early purchasers so when production restarted its buses were near the front of the queue. “The initial project was for eight buses using 20kg of hydrogen per day, so the station was sized for that with some redundancy,” says MacNeill. “Not long into the project it went to 10 buses at 20kg a day and then the bus operators changed routes so it became 10 buses at 30kg per day. So even before we broke any ground it had changed from the original concept, but BOC remained flexible, increasing capacity to keep pace with the changing requirements. Then in November 2018 we adapted the station to make it accessible to cars.” Since the subsidised project came to an end in April 2019, BOC has been running the station as a commercial operation. Situated close to a busy retail park and Kittybrewster railway station, the refuelling facility is a compact yet complex chemistry set that produces hydrogen on site by electrolysis. It is highly automated using telemetry, runs unmanned most of the time and has an excellent safety record. “The technology is well established but we refined it,” says MacNeill. “These are Mk 5 electrolysers, as the technology has moved on fairly quickly. This station has proved how reliable the technology could be – it is essentially unmanned and runs itself. We can connect and manage it remotely if there any problems.” Most of the “brown” industrial hydrogen produced in the UK is by steam methane reforming (SMR), which is certainly not a low-carbon method. A key goal for the Aberdeen project was that the hydrogen should be produced by electrolysis using 100% renewable electricity. “The source of electricity had to be renewable but there was no direct connection to renewable generation,” says Griffin. “The site is, however, powered by a renewable energy tariff.”

Tariff periods

To make maximum use of low-carbon, low-cost renewable electricity largely generated by the UK’s offshore wind farms, the station aims to generate most of its hydrogen off peak. “The buses come in between 9pm and 7am,” says MacNeill. “The electrolysers run a bit longer than that but we miss the highest tariff period. There are three tariffs – the most expensive is 4pm to 7pm and we avoid that.” Aberdeen council also has a handful of refuse vehicles and road sweepers with Ulemco conversions using hydrogen, and there are 40 Toyota Mirai cars in Aberdeen as well as a number of Hyundai X35s and Nexos running on hydrogen. Since the opening of Kittybrewster, 60 full 11.5.20

motortransport.co.uk

WHAT’S IN A NAME? Any discussion about the development of hydrogen as a transport fuel quickly produces a stream of acronyms. Here are just a few: Fuel Cells and Hydrogen Joint Undertaking (FCHJU): an EU joint undertaking putting 200 buses on the road across Europe Fuel Cell Electric Buses: a knowledge base (website) giving an overview of data and experiences with fuel cell electric buses and hydrogen refuelling infrastructure in Europe H2Mobility Europe (H2ME): a project aimed at giving fuel cell electric vehicle drivers access to the first truly pan-European network of hydrogen refuelling stations Joint Initiative for Hydrogen Vehicles across Europe (JIVE): the second phase of this project (JIVE2) was announced in January 2018 with plans to deploy 152 fuel cell buses across fourteen European cities in six years

or range-extended hydrogen vehicles have appeared in the city. Private cars can refuel at any time of the day and the electricity used is always on a renewable tariff – but it costs a lot more at peak times. “We smooth out the price so everyone pays the same at any time of day,” says Griffin. “The price is usually £10/kg, so it costs around £50 to fill up a car. There is no fuel duty on hydrogen so the main driver of the fuel price is the cost of electricity.”

Daily production

The station has two hydrogen dispensers but there is only space to refuel one bus at a time. “Stagecoach come in between 9pm and 3am,” says MacNeill. “It has a shunter who drives back and forth from the depot so it is staggered. It’s the same with First Bus – it has four buses that come in from 4.30am to 7am. The maximum daily production capacity of this site is 360kg and on average each bus takes between 30kg and 35kg. So refuelling all 10 buses we are pretty much at maximum capacity. 35kg lasts a day shift – they get roughly 350kms from a tank and the routes are designed to do that, including the 10-minute drive from station to depot for First Bus and maybe 20 minutes for Stagecoach. The buses probably hold around 40kg but they have a margin of error so they never come back empty but the technology is developing rapidly and new buses are increasingly more efficient.” As well as Kittybrewster, the council has opened a second hydrogen station – a small £2.6m facility in Cove – and has plans for a third. “Aberdeen plans to build another hydrogen station but it needs a market,” says Griffin. “It can’t be a case of build it and they will come – it has to be on a commercial basis. Now there are two hydrogen stations in Aberdeen, which give users choice and flexibility in their movements. That is a model we are trying to replicate. There is a large cluster of hydrogen stations around the M25 and two in Swindon. Our ambition is to get to a national network, so you can drive the length and breadth of the country with regular opportunities to refuel.” While the capital costs are still high at this stage in its development, there is, in theory, no reason why a similar fuelling station cannot be built at a DC to refuel hydrogen trucks when they become available from the likes of Hyundai, Toyota and Iveco/Nikola. Ulemco is offering conversions so that conventional diesels can run on a 20% blend of hydrogen. “With a back-to-base fleet of heavy vehicles,the economics are getting more favourable,” says Griffin. “This site has proved the concept, so it would be possible to repli11.5.20

cate it on a truck depot. This is a shared-access site because two bus operators use it, but bus companies want refuelling on their site. From an economic point of view, that is the best way to do it and then you could look at public access at certain hours. We have proven the model of how to operate a station with 99.6% average availability since this site opened in March 2015.” The biggest restriction on dropping in a refuelling station making clean hydrogen from renewable electricity is, however, how much power is available. Kittybrewster uses 1.4MW to produce 15kg of hydrogen an hour and a bigger station able to supply a fleet of trucks might need an 8MW, or even 10MW supply. One way to maximise daily production while minimising the size of the grid connection and the cost of electricity is to build in more storage capacity, so the electrolysers only run at night when there is cheaper renewable electricity available. “The way it seems to be going is that you oversize the electrolyser for the demand and have intelligence in the system, so that when electricity is cheap or there is surplus capacity on the grid it switches on,” says Griffin. “For the first year Scottish & Southern Energy had a balancing system that would run the plant when there was surplus electricity from their wind farms. “Ideally we can produce hydrogen when prices are cheap or even negative, as we have had on the odd occasion, and store it at a multi-tonnage scale.”

Stumbling block

Apart from the cost of the vehicles and clean hydrogen fuel, the other stumbling block to fuel-cell electric heavy trucks is the weight and size of the long cylindrical tanks needed to hold 40kg hydrogen at 350 bar. “The only place on a single-deck bus is on the roof, but double-deckers don’t have that height so you lose the back window and the tanks go at the back,” says Griffin. “Nikola can storm ahead in the US because at the back of the unit there is loads of space, which is not the same in the UK. With a 6x2 there is little room and no one wants to give up payload or space. It is a challenge, and part of the reason cars are so far ahead as they don’t have those issues. For larger vehicles more needs to be done and the next funding investment needs to look at storage. We have the heavy Type 4 tanks that are expensive, big and weigh a lot because they need to be so thick. “We need to understand if they can be made lighter, hold more pressure, or be made square. People said two years ago they didn’t see hydrogen as the future but they are now investing a lot of time, money and effort into making these products work for hydrogen.” ■ MotorTransport 15

MT Awards 2020 shortlists Safety in Operation Award MT profiles the shortlists for this year’s awards Air Products

Air Products set itself the ambitious goal of being the safest industrial gas company, with a target of zero accidents and incidents and a philosophy that all accidents are preventable. It has 353 drivers and 278 vehicles making approximately 220,000 deliveries a year to customers ranging from large industrial sites to small leisure facilities. The firm upgraded its fleet to reduce incidents when manoeuvring in tight spaces or navigating city centres by introducing a customised system of cameras, sensors and audible warnings for drivers. With 85% of preventable vehicle accidents previously being a result of slow speed manoeuvring, this upgrade was designed to help reach the target of zero accidents and incidents. Our judges said Air Products had done comprehensive work on important and often forgotten low-speed safety and was making “good use of technology” to achieve its “very ambitious target”.

Balfour Beatty Plant and Fleet Services

Driven by its Zero harm ethos, Balfour Beatty has used technology to improve the safety of employees who drive for work, an approach that has since been followed by many other large fleet operators. Balfour Beatty operates a large fleet of vehicles that includes 750 HGVs and 2,000 LCVs. Of its 14,000-strong workforce, 9,500 drive on company business but including partners Balfour Beatty is managing the road risk of approximately 12,000 drivers. Its Zero harm policy means no injury, ill health or incident caused by work activities. In practice, this involved introducing a driver risk management system that includes a permit to drive scheme and driver behaviour telematics using a key fob, registered to each driver, allowing the company to identify who was driving a vehicle and how they were performing. Judges said Balfour Beatty was taking a holistic approach and was making “clever use of data management and technology to handle a large, complex group of drivers in a variety of vehicles”.

Bibby Distribution

In 2019 Bibby Distribution had its safest year on record, beating its already ambitious targets, as a result of the cultural shift across the entire business that has instilled ‘safety first’. Bibby’s 2019 achievements included reducing accidents by a third and recording its lowest ever number of lost time and reportable incidents. While the target reduction was 10%, reportable incidents were actually cut by 36% and lost time accidents by 39%.

16 MotorTransport