Transport & Logistics Issue 153

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TRANSPORT & LOGISTICS MAGAZINE

ISSUE 153

ISSUE 153

TRANSPORT &LOGISTICS D R I V I N G

T H E

I N D U S T R Y

GROUPAUTO

F O R WA R D

THE BUILDING BLOCKS OF SUCCESS : e d i s Also in cleansing service group Page 48

911 rescue recovery Page 18

Page 22

air canada cargo Page 38

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FUTURISTIC VISION THE FUTURE OF TECHNOLOGY IS ALREADY HERE f you’ve seen the film RoboCop you’ll know the future of our world, according to

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filmmaker Paul Verhoeven, is to be policed by cyborgs. This futuristic vision isn’t

PUBLISHER: Noah Quirke GROUP EDITOR: Daniel Stephens EDITOR: Ciaran Jarosz MAGAZINE MANAGER: Shane Kelly FEATURE MANAGERS: Stefan Drakes Eddie Hunt Dale Bain ART DIRECTOR: Steve Williams

too far-fetched when you think about it. Just how much do we already rely upon

computers in the way we work, communicate with each other, shop and socialise?

Technology is moving at such a pace that when 5G becomes the norm for mobile networking (as soon as 2020), we’ll be able to retrieve data at such high speeds that 100 HD movies will download to a connected device in one second.

The interesting thing is the technology that will change our world is already here.

Amazon for instance is trialling drones to deliver goods directly to your home, for example. Elsewhere, third party logistics provider ID Logistics, which looks after a

ART EDITOR: Stacey Brewer

number of high value goods for its customers, is using an innovative robot to watch

DESIGNER: Carla Taylor

over its warehouse.

CONTRIBUTORS: Jeff Senior

The e-vigilante surveillance robot from EOS Innovation has been brought in to enhance the security of its facilities. The mobile surveillance robot is designed to

PRODUCTION: Vicki Lindsay Lisa Pollinger

deliver 24/7 security with faster reactions and all-round mobility. Keeping its eye out

ADMINISTRAT0R: Lisa Barrans

moves at speeds up to 10km/h following pre-programmed routes.

ACCOUNTS: Nick Charalambous Transport & Logistics Magazine is published by: NQ Publishing, 6th Floor, Crown House Southgate, Huddersfield HD1 1DE Tel: +44 (0)1484 437300 E-mail: noah.quirke@nqpublishing.com www.tandlonline.com Transport & Logistics Magazine is published by NQ Publishing.

Company registered in England & Wales. All material is the copyright of NQ Publishing. All rights reserved. Transport & Logistics Magazine is the property of NQ Publishing. This publication may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form whole or part without the written permission of a director of NQ Publishing.

Liability: while every care is taken in the preparation of this magazine, the publishers cannot be held responsible for the accuracy of information herein, or any consequence arising from it. In the case of company or product reviews or comments, these have been based upon the true and honest opinion of the Editor at the time of going to press.

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for any anomalies, break-ins or unusual movement, the mobile, autonomous robot If it detects something unusual, the e-vigilante alerts an off-site security operator with both an incident report and real-time video feed. The security operator has the option of taking control of the unit to investigate further or take additional action if necessary. Response times are enhanced while site safety is also increased.

ID Logistics is currently using a number of these robots at its 25,000 sq m facility in the French region of Orléans.

DANIEL STEPHENS GROUP EDITOR

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CONTENTS

INSIDE SECTIONS NEWS

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ANNIVERSARY

8

RECOVERY

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AUTOMOTIVE AFTERMARKET REVIEW

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NATIONAL CARBON EMISSIONS REVIEW

44

WASTE AND RECYCLING

48

BUS AND COACH

52

PALLET NETWORKS

60

PUBLIC SECTOR

62

AWARDS

68

C2K

74

REMOVALS

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NATIONAL ROAD HAULAGE REVIEW

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LOOKING BACK AT...

84

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GROUPAUTO

FEATURES News The latest top stories

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Arighi Bianchi Quality products and services for 160 years

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Stag Lane Motors Growing business with key values

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911 Rescue Recovery Help is at hand

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GROUPAUTO The building blocks of success

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Kuehne + Nagel Gold standard

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Cleansing Service Group Waste solution specialists

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Perryman’s Buses More than 40 years of success

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D&G Bus Friendly reliable service

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999 Logistics Unique Logistic Solutions

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South East Coast Ambulance Service Right first time

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Islington Council Cleaner, greener council

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Air Canada Cargo Adapt, evolve, advance

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Chudley International Worldwide service, individual care

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Nelson Removals Removals & Storage

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Williams Haulage Logistics on demand

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Looking Back At...

The Shinkansen

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Follow us on

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911 RESCUE RECOVERY @TandLMagazine 2

TRANSPORT & LOGISTICS MAGAZINE

www.tandlonline.com

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CONTENTS

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CLEANSING SERVICE GROUP

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ISLINGTON COUNCIL

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AIR CANADA CARGO

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ARIGHI BIANCHI

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NEWS

MOVE TO REDUCE THE NUMBER OF TIMBER TRUCKS ON ROADS A Highland haulage company has been awarded almost £1million for a new water freight service that will reduce the number of timber trucks on Scotland’s trunk roads.

Transport Minister Keith Brown has announced £959,773 for Boyd Brothers Haulage Ltd, of Corpach, Fort William, to transport timber by sea.

The funding is aimed at removing more than 6,300 HGV journey from key routes, such as the A82 Inverness to Glasgow road and M74 between Glasgow and Gretna, during its first three years of operation.

The new service will transport sawn-timber produced at BSW’s recently opened sawmill at Corpach to Tilbury in the south-east of England.

Companies often consider transporting goods by road to be the most cost-effective method, however, the Waterborne Freight Grant will enable them to be transported by water, without the companies involved being out of pocket.

Mr Brown said: “This new water freight service will help to reduce the number of HGVs travelling on one of our most iconic scenic tourist routes.

“It will also contribute to the sustainability of Scotland by reducing congestion, carbon emissions, noise, accidents and damage to our road network.

“We realise that moving freight by rail or water isn’t always the most cost-effective option and this freight grant funding can bridge that gap.”

BSW Timber chief executive, Tony Hackney, said the company had invested £43million into its Fort William mill over the past five years, doubling its production output and creating one the largest and most advanced sawmill sites operating anywhere in the UK. He said: “This grant allows us to develop a sustainable logistics solution into the south-east of England to support more investment for Fort William.

“It will help us feed the demand for home-grown Scottish timber in a UK market traditionally dominated by imports, as well as significantly improving service to our customers across the country.

“The investment will also have a positive local environmental impact by reducing the number of lorries using the A82 tourist route and reducing local road congestion in Fort William.”

COMPETITION CAUSES ROYAL MAIL SHARE DROP The "harsh realities" of competition dealt another blow to Royal Mail's once-buoyant share price as it revealed a drop in half-year profits.

The company spooked investors with its warning that the UK parcels market will grow by much less than expected over the next two years due to the impact of Amazon's increased use of its own network for deliveries.

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Twelve months on from its controversial flotation amid much criticism, Royal Mail's shares now stand at about 430p, having slumped 8% yesterday and by 30% from a peak in February.

As well as facing fierce competition in its parcels division, Royal Mail warned that its six-day a week Universal Service faces threats from rivals.

TRANSPORT & LOGISTICS MAGAZINE

TOMTOM TEAMS UP WITH TRANSPORT EXCHANGE GROUP Transport Exchange Group now uses live vehicle data from the TomTom Telematics WEBFLEET system to enhance the experience of its members. This integration equips members with live information, such as vehicle location and status, which can be used to make use of available resources. Those registered with the freight trading platform can now efficiently promote the use of empty

vehicles using real-time positioning and status information taken from WEBFLEET. This not only maximises visibility of available resources, but also provides live load notifications based on actual vehicle locations. In addition, the integrated solution also generates automatic load status updates for trading partners to ensure complete transparency of the work undertaken for added peace of mind.

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NEWS

HAULIERS PRIORITY AT ‘DART CHARGE’

The Freight Transport Association (FTA) has called on the Highways Agency (HA) to give commercial fleet operators a priority in registering to use the new Dart Charge.

The new free-flow system at the Dartford Crossing will allow drivers to pay the crossing charge on a pay-asyou-go-basis or via the pre-pay Dart Charge system, which the HA said will offer savings of up to one-third for each journey. Delayed from its original October launch date, the FTA said the introduction of Dart Charge, while “good news” for operators, now comes at a difficult time for the industry due to Christmas peak.

Malcolm Bingham, FTA’s head of road network management policy, said: “We will therefore be looking for priority for commercial fleet

registration. We will of course be encouraging our members to benefit from the discounts available to them through this system.”

He added that the free-flow technology could not come “soon enough” as the FTA estimates the current congestion caused by toll booths cost £1 per minute per HGV in running costs to queue at Dartford.

Charges will increase once the freeflow system is in place: a two-axle goods vehicle will increase from £2.50 cash to £3.00 on a pay-asyou-go basis, or from £2.19 on the previous DART-Tag system to £2.63 on Dart Charge; while a multi-axle goods vehicle will see costs rise from £5 to £6 if paying on a pay-as-you-go basis, or from £4.33 on DART-Tag to £5.19 on Dart Charge.

NORTHERN IRELAND ROAD USER LEVY ENFORCEMENT FTA has backed the decision of the MLAs recent vote in the Northern Ireland Assembly against the motion opposing the introduction of the HGV levy for hauliers from outside of the UK to pay to use the Northern Ireland road network.

Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs) brought five prayers of annulment against elements of the Road Traffic Offenders Order, which required HGV’s at 12,000kgs and above from the Republic of Ireland and elsewhere outside of the UK to pay a fee to use NI roads; all five prayers of annul-

ment were defeated at the plenary vote at Stormont on the 4th of November.

Commenting on the decision the Freight Transport Association (FTA) stated that it was the “right decision” and highlighted that had the secondary legislation not been passed by the NI Assembly and the Minister for Environment that the Department for Transport (DfT) would put in place their own procedures to enforce the HGV Road User Levy. FTA also said that if it were not to be enforced in NI then infraction fines from the European Union were likely.

PALLET-TRACK RECRUITS Pallet-Track will increase its number of members to 80, after recruiting a slew of hauliers.

The network, which celebrated 10 years in business this year, will welcome long-term Pall-Ex member Massey Wilcox Transport into the fold to cover the BA and DT postcodes next September.

Leyton, London-based LT Baldwin

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Transport makes the move from The Pallet Network in the new year and will be covering the EC and N postcodes, as well as part of the E postcode in the capital.

Pallet-Track boss Nigel Parkes recently called for network member-to-member rates to rise, after his haulier-members voted through an increase.

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NEWS

FARM TRACTOR REGULATION CONCERN

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FAST-CASUAL DINING MARKET SHARE GROWS Agricultural hauliers have raised concerns about the lack of regulation in place to govern the increase in the weight and speed of farm vehicles.

From March 2015, the maximum combination weight for tractors and trailers will increase from 24.9 tonnes to 31 tonnes, with the speed limit for conventional tractors rising from 20mph to 25mph.

Mark Easton, director of G Easton & Son – an arable farming haulage

business – “I’d be the first to agree that the old agricultural rules were out of date.” However, he said he was surprised the government had not taken a driver’s age, nor competence into consideration when allowing them to drive larger, faster tractors.

Easton also believed the changes would not achieve the DfT’s projection of fewer road journeys due to larger permitted loads. “If you make it more

POLAND: EU’S LEADING INTERNATIONAL HAULIER Poland has consolidated its position as Europe’s leading international road haulage nation according to annual figures just published by France’s road freight data agency, the Comité National Routier (CNR).

Its trucking firms clocked up 147,274 million tonne kilometres (mtk) of international traffic movements in 2013, an increase of 10.5% on the previous year. Second behind Poland was Spain, followed

by Germany, although international

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traffic carried by hauliers in these countries declined by 0.4% (Spain) and 6.6% (Germany).

Polish hauliers alone now carry close to one-quarter of international road freight in the EU and increased their ‘cabotage’ activity by almost 40% in 2013, the CNR figures show.

They now have a 27% share of the EU ‘cabotage’ market, freight movements between two or more markets that do not includes the haulier’s home country.

TRANSPORT & LOGISTICS MAGAZINE

economically viable for agricultural vehicles to travel longer distances, then roads may well incur more agricultural traffic,” he said.

Owner-operator Vernon Hill also understood the need to increase weights and speeds for the farming sector, as technology has moved on since regulations were set, however he was concerned over the imbalance of regulations between hauliers and farmers.

GOVERNMENT PURSUES EU PORTS EXEMPTION The UK government is confident of securing an exemption for British ports from elements of the EU’s proposed ports regulation, says shipping minister John Hayes parliamentary reception.

Referring to the EU’s third attempt to introduce the Port Services Directive, he said: “The UK government will not want to

do anything that damages the vitality of the industry. We will work with employers, stakeholders, trade unions to resist this at every turn.”

Mr Hayes said that in four months, he had ‘come to appreciate’ the value of the UK ports sector. “As a government, we have undersold the ports industry,” he said.

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LEGAL LOGISTICS

OPERATORS BEWARE

NEW DRUG TESTING PROPOSAL

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t a date in the New Year, a new section of the Road Traffic Act 1988 will come into force creating an offence where a person drives a vehicle when (s)he has been prescribed drugs in their body above a set limit.

This is a similar approach to the current drink drive limit.

Until the law comes into force, a driver can only be prosecuted if they are taking drugs to the extent that they are so intoxicated, they are ‘unfit’ to drive. ‘Fitness’ is determined currently by an antiquated set of exercises, for example walking in a straight line and touching your nose. The current law is for this reason difficult to enforce against a backdrop of increasing drug use in society. The new offence will be designed

to make prosecution much easier.

It is very sensible to educate drivers of this impending change of the law because some drugs can be in their system for a long period of time.

Drugs taken for medical reasons, on a list given to the DVLA, may well be detected in the drugs test but it will be a defence if you can show that the drugs fit that category. In accordance with the proposals, it is a defence for a person charged with an offence to show that it is a drug that has been prescribed or supplied to the driver for medical or dental purposes; the driver followed the instructions and their possession of the drug before taking it was not otherwise unlawful under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971.

However the driver will not have the defence if

(s)he did not follow advice given at the time the drug was supplied to them, for example, advice as to the period of time for taking the drug and driving a motor vehicle. Similarly, if the instructions that come with the drug advise against driving, the defence will normally not be available.

It can immediately be seen that there is substantial scope for error and misunderstanding on the part of drivers. No doubt there will be some publicity from the DfT/Home Office before the new offence becomes law however it is a very good idea for the reasons set out above to start informing drivers now in a consistent way about the risks of both recreational and medicinal drug taking whilst driving.

For all related queries, please contact James Backhouse on 08450 575 111 or email james.backhouse@backhousees.co.uk www.tandlonline.com

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ANNIVERSARY: ARIGHI BIANCHI

QUALITY PRODUCTS & SERVICES FOR 160 YEARS

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ANNIVERSARY: ARIGHI BIANCHI

Brand new Euro 6 vehicles help furniture manufacturer and distributor Arighi Bianchi remain at the forefront of the sector From our one shop in Macclesfield, we do a tremendous amount of business,” proclaims Arighi Bianchi’s Distribution Centre Manager Steve Whiting. That amount of business means the company delivers to a wide customer base throughout the UK and Europe on a regular basis and has had recent consignments going as far as to Cannes, Monte Carlo, Switzerland and even Moscow.

The business is now 160 years old, having been established in 1854 by an Italian who started making barometers, moved on to furniture manufacture and now sell and distribute furni-

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ture from other companies to retail customers.

The emphasis, however, is on quality and that, as Steve recounts, is what has kept the company growing throughout the recession and beyond: “People know they’re going to get a quality product, a quality service and good customer service, which is what we’re noted for.

“If people are going to spend, they’re going to spend that little bit extra to get a quality product rather than buying something cheaper that’s not going to last. Some of our top of the range items have been selling really well and I think that’s where we’ve hit the market more than most retailers, because we do supply a quality product.”

That focus on quality extends to the distribution process, where the Macclesfield store is supported by three warehouses — two for furniture and another for soft furnishings and carpets — plus a fleet that comprises of eight 7.5 tonne DAF trucks, one 5.5 tonne Mercedes box van and two Sprinter-type vans. There’s also a separate fleet for the carpet side that is mainly Sprinter-type vans.

All stock comes in from manufacturers on supplier vehicles and is either pre-ordered by customers or goes into the warehouse as stock furniture that’s available for immediate delivery.

Customer orders are either placed at the shop,

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ANNIVERSARY: ARIGHI BIANCHI with people coming from all over the country to view, or via the website. Although the company carries an extensive stock, that doesn’t apply to higher priced items due to variants of colour, size and style, so around 50% of deliveries are from stock and the rest are special orders.

Deliveries are made directly to customers’ homes and certain items need to be built there and properly installed. “When we deliver, it’s a full service where the product is set up in the room and adjusted to the customer’s satisfaction,” remarks Steve. “Employees undertake driver training and product training. When new products come in, they all have to be familiar with them so that everybody’s aware of how things are assembled and what they should be looking for, so it’s on-going.”

The driver training includes CPC courses and there are elements of careful driving and driver awareness training, with each driver spending a full day every year refreshing driving techniques and similar topics. That’s tied in with the company’s Masternaut system as well as the instrumentation inbuilt for the company’s two new DAF Euro 6 vehicles that monitor driver behaviour.

They enable driving performance to be checked in order to save on fuel and maintenance costs, and that’s helped by each driver having their own vehicle and being responsible for it.

Steve says: “We get to know each vehicle and can look at them when they come in for their service and safety checks. If there’s something being repeated, like wanting new brake pads more than any other vehicle, we can keep a check on it and take action.”

These types of actions aren’t only taken for cost reasons because Arighi Bianchi takes its car-

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ARIGHI BIANCHI TAKES ITS CARBON FOOTPRINT SERIOUSLY AND MAKES STRENUOUS EFFORTS TO REDUCE IT bon footprint seriously and makes strenuous efforts to reduce it. “It’s something that we do look at from all aspects,” explains Steve. “We recycle all the packaging that comes in and there is a lot that. All the cardboard and the polythene we bale onsite, the polystyrene is all separated and we try to recycle some of the returned fur-

niture as best we can in partnership with DHL.” The company’s shop is a landmark feature in Macclesfield and is a special historic interest listed building so there are restrictions on what can be done there. Nevertheless, LED lighting and more efficient heating have been installed and there are, as Steve outlines, plans to replace two

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ANNIVERSARY: ARIGHI BIANCHI of the warehouses with a larger and more efficient version: “We’re looking to move into a larger A rated warehouse locally within Macclesfield. We’re looking at things all the time to try and improve, and the

THERE IS AN ONGOING ASSESSMENT OF NEW TECHNOLOGY TO JUDGE ITS SUITABILITY FOR THE BUSINESS warehousing is paramount because a bigger place is needed due to the business doing so well. But we’ve also looked at the grading of it and it’s an A rated warehouse so that will cut down on fuel for heating and lighting.”

In the same way as for the shop, there are limits on the efficiencies that can be gained from routing and scheduling due to the need to deliver customer orders, often over long distances, within a set time.

Similarly, the size of the company means the use of hybrids and alternative fuels are currently impractical because of the areas covered, the upfront costs and the lack of reliable and cost-effective technology to support them. Nevertheless, there is an ongoing assessment of new technology to judge its suitability for the business and Arighi Bianchi has acquired its first two Euro 6 vehicles that were intended to replace others as part of the company’s five-year replacement policy. But the original trucks were in good order and so have been kept on to increase the fleet and help deal with the upturn in business.

www.arighibianchi.co.uk Telephone: 01625 613333

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“We need the new vehicles to meet legislation that’s due to come in,” remarks Steve. “If they start bringing this Euro 6 legislation in for all the cities, we have to be able to supply our customers with the furniture and keep on top. It’s still early days, because we’ve only had them on the road a month, but just having a look round the vehicles and seeing how they operate, they do meet with what we need from them.

Hopefully, with the fuel savings, the running costs and other benefits, they’ll achieve what we want.”

The drive for quality means the upturn in business is continuing and so the aim, Steve emphasises, is to capitalise on that: “We’re looking at a larger warehouse, to increase the fleet and we’ve taken on new drivers and warehousing staff so it’s all looking good and very much going forward. We are a growth company that is looking for other options available within the country.

“As business increases, we have to keep pace with it so hopefully we can increase the fleet and the staff and keep everything going now we’ve got through this sticky patch of the recession.We are still a family company; it’s still owned by the Bianchis and run by the family. They are hands on and, even though there are about 130 of us now working for the company, they know everybody by their first name. They are proactive in running the business along with all the managers in the shop or the warehouses.”

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ANNIVERSARY: ARIGHI BIANCHI

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RECOVERY: STAG LANE MOTORS

GROWING BUSINESS WITH KEY VALUES

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RECOVERY: STAG LANE MOTORS

Family run workshop and recovery business Stag Lane Motors prides itself on its dedicated workforce and down to earth, hardworking attitude We’re an old fashioned company and that’s the way it is on the island,” proclaims Stag Lane Motors’ Alan Stay.

“We’re down to earth and have good people working for us. A lot of customers come here through recommendations and that’s the best way to pick up business. If we’re not doing the job right, it doesn’t mean a thing.”

The company is typical of many family businesses, started small by Alan’s father with a shed and an old van in 1964 on the Isle of Wight. Now it’s grown to providing repairs and servicing from cars to HGVs, MOTs, a VOSA testing station, Iveco truck dealership and vehicle recovery.

Alan, who looks after the workshop and recovery while sister Janet Grist is administration manager, says: “The heavy commercial side of the business is growing and we’re unique on the island for our heavy recovery side because we have a lot of experience and equipment

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www.staglane-motors.co.uk Telephone: 01983 522443

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that no-one else has. If there’s something really tricky, we have the specialist gear to do anything in that field.

But it’s not just the gear, it’s having years of experience.”

That experience came in handy in October 2012 when a car went over a 300 foot cliff and needed to be removed from a picturesque spot popular with tourists.

The main problem was the crumbling cliff edge and the solution, reached after extensive study and preparation, was to create a gantry from an old truck chassis with a crane winch attached to help pull the vehicle up the cliff.

The time and ingenuity involved in the successful recovery led to the company being nominated by the Institute of Vehicle Recovery for the Bill Jackson Award.

It’s a 24/7 operation with a recent through the night recovery of a fully loaded artic that had overturned, involving six operatives and three recovery vehicles. It is, to some degree, different to mainland work with no motorways to contend with but instead a tendency for dust carts to go into ditches on narrow

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RECOVERY: STAG LANE MOTORS

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RECOVERY: STAG LANE MOTORS lanes. Nevertheless, contracts with the police and various breakdown companies, such as Green Flag and Britannia Rescue, require Stag Lane to have high standards.

“We have Hazchem and I can’t think of anything we can’t recover,” remarks Alan. “Our operatives are trained by the Institute of Vehicle Recovery and we do some of it as part of driver CPC.” Many recovery operations require careful planning and liaison, especially when there are fatalities and close co-operation with accident investigators. Alan believes ‘the bigger the job, the slower it moves’ but, irrespective of that, the company brings the same level of care and attention to all jobs. He says: “It’s for our reputation because we don’t want to do a job that goes wrong. On a small island, everyone soon knows about it so we want to do it right every time.”

The work’s undertaken with a twelve-strong fleet that includes an ex-army Foden recovery truck, a big underlift, a Holmes twin boom, a crash unit, service vans and spec lifts. Replacement vehicles tend to be obtained when something suitable becomes available but, again, the position is different when working on the island. “The condition of the trucks is more important than their age,” remarks Alan. “We have a six-wheeled Ivecoe that’s 1998 but like new and perfect for over here. On the mainland, they’re running newer fleets but working in a different environment and clocking up more miles on motorways. We’re smack in the middle of the island and can never go more than eighteen miles

THE DIVERSITY AND STANDARD OF SERVICES HAS CARRIED THE COMPANY TO ITS FIFTIETH ANNIVERSARY

from base so we run slightly older vehicles.”

The diversity and standard of services has carried the company to its fiftieth anniversary and enabled it to come through the recession largely unscathed despite a drop in breakdown company business as motorists cut back. It was also helped by a principle of paying outright for everything and so having minimal debts while the recession, as Alan recalls, generated additional work as the local bus operator changed its policy: “They used to do external commercial work and decided to cut that part of their business back and stick to their core bus work. Out of that, we picked up quite a few customers and the commercial side started to grow from there.”

That led to the creation of the VOSA testing station and a shortage of space that has resulted in the acquisition of a nearby property for additional parking. “We want to grow naturally,” comments Alan.“We can advertise as much as we want but it’s down to what we do. If we don’t do things right, especially on an island, people will know but if we do a good job, people will come and we’ve picked up quite a bit of business that way.”

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RECOVERY: 911 RESCUE RECOVERY

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RECOVERY: 911 RESCUE RECOVERY

HELP IS AT HAND

Reliable, Flexible and Experienced, 911 Rescue Recovery has the Expertise to Meet all Maintenance Requirements 11 Rescue Recovery, based in Glasgow, offers a number of key services to help motorists in their hour of need. This includes breakdown assistance, puncture repair, car and motorcycle recovery, light commercial vehicle recovery, mechanical services and storage services.

Providing 24-hour coverage, 911 works seven days a week to ensure it meets and often exceeds its customers’ needs. Covering the Glasgow and West Coast region, the company provides a range of solutions but specialises in light vehicle recovery.An emergency rescue and recovery on and off road service is also available along with motorcycle recovery and mobile tyre fitting.

Operating a modern fleet of vehicles from service vans, low angle slidebeds and underlifts as well as full covered slideback, three-car transporters and accident units, 911 is equipped to meet a range of requirements.

The 911 workforce is proud of the exceptionally high levels of service that it provides and every member of the team always goes that extra mile to assist customers. Currently, there are 49 members of staff employed including several female recovery technicians. The recovery team has been highly trained to ensure that your vehicle is recovered swiftly, profes-

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sionally and with minimum delay.

The award winning business was established by Stephen Greenhorn in 1998 who utilised his vast amount of motor industry experience to build the sizable business that 911 Rescue Recovery has become today.

Stephen first started out as a workshop mechanic before moving into the vehicle recovery business 12 years ago.

His vision to create a 24-hour breakdown and accident recovery service now means that his vehicles have become a welcome site for stranded motorists on the roads across Central Scotland.

The company’s state-of-the-art communication and navigational equipment has been installed at the company's headquarters and into every vehicle in the fleet.The call centre now responds to around 30,000 call outs every year and you'll not be kept waiting any longer than necessary when you make that urgent call.

The company motto is “Help is at Hand” and customers who rely on the services offered by 911 include some of the biggest names in the business. The AA, the RAC, Green flag, Mondial Assistance, various large local private fleet operators and Strathclyde Police all put their trust in 911 Rescue Recovery.

The head office can currently house more than 300 cars and the fleet of 40 recovery vehicles within a

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RECOVERY: 911 RESCUE RECOVERY

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RECOVERY: 911 RESCUE RECOVERY secure storage facility which ensures that a customer’s vehicle is protected in the event of it being recovered.

Enhancing the company’s capability is the addition of a depot on the Fallside Industrial Estate in Bothwell.This has further improved 911’s ability to recover any vehicle up to 3.5 tonne including light commercial vehicles while covering short and long distance recoveries. The company is committed to providing fully qualified technicians to ensure roadside assistance where possible to avoid full recovery if it can to ensure minimum disruption to a customer’s day or evening.

The company’s modern, flexible fleet certainly helps its endeavours. Vehicles include fully covered

THE COMPANY IS COMMITTED TO PROVIDING FULLY QUALIFIED TECHNICIANS TO ENSURE ROADSIDE ASSISTANCE

www.911recovery.co.uk Tel: 0141 423 1919

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slide bed transporters, versatile spectacle lifts, low approach loading angles, service vans, a motorcycle unit, 4x4's, quad bikes and Unimogs.

Remote control winches and soft webbed straps are all standard features on 911’s trucks which enable the team to carry out safe and efficient recovery of all types of cars, vans, and motor homes.

The deluxe passenger cabs can accommodate six people in comfort and include child restraints. If a customer’s vehicle has been involved in an accident and is comprehensively insured, 911 can recover and store

the vehicle saving any further worry.

911 also offers a specialised recovery service providing assistance for all prestige, classic and high value vehicles. The company uses super low approach slide bed vehicles or fully covered transporters to ensure that recovery is not only swift but that every care is taken to protect a vehicle from any damage.

In addition, 911 has a modern and innovative commercial services division offering breakdown and repair services for industries such as coach hire and haulage.The company provides first class service that's second to none to ensure that vehicles are off the road as little as possible.

The brand new commercial centre is fully equipped with diagnostic and electronic brake testing equipment, digital and analogue tachograph sales and servicing. The 911 technicians, who all enjoy many years of experience, carry out MOT testing on all vehicles, including class 4, 5 and 7. 911 also provides annual VOSA testing for trucks, trailers and buses.

Tom O’Rourke, Managing Director at MV Commercial, has been using 911’s commercial services for the last six months and has been delighted with the service.

“The company have been carrying out MOT testing and tachograph calibration on our trucks at their VOSA-Authorised Testing Facility based in Bothwell, near Glasgow. During this time we have found them to be excellent to deal with; friendly, professional, accommodating and with a refreshing outlook on business.

Our only regret is that we did not establish a relationship years ago!”

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AUTOMOTIVE AFTERMARKET REVIEW: GROUPAUTO

GROUPAUTO

The company providing the building blocks for your business and the foundations for your success riginally founded by Arnold Parker as the Factoring Services Group (FSG) in April 1974, the organisation then joined with GROUPAUTO International in 2002, with over 160 approved suppliers across 29 countries and a sales turnover in excess of 4.8 billion Euros per annum. Now serving as the largest, most reputable and industrywide acclaimed trading group within the aftermarket, GROUPAUTO boasts an individual UK turnover of £450m, making it a true powerhouse in the motor industry.

Leading the way in helping independent distributors to remain independent, but benefit from the processes typically associated with large corporations, GROUPAUTO believes strongly in the freedom of choice for: suppliers to deal openly with Europe's foremost Trading Group, independent members to choose preferred Tier 1 suppliers, independent garages to service and repair vehicles under warranty and for vehicle owners and operators to have their vehicles serviced where and when they choose – not simply what is most convenient for the manufacturer.

Detailing the sheer scope of the group and the associated benefits, GROUPAUTO explains: “The group currently has over 580 distributors and continues to grow.

This means increased buying power and extensive UK and international operational experience. Interaction between countries, market segments and members is an integral part of an open and fluid philosophy where best practice is identified and ideas are shared to add measurable value.”

No other trading group within the UK even comes close to the sheer size, scope and capabilities of GROUPAUTO, providing its members with incredible buying group savings which feed all the way down the supply chain, right to their respective independent garage customers. Through the commercial vehicle parts distributor programme operated by GROUPAUTO, GTruck, independent distributors are able to operate locally, regionally and collectively as part of the national Trading Group of over 80 distribution depots – this

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AUTOMOTIVE AFTERMARKET REVIEW: GROUPAUTO essentially allows independent distributors to share the business benefits of belonging to the G-Truck Network such as group buying benefits and the GTruck Service Promise.

Commenting on the benefits of the G-Truck Network, Martin Sangster, Commercial Manager of CV Products at GROUPAUTO explains: “GROUPAUTO has a brilliant model which can be of huge commercial benefit to all our members, on both sides of the operation. Basically, on the one hand we have agreements with most of the major components suppliers in the Commercial Vehicles sector. We agree high volume discounts with them which allow us to provide access to these parts of our own distribution channels at very competitive costs than would be available to them directly. On our distribution side we have a range of G-Truck distributors and factors, who source their parts directly from our approved suppliers. This cuts out the hassle for our distributors and allows for optimum delivery times. The big difference however is that the supplier then invoices GROUPAUTO for those parts delivered to our factors.

“What this means is that our distribution operations get great prices for the parts they source through the GROUPAUTO system, and only have one single invoice to cover all of the components they buy, independent of how many direct purchases they make from any of our suppliers. We consolidate all their purchases and send a single itemised invoice, this saves them hugely in terms of admin and management costs, as well as attracting a much better level of discount than they could ever agree on their own.

“To support our commercial vehicle distribution chain we also have a series of Top Truck garages, who are approved GROUPAUTO members and who can source the components they need through our brand-

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GROUPAUTO HAS A BRILLIANT MODEL WHICH CAN BE OF HUGE COMMERCIAL BENEFIT TO ALL OUR MEMBERS ed G-Truck supply chain. And then, to support the garages themselves, we have a breakdown operation, which means that any vehicle that is brought in through the GROUPAUTO recovery service is recovered to one of the 27 approved Top Truck garages, thus stimulating their businesses, as well as driving business through the factors from which the garages source the necessary parts.”

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Through supporting smaller, privately owned organisations, GROUPAUTO is able to assist these organisations with maintaining their individuality and often even the personal values and morals of smaller companies, whilst leveraging the added-value of a huge world-wide brand, which means that smaller companies can still maintain a prominent market presence and industry reputation at a fraction of the cost and without changing the nature of the business itself. In addition, this also means that companies who simply cannot afford to buy in large bulk quantities, which would result in the benefits of economies of scale, can do so through GROUPAUTO's systems and be able to offer equally competitive pricing as large, multinational or global brands.

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Martin also adds: “We work with all our members to help them re-brand their premises with GROUPAUTO and Top Truck branding, which helps us to reinforce our brand image nationally, and helps them to boost their own market recognition. It really is a win/win situation, they are affiliated to a nationally recognised brand, whilst still retaining complete independence. We are always looking expand our national coverage into new geographies and territories and work closely with our existing partners to help them to maximise their own local business.�

Through Top Truck UK, a division of the European workshop programme, possessing over 550 workshops across the globe, GROUPAUTO is able to support independent businesses with a comprehensive programme of

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support so that they can compete effectively against many of the industry giants and weather increasingly difficult conditions, strong competition and the increasing technical nature of the market. The programme itself offers a variety of services and support such as: image and branding, IT software solutions, marketing, technical and business training, commercial vehicle roadside assistance, a rapid-response recovery programme throughout Europe 24 hours a day, 365 days a year and the benefits associated with the Top Truck Apprenticeship Programme and IRTEC Accreditation Programme.

As part of a large, multinational organisation, Top Truck garages provides a partnership which truly benefits the independent garage, on which David Moore from HTF Commercial Repairs

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gives his input: “The Top Truck partnership works both ways, although we are still 100% independent we benefit from the group infrastructure and image which benefits small businesses. The corporate clothing is great and we are proud to be part of a larger team.

Conversely, Top Truck is strengthened by companies like HTF and the resource that we bring to the network.”

GROUPAUTO IS ABLE TO SUPPORT PARTNER GARAGES WITH A STEADY FLOW OF INCREASINGLY SKILLED OPERATIVES

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Commenting on the Apprenticeship Programme, GROUPAUTO explains: “We have recognised the lack of apprentices in the CV garages and have now launched our own apprenticeship programme. This ensures our Top Truck network will always have good quality, well trained technicians in our partner garages.”

Through such works, GROUPAUTO is able to support partner garages with a steady flow of increasingly skilled operatives, support local communities through additional apprenticeship opportunities and chances for career development and even support the industry as a whole through supporting it with an array of highly skilled individuals.

Through providing organisations access to Top Truck's fully inclusive branding package to assist organisations with areas such as: building signage, vehicle livery, workshop painting, reception desks, as well as branded work wear and stationery. With additional funding support made available for independent garages to re-brand their premises and vehicles with the distinctive Top Truck branding, any organisation, be it large or small can benefit from the increased publicity and brand recognition of Top Truck - “The Top Truck garage network is one of the best in the industry, so as a Top Truck garage you need to shout about it,”

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AUTOMOTIVE AFTERMARKET REVIEW: GROUPAUTO explains the company.

Further supported by Top Truck's comprehensive marketing programme, garages are able to utilise Top Truck's marketing materials to promote their brand further, as well as increase the overall branding benefits already mentioned.

Marketing materials made available to independent garages include: branded promotional items and point of sale material, template software to create personalised material for individual brands and services and the usage of On Route Magazine, the commercial vehicle magazine distributed through “Commercial Vehicle Workshop” and “Transport Engineer”. Carl Haslam from Haslam Commercial Services comments on some of the benefits achieved through utilising Top Truck's marketing materials: “Joining the Top Truck network has elevated our business to a different level, giving us a clear brand and image that is recognised as the market leader in independent aftermarket servicing of commercial vehicles.”

In addition to promotional support, GROUPAUTO also assists businesses by giving them confidence in the parts which they utilise, whilst also essentially ensuring that all of these parts are of the highest standard of quality – this is done through allowing independent garages to purchase parts through G-Truck distributors stocking an assortment of OE Quality parts at competitive prices not typically available to smaller organisations. Further detailing this process, the company explains: “GROUPAUTO make sure that all approved suppliers to the group provide assurances to the quality and suitability of the components they intend to supply. Being the UK's largest trading group, they

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also secure the lowest prices for their members without compromising on quality.” Further supported by the buying power made available to independent garages, GROUPAUTO ensures that massive savings can be made consistently, whilst not compromising quality of effectiveness due to the rigid quality guidelines laid out by the company itself.

Though not as widely known as GROUPAUTO's purchasing and promotional support, the company also provides significant benefits for independent garages through comprehensive fleet management software.The soft-

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ware, which is set out to target the increasing demand for digital software as an essential tool in the modern workshop. The Blue Crystal Rental Fleet Management System (RFM) allows garages to gain quick and accurate access to customer and vehicle records, accessible easily with a few simple clicks. Through utilising the system, garages will be able to transition from less reliable and less efficient wall planners and excel spread sheets, to the new high-tech solution, on which Chris Elliot, Lufton Commercials comments with his personal thoughts: “The aid of having everything going through one operat-

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ing system has made revisiting old jobs so much easier and retrieving information faster. Gone are the days of trawling through countless old invoices or spreadsheets.”

Having established new lead-generating website and garage network, ApprovedGarages.co.uk in 2013, GROUPAUTO has also being making great moves to support organisations with increased business traffic and opportunities.

Now catering for over 450 garages and seeing a share of £2.6m of new business in just 18 months, the scheme has evidently achieved great success and is a credit to the GROUPAUTO name. The network, which comprises of independent garages built on a trust from the outset has a carefully selected member-base which is

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regularly vetted and assessed so that motorists can rest easy and have confidence when maintaining their vehicles in addition to directing extra work to local garages – a scheme which truly benefits all.

Detailing the Approved Garages Network further, the company explains how the network works and is managed for the benefit of both the motorist and the garage in question: “At Approved Garages we use only O.E. or matched quality parts and lubricants when carrying out service or repair work to our customers’ vehicles. Not only will this ensure that we don’t invalidate your vehicle’s warranty, but also that your car is in a safe running condition giving you peace of mind when on the road.

Quality, reliability and safety is at the forefront of our mind and when it comes to providing a quality level of service you can look forward to both, high quality workmanship and excellent customer service.

Managed by a team of knowledgeable expert mechanics, each garage is fully equipped with the latest electronic diagnostic equipment and tools.

All work is carried out to vehicle manufacturer approved standards, ensuring that your car will get you to your destination safely.”

Through research into the success of garages, GROUPAUTO has found that despite popular belief, it is those garages which are conveniently located, with exemplary level of service and professional standards for staff and serv-

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ices which determines the success of a garage, not simply being the cheapest available. Through the AutoCare garage programme, GROUPAUTO is able to support independent garages in achieving this through a wide range of supporting services. Through offering support for areas such as: branding, quality parts, software, marketing, lead generation and training, Commenting specifically on the importance of training services and professionalism displayed by employees, GROUPAUTO explains: “New Technology in cars entering your garage means it's more important than ever for your technicians to have the latest knowledge through additional training on the job.”

In celebration of its forty years in operation, this year GROUPAUTO held its annual trade show, gala dinner and awards ceremony at the Harrogate International Centre (HIC) over the 2nd and 3rd of October. In the build-up to the event, Jim Mazza, Managing Director of GROUPAUTO explained: “HIC in Harrogate is the perfect venue for our combined trade show and annual conference as it is not only superbly located, equidistant between London and Edinburgh, but is a fittingly prestigious venue to celebrate the trading group’s 40th anniversary. The recent trend of growth for the event continues and in common with the last two, this year’s event will be our

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“IT'S MORE IMPORTANT THAN EVER FOR YOUR TECHNICIANS TO HAVE THE LATEST KNOWLEDGE” biggest ever, with 120 approved suppliers already confirmed as exhibitors for Friday’s trade show.

“The event actually ‘tees off’ on Thursday, with a golf day and then an open meeting for members from MAM Software, held at The Majestic Hotel, which is followed by an evening buffet. The trade show opens bright and early at 08:30 on Friday morning in halls M & C and runs through to 16:30. The event closes in style with our traditional gala dinner and awards ceremony held in the Harrogate Royal Hall from 19:30. So

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we look forward to welcoming our members and approved suppliers to what I’m sure will be a memorable and enjoyable event.”

Bringing together an incredible blend of social activities and business into a single occasion, GROUPAUTO’s celebrations at Harrogate were a momentous success, with members and approved suppliers alike noting their enjoyment of the event and celebrating the success of GROUPAUTO on its 40th anniversary. Suppliers were also invited to embrace the Past, Present, Future theme and celebrate key milestones in their company’s heritage. Large canvas exhibits and memorabilia such as vintage vehicles and old car parts were on display throughout the show,

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adding to the nostalgic theme and highlighting just how much the times have changed in terms of manufacture, design and technology in the aftermarket industry.

After the trade show at the Gala Dinner the winners of the annual GROUPAUTO awards were celebrated amongst over 400 suppliers and members who stayed to see out the event in style. Jim Mazza introduced Bob Ackroyd, Commercial Director of Operations who presented the supplier awards, Martin Sangster, Commercial Manager – G-Truck then presented the CV Member of the Year awards with Toby Whewell, Commercial Manager - Sales presenting the final award for Automotive Member of

the Year.

For the G-Logix Supplier of the Year award, the team assessed voting criteria including sales performance, availability, additional support, marketing, logistics and the availability in the warehouse for a minimum 12 month period. G-Logix is GROUPAUTO’s own distribution centre, which is another channel through which members can purchase products. There were nominations for Steel Seal, Hammerite (AkzoNobel), Formpart, HPC and Corteco, but it was Hammerite, the metal paint specialist who edged ahead and won the award. Built upon a foundation of combined science and experience, Hammerite is unlike any conventional paints and

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AUTOMOTIVE AFTERMARKET REVIEW: GROUPAUTO can be applied directly onto metal without using a primer and undercoat first: “It's as easy as that!

Hammerite Metal Paints require minimal surface preparation before application and offer long lasting protection, plus a great looking finish for both interior and exterior metal finished,” explains Hammerite.

In addition to the G-Logix Supplier of the Year award, nominations were also collected the GROUPAUTO Supplier of the Year, as voted for by the GROUPAUTO Members themselves, with nominations being accepted for: Autoelectro, Wix, Apec, First Line, Juratek, GLogix, NGK, Mahle, Lumag and FPS with Apec successfully winning the award and both Wix and Mahle coming in as joint runners up. As a firmly established leader in specialist braking supplies to motor factors, Apec has an astounding reputation for quality and service: “Apec always goes the extra mile,” states Apec.

For membership awards, the structure of the voting criteria for the CV Member of the Year covered areas such as loyalty to approved suppliers, input to group, the use of added value, attending meetings and conferences and support for Top Truck garages with nominations coming in for: H S Atec, Industrial friction Services, Anglesey Commercial Spares, Cunnigham Truck Parts, CV Parts, David Huggett Motor Factors, Commercial Motor Products, Big Wheels, Hydrair and HGV Truck & Trailer with David Hugget Motor Factors Taking the Win, with Industrial Friction Services coming in second.

For the Automotive Member of the Year award, criteria was judged on a year-on-year spend through the Bureau and G-Logix, the number of AutoCare & Approved Garages and growth, the use of the added value items, GXpert garage involvement and attendance at AutoCare & GROUPAUTO events with nomi-

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GROUPAUTO’S CELEBRATIONS AT HARROGATE WERE A MOMENTOUS SUCCESS WITH MEMBERS AND APPROVED SUPPLIERS ALIKE nations for: Abbey Motor Factors, Antrim & Mac Autoparts, Bedale Motor Factors, Bridgend Motor Factors, Dorset Auto Spares, FMP Motor Factors, G D Components, LDS Motor Factors, Livingston Auto Parts and Oak Road Motor Factors. Through a relatively close competition, the award was presented to LDS Motor Factors, with Bedale Motor Factors taking the runner up position.

Though already proving to be an incredible event for people to behold, GROUPAUTO also managed to successfully raise an impressive sum

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of £4250 for the charity “BEN” in association with the gala dinner, turning a day of great enjoyment for those working in the industry into one also aimed to helping those in need of support, advice and care during hard times. Jo Jones from BEN said: “Many thanks to all involved at the GROUPAUTO event who contributed to a wonderful fundraising effort that totalled over £4,250. This will go towards providing support for colleagues across the industry facing circumstances they and their families would otherwise struggle to cope with.We have already had some

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companies come forward to discuss ongoing opportunities to support BEN through performance related giving which enables you to donate to BEN through linking it with your business success.”

BEN, which exists to provide care, support and advice to those in the automotive industry who need help in times of hardship and distress provides a wide range of different types of support for those in need.

From helping with the cost of specialist disabled equipment for a child, giving emotional support through an illness to funding a respite break for workers and their partners, BEN is there to help all those who work within the sector and improve the level of support on offer for those struggling to cope.Through the support of its volunteer network and of fundraising support from key partners such as GROUPAUTO, BEN is able to provide a service which provided much security and stability for those working with the automotive industry: “BEN is a very unique charity and one of the reasons we stand out is because of the huge team of volunteers who support us each year, to help maintain our care and welfare services, as well as our fundraising activities and administration. Volunteers are the lifeblood of BEN, and without their commitment, drive and skills, we could not afford to do everything we do,”

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explains the charity.

Concluding with an incredible performance from the Rockabellas, the evening with GROUPAUTO went down tremendously with all those involved, for which the company would like to thank Sarah, Pippa and Lizzie for ending the event on a wonderful note including new and old hits in tribute to the heritage theme, brought further to life by the many historical photographs, advertisements and memorabilia on display during the event. In addition,

GROUPAUTO MANAGED TO SUCCESSFULLY RAISE AN IMPRESSIVE SUM OF £4250 FOR THE CHARITY “BEN” GROUPAUTO would like to thank CMM Events and all the GROUPAUTO staff involved in making this year's event even more incredible than ever before.

Chris Chaplin, Commercial Manager – Marketing for GROUPAUTO gave his thoughts on the day and commented on the feedback from suppliers and members who attended the event: “We were very excited about coming back to Harrogate as the Harrogate International Centre (HIC)

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is a great venue and the atmosphere in the town makes holding the trade show, gala dinner and awards ceremony there, a real pleasure.

“In using three of HIC’s four largest halls – two for the show and the other for the gala dinner – visitors could be left in doubt of the scale of the event, which for a UK aftermarket expo is second only to the CV Show and with 120 approved suppliers pulling out all the stops, it was an action packed and lively environment for 200 delegates from 120 GROUPAUTO motor factor members to come and reaffirm relationships and place orders.

“Several suppliers reported that the level of business concluded at the show this year had surpassed previous events as there seemed to be a real desire to do business, rather than simply browse the

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aisles, however interesting the various stands.

“This ‘business first’ attitude was also reflected in the effort that suppliers put into attracting members, with competitions and promotional girls aplenty, themed stands like that of Mahle’s and an amazing three-metre wide digital screen, which captured the spirit of the heritage theme that underpinned the whole event, on Autoelectro’s award winning stand.”

Looking to the future, GROUPAUTO will continue to define and redefine what it means to be an independent organisation operating within the automotive sector, as well as the sheer scope of support made available to both member organisations and reputable, high-quality providers of crucial automotive parts, services and other associated elements. Though the

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automotive industry is as unpredictable as the weather, GROUPAUTO provides all the support necessary for organisations to weather the hard times, as well as, through charity works assisting those working within the sector to do the same.

With the UK economy now in times of recovery, it is expected that both GROUPAUTO and its members will now be able to take great advantage of the opportunities being made available to them – no doubt something which GROUPAUTO will highlight and offer increasing support for these organisations to assist them.

Though some things are never certain, one thing is – independent organisations operating within the sector need never be alone, or feel stranded amid a competitive market and no hopes of success, not while GROUPAUTO exists.

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NATIONAL CARBON EMISSIONS REVIEW: KUEHNE + NAGEL

GOLD STANDARD Kuehne + Nagel is committed to providing a significant influence on carbon reduction, setting and achieving demanding environmental targets time after time

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arge logistics companies have a significant influence on carbon reduction. That applies to Kuehne + Nagel which has 63,000 employees in over 100 countries, is the number one global seafreight forwarder, second for airfreight and contract logistics and in the top three of European road freight providers.

So it is important that Kuehne + Nagel sets and achieves demanding environmental targets and so far this year there’s been a 10.6% reduction in CO2 emissions per employee against a 3% target.

That’s across the company’s UK estate, mostly warehouses, and results primarily from two initiatives: retro-fitting energy-efficient lighting in three of the larger Regional Distribution Centres and, as Environmental Manager Martin Johnson recounts, savings resulting from an employee suggestion: “We have adopted ‘cool-wash’ techniques for

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cleaning of food trays for retail clients.This process was trialled last year, is fully implemented now and has resulted in a 32% reduction in gas usage.”

For vehicles, the aim is to improve fuel efficiency by 1% annually, though this target has already been beaten, with actual savings of 2.9% this year for the 1,250-strong fleet. It’s been achieved though new vehicles, aerodynamic fittings, telematics and an on-going driver training and awareness programme.

Kuehne + Nagel is working to a longer-term global strategy, which aims to have replaced 10% of fossil-fuel with renewable energy sources by 2020. So far in the UK, the company has installed one Photo-Voltaic array and others are planned.

In addition, there has been significant progress on switching to using renewable transport fuels.

“We’re currently increasing our use of LNG dualfuel vehicles and have just commissioned our first

bulk tank at a strategic location in the Midlands,” comments Martin.

“Conversions of more Euro V vehicles are underway and will be in our fleet by the end of the year. We’re running a successful dual-fuel trial with used cooking oil and also have a fully electric 7.5 tonne vehicle in London with a range of 100 kilometres. It has been integrated into the fleet and is working days and nights, seven days a week on an extensive multi-drop operation. We’re also powering a refrigeration unit off that as well.”

New technology is seen as a means of further reducing emissions and that will include continued roll-out of intelligent heating and lighting controls.

The efforts made so far have been recognised and rewarded: Kuehne + Nagel has held the Carbon Trust Standard continuously for four years.

The company is also one of the biggest users of inter-modal rail from UK ports to inland terminals

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NATIONAL CARBON EMISSIONS REVIEW: KUEHNE + NAGEL and is looking to further increase rail use by 2020.

Much of the company’s environmental strategy is based on collaboration. Martin says: “We’re collaborating with competitors, customers and other bodies to produce a common global methodology for the calculation of freight carbon emissions across all modes. It’s clearly going to become a competitive issue and already customers are asking what we can do to take carbon out of their supply chain.”

WE RECOGNISE THAT THERE IS A STRONG DEMAND FROM SHIPPERS TO BE ABLE TO MEASURE EMISSIONS ACCURATELY

www.kn-portal.com Telephone: 01895 552000

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Collaboration includes being founder members of the Freight Transport Association’s Logistics Carbon Reduction Scheme and the Global Logistics Emissions Council, where it’s been able to influence National Government and European policy and objectives.

“We recognise that there is a strong demand from shippers to be able to measure emissions accurately and to compare emissions between logistics operators,” remarks Martin. “We have committed to providing transport emissions data to customers for their own internal and external use; for example carbon labelling or Carbon Disclosure Project submission.That, over the next two or three years, is going to be a very big area for us as customers start to become more demanding and many will see the achievement of carbon neutral

supply chains as realistic aspiration and ultimately as a USP. I think that this will be a big talking point in the logistics industry over the next few years.”

When Kuehne + Nagel and shippers have done as much as they can to reduce supply chain emissions, the company provides a ‘Gold Standard’ carbon offsetting service that’s very simple to use and is cost-effective compared to alternatives.

It is now using its internal technical specialists in conjunction with a major customer and a respected academic institution for carbon optimisation of the supply chain. That, as Martin outlines, has revealed carbon saving opportunities that vary between countries: “For example, the UK and Germany have different key performance indicators. Although both economies are mature and extremely organised from a logistics point of view, in the UK demand is dominated by retailers whereas in Germany manufacturers dominate. For this reason plus geography, histories and culture, the supply chains are very different. So we analyse customers’ supply chains in detail, in individual countries, and come up with a plan for each market.”

The next stage, he confirms, is to start producing emissions data in advance of shipment: “We’ve just launched a global seafreight calculator so a customer can see what their emissions are going to be in advance rather than after the event. We have the data to be able to provide options depending on the carrier that shipment might be routed via and, within the next two or three years, we will have a sophisticated option to select different origins and destinations.”

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cleansing services group.qxp_feature 2 02/12/2014 16:50 Page 48

WASTE AND RECYCLING: CLEANSING SERVICE GROUP

WASTE SOLUTION SPECIALISTS Cleansing Service Group celebrates it’s 80th anniversary as one of the most reputable waste management companies in the UK

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WASTE AND RECYCLING: CLEANSING SERVICE GROUP ow celebrating it's 80th anniversary, Cleansing Service Group (CSG) is one of the most reputable, renown and oldest waste management companies within the UK. Though starting from a relatively modest beginning in 1934 to empty cesspits in the Southampton area, the company has since grown tremendously and become one of the largest privately-owned industrial and domestic environmental waste management groups in the UK. With a policy to pursue organic, steady and carefully planned growth, CSG has invested very sensibly in purpose-built waste treatment facilities to target anticipated future demands and to suit a dynamic tactical business acquisition strategy. As

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testament to CSG's careful planning and development, the company has seen a dramatic increase in the number of sectors in which it operates, including areas such as metal recovery, chemical waste, oil recovery, treatment of difficult wastes, spills response, Total Waste Management programmes, the printing industry by-product recycling, industrial tank cleaning and much more, with each arm of the business performing incredibly.

Now operating from its head office in Fareham, CSG now operates from 24 sites stretching from Cornwall to Kent and up to Manchester and Middlesbrough, providing industrial customers with a number of advanced facilities such as: the largest liquid waste treatment capacity in the UK, an award-winning Best Available Technology (BAT) centre for treating hazardous wastes and recovering valuable raw

materials, an environmental landfill site at Pound Bottom and a large fleet of specifically designed waste road tankers.

Due to the expertise displayed by CSG, the company has a reputation for tackling the most difficult of problems and through pulling on a wide range of technical sources for support. The company has been able to develop a range of innovative services to cater for the needs of its clients. Chris Febrey, Group Operations Manager for CSG further details this with an example of such activity: “We've just launched the CSG spill kit and spill training, so we will go into a company and undertake training on how to deal with a spill and supply them with the products to deal with that spill as well. We spotted a gap in the market and a lot of our customers would come in saying: 'we've got a spill,

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WASTE AND RECYCLING: CLEANSING SERVICE GROUP

services as well as a spills department who cater for the spill of fuel or hazardous waste.”

Despite rough trading conditions for all companies within the sector, CSG has surprisingly been able to enjoy an uninterrupted pattern of growth and profitability, providing incredible security for both workers and stakeholders in the businesses. As testament to the company's success in the past year, the company has successfully achieved a number of key goals, such as being named Employer of the Year in the annual Salford Business Awards competition and being voted Hampshire Company of the Year, whilst increasing the scope, quality and corporate responsibility of all CSG's operations – essentially meaning that CSG has proven the ability to excel in all areas a company should, during a time where many businesses have still been struggling to cope at all.

Though many companies have been forced to overlook sustainability and environmental goals, CSG has maintained complete dedication to the cause, as explained by the company: “Waste creation, and its ultimate disposal, remains one of industry’s top environmental impacts and is subject to increasingly tough legislative demands. This, in turn, is presenting specialist waste management companies with new challenges, especially in the field of recycling and resource recovery, inspiring them to commit to the goal of sustainability rather than mere disposal by anticipating future trends (and legislation) and developing innovative technologies in favour of the environment. This commitment underpins CSG’s entire set of strategic goals.” Through pioneering waste management solutions, the company has been able to offer clients a service which greatly supports their own environmental policies and has earned a reputation for the sheer innovation and quality of these solutions.

how do we stop it from happening again?' We've got three or four guys who have gone through training on how best to deliver those training courses too.”

Having been working at CSG for approximately 10 years now, Chris Febrey started out as a tractor driver for the company and has since built up a wealth of experience and expertise in the sector – as a result he now serves as the Group Operations Manager, looking after all the operations of the business from sewage operations through to industrial operations, the fleet itself, over 24 depots and much more.

Offering its services to a number of key clients around the UK, CSG works with many leading, household names on Total Waste Management packages, for which it has become quite renown, additionally: “We work with a number of the UK's largest supermarkets, looking after their petrol garage forecourts,” adds Chris. Through working with such reputable and prominent organisations, CSG has been able to build up a solid relationship with such clients, who continually come back to the business because: “We offer a good service and an added value, where we can take some of the administration that they currently do and do that for them. We offer extra services such as working out waste returns for them and we have a 24 hour service that we run for vehicles and emergency

WASTE CREATION, AND ITS ULTIMATE DISPOSAL, REMAINS ONE OF INDUSTRY’S TOP ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS

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www.csg.co.uk Tel: 01489 782 232

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cleansing services group.qxp_feature 2 02/12/2014 16:51 Page 51

I’m really impre e ed ess National ac a cident and refurbishment management

Office graphics

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You never get a second chance to make a first impression Wyke offers a full range of services that help you make that all important positive first impression. From specialist accident repair and fleet management to vehicle wrapping and signs and graphics, Wyke offers superior quality at competitive prices.

This enables our clients to strengthen their reputation with a polished image.

Whether you’re a multinational company with a fleet of vehicles, an owner of a retail store who wants to attract the very best customers, or even a car enthusiast who wants to be the envy of your friends, you’ll find being a Wyke customer very impressive indeed.

You will also be impressed by our ability to provide comprehensive solutions tailored to even your most demanding needs and budgets.

Impressed? Then give us a call on:

0161 777 9191 www.wyke.co.uk info@wyke.co.uk Huntsman Drive, Northbank Ind Park, Irlam, Manchester M44 5EG

Commercial bodyshop • Fleet services • Signage and graphics • Vehicle wraps

perrymans buses.qxp_feature 2 03/12/2014 16:37 Page 52

BUS AND COACH: PERRYMAN’S BUSES erryman’s Buses is an award winning bus and coach company based in Berwick-Upon-Tweed in Northumberland. The company is proud to have been voted the Best Small Bus Operator in the UK at the Route One Operator Excellence Awards in both 2011 and 2013. These are the premier national awards for the coach and bus industry.

However, Perryman’s has continued to enjoy success elsewhere. It was also a finalist at the UK Bus Awards in the Top Independent Operator category and an Eastern Borders Development Association (EBDA) winner in what was a very successful 2013.

In April this year it was formally presented with the EBDA award for its outstanding achievements in the previous 12 months. The prestigious ceremony took place in Berwick Town Hall with representatives from EBDA, Scottish Borders Council and Northumberland County Council in attendance.

The EBDA Award is made annually by the Eastern Borders Development Association to a person or organisation who or which, through skill or effort, has made an outstanding contribution in social, economic or environmental fields in the past 12 months.

Director of Perryman's Buses, Richard Perryman, commented, “Receiving this award is a great honour for which our whole team can be immensely proud.

Being presented with such a prestigious award in Berwick Town Hall is one of the highlights of our 41 years in business.”

The company began in 1972 when Richard Perryman, along with his father, started the business with two taxis. They serviced the transport needs of those in the small Scottish fishing town of Eyemouth

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MORE THAN 40 YEARS OF SUCCESS Award Winning Perryman’s Buses leads from the front having been voted Best Small Bus Operator in the UK

www.perrymansbuses.co.uk Tel: 01289 308719

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BUS AND COACH: PERRYMAN’S BUSES

before purchasing their first minibus a year later. This was the start of their great journey together, laying the foundations that would see Perryman’s Buses become one of the most respected family owned bus and coach operators in the country.

Over the last 42 years the fleet has steadily grown to over forty vehicles. With the emphasis firmly on quality not quantity, Perryman’s vehicles now include a stunning selection of 'low floor' public service buses and luxury touring coaches.

As well as private hires and school contracts the company also operates the town services in and around Berwick-Upon-Tweed and various cross-border routes including services to Edinburgh from depots in Berwick Upon Tweed and St Boswells.

Due to the increase in size of the business Perryman’s depot moved from the small village of Burnmouth in Berwickshire over the border into the Northumberland town of Berwick-Upon-Tweed in 2002. It now has a purpose built company headquarters with modern workshop and office facilities to accommodate developing business. In the summer of 2013, the company ventured back over the border, opening a new Scottish Borders depot in the village of St Boswells.

To enhance the service in the last couple of years, Perryman’s trialled a number of vehicles from various manufacturers. Extensive research and trials were carried out in 2012 and 2013 to determine the best vehicles for the company’s services with acute attention paid to reliability, fuel efficiency and safety. Perryman’s eventually identified the Optare Versa model as a front runner after evaluation of each vehicle.

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BUS AND COACH: D&G BUS

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BUS AND COACH: D&G BUS

FRIENDLY RELIABLE SERVICE

Despite impressive growth over the last 26 years D&G Bus have retained their core ethos and show that a friendly smile goes a long way

he general approach of D&G Bus was set when founder Gerald Henderson, who sadly died in 2006, drove buses in the early years, greeted passengers with a friendly smile and provided assistance.

The vision then was to offer ‘friendly, reliable and personal bus services’ as an alternative to the service provided by the big operators and, according to joint founder and Managing Director David Reeves, that continues today: “We started in 1998 and, since then, we’ve grown but I like to think we’ve kept the core ethos of friendly drivers because it makes a big difference if you smile at people.”

The growth has come through an increasing focus on scheduled bus services after starting as a coach and bus company, although the last coaches were disposed of in 2003.

There has been some school contracts work but the focus went into establishing a commer-

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cial bus service network and scheduled services are now the core of operations.

The business is split over two companies — D&G Bus that provides services in Cheshire and Staffordshire, and South Lancs.

Travel that covers Wigan, Bolton, St Helens, Leigh and Farnworth. The latter company operates 43 buses while D&G Bus has 58, ten being minibuses for a demand-responsive transport service known as ‘D&G Little Bus’.

“That’s a contract we won last year,” recalls David. “In rural Cheshire, we’re providing an element of bus services to passengers where their original bus service may have been withdrawn. Passengers have to book the day before but, if they need to travel and haven’t access to a car, an element of public transport is available.”

Each bus operates within a particular area between set times and the actual route is variable depending on passenger needs.Those passengers must register for the service and book

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Creating operator value through smart technology When bus operators such as D&G Bus look for ticketing technology

ing operator sharing our vision of a smart-enabled future.

that is robust, reliable and value-adding, they turn to Parkeon and its

“Increasingly, our on-vehicle platforms are not only driving fare collec-

Wayfarer portfolio of on-vehicle systems.

tion systems but acting as the data hub for a wide variety of allied tech-

Parkeon’s Wayfarer ETMs continue to lead the way in dual reading both

nologies. In the case of our most recent innovations in the areas of Real

ITSO concessionary and commercial smartcards, with top-up enabled

Time Information and Fleet Management, the effect is a lower cost and

on-bus, on-street, over-the-counter and via the internet. Increasingly,

more accurate solution than is achieved with conventional architecture

however, the in-built GPS and mobile communications functionality is

- this is just the sort of operational efficiency that operators value and

also being used to support Real Time Information, fleet management,

indeed need to compete effectively.”

vehicle displays and vehicle efficiency monitoring.

The company is also actively engaged in rolling out highly innovative

The company has been at the forefront of automatic fare collection

mobile ticketing projects, with its Wayfarer200 system future-proofed to

technology for almost 40 years and is proud to be the long-term ticket-

process both NFC and EMV payments. In the hand-held devices arena,

ing systems partner of D&G Bus, which operates a fleet of over 100

Parkeon units are capable of cash and contactless smart card transac-

buses, with main depots in Crewe and Manchester.

tions, payment by chip and PIN credit/debit card and contactless EMV.

Working alongside D&G Bus, Parkeon has delivered an ITSO-enabled

The hand-held can also being used as a fixed retail outlet solution

ticketing system founded on the TGX150 platform and a dynamic back-

supporting ITSO contactless smartcards and period-based paper tickets.

office system. The operator also benefits from regular service visits from

Equally importantly, these multi-device and multi-protocol transactions

Parkeon engineers.

are capable of being processed via a secure hosted back office service

D&G is certainly in good company. In recent times, Edinburgh Tram,

developed by Parkeon - a facility that offers a cost-effective solution for

Blackpool Transport, Newport Transport and the Worcestershire-wide

individual operators while strengthening the company’s position as the

scheme have all selected Parkeon technology.

leading ITSO bus ticketing system provider with the broadest UK coverage.

Says Gavin Trimnell, Head of Sales and Marketing at Parkeon: “We’re delighted to be working closely with D&G Bus – they are a forward-look-

www.parkeon.com

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BUS AND COACH: D&G BUS the bus on a first come, first served basis. The challenge is to manage the bookings to plan the optimum schedule, which is handled by a route planning system.

The ideal aim is to maintain a fleet less than ten years old and David says: “We have a reasonably updated fleet, particularly at D&G. We now need to focus on the South Lancs. fleet and, if we buy new buses, that’s where they will generally go.”

An exercise has shown that replacing some bigger buses with new models could potentially

“We’ve just won a five year contract with Cheshire East and, as part of that, we’re providing a new bus. When it was three years, we couldn’t do that although the cost of hybrids means we need longer contacts of 7-8 years. The bus industry is very competitive so I’m not sure the money’s there but we need to investigate further.”

Good maintenance keeps the buses running efficiently and that’s ensured by each depot having full servicing facilities. The Crewe depot, having celebrated its tenth anniversary, is now mov-

WE HAVE LESSONS TO LEARN, BUT WE TRY TO DELIVER A FRIENDLY, RELIABLE SERVICE THAT PASSENGERS WANT save £7,500 each a year despite them being relatively low mileage vehicles. There is also interest in hybrids but their initial purchase cost makes them difficult to justify and requires long contracts for them to be feasible. Nevertheless that situation, confirms David, is improving: “Contracts are being awarded for longer periods and various authorities are regularly giving fiveyear contracts. That means we can have a more grown-up approach to vehicle replacement.

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efforts to maintain the level. “We have a merit award system so drivers who go the extra distance are rewarded,” outlines David.

“We have lessons to learn and don’t pretend to be perfect but we try to deliver a friendly, reliable service that passengers want.We look at complaints and reliability, we invest in new vehicles and we have WiFi on some routes.

Passengers mainly want to make a journey because of need and our biggest competitor is the car, not other bus companies.”

The only real way to get people out of their cars and onto buses, he believes, is to run high fre-

ing to a new purpose-built location due to redevelopment of the original site. Although the new depot is smaller, it has three-bay facilities, a rolling road and all equipment necessary for a modern bus operator to keep vehicles running.

Constant at each depot is a good management team and staff who keep standards high.

Given the initial and ongoing aim to provide a friendly, reliable and personal service, that’s essential and the company makes strenuous

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BUS AND COACH: D&G BUS

quency services so customers aren’t waiting long.

Since the company tends to operate in rural areas, that’s not possible due to there being insufficient people to justify such a service. The solution is to maintain a high quality service that people want to use, improving it to some degree by the use of technology.

David says: “We have ticketing systems that provide a wealth of information. We can tell how many passengers have caught the bus, how many have got on and off at each stop. We have Green Road on all buses, which is useful if we have an accident or get complaints when people say the bus didn’t turn up at the right time because we can check.

“We have electronic destination equipment and CCTV in most of the fleet. We put cameras in all new buses and we’ve fitted cameras to all vehicles less than six years old. We’ve certainly got about 60-70% of the fleet with cameras now and moving towards 100%.”

With the problems of high fuel prices having receded to some degree, the bus industry still faces major challenges that have reduced its income.The first of these is the concessionary fare reimbursement resulting from the introduction of free travel for the over 60s. The unexpected success in terms of increased passenger numbers has caused successive reductions of the reimbursement amount to cut costs, resulting in the original 75% of the adult fare going down to 40-50%.

The other main challenge has been the bus service operators’ grant, which two years ago went down 25%.

Together, as David outlines, the changes have introduced

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uncertainty: “You can argue the merits of whether we should have it but that’s beside the point. The issue is we build a business to run on a certain amount of money. The income was a known amount and it’s uncertain where it’s going in future so it’s very unsettling.

“We can’t, for example, buy hybrid buses without a degree of certainty over the income stream. Like anything, we make decisions on fares based on that and, if we’re getting more for our concessions, we can avoid putting paying passengers’ fares up as much. Any business wants a certain level of income and, as concessionary fare reimbursement has significantly reduced, paying passengers are effectively subsidising the free travel.”

The business has changed recently, with two elements — D&G Longton and Liyell — sold. That’s enabled a consolidation of the remaining operations,

WE HAVE ELECTRONIC DESTINATION EQUIPMENT AND CCTV IN MOST OF THE FLEET which David expects to continue, saying: “As a small business, we don’t make a complicated strategic vision but focus on our local level. If there are opportunities at that level, we will do our best to take advantage. We have a nice steady business and, over time, want to consolidate what we’ve got and perhaps buy some more nice buses.”

www.dgbus.co.uk Tel: 01270 252970

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BUS AND COACH: D&G BUS

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999 logistics.qxp_feature 2 02/12/2014 09:51 Page 60

PALLET NETWORKS: 999 LOGISTICS

UNIQUE LOGISTIC SOLUTIONS Offering a quality, fast and reliable service that is second to none, 999 Logistics operates a secure delivery service 24 hours a day worldwide

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PALLET NETWORKS: 999 LOGISTICS

99 Couriers is a unique logistics solution company based in Kent. It offers a dedicated service that is regarded by its customers as second to none in the reactive and planned logistics market. Specialising in all loads, from heavy goods to a single document, 999 operates 24 hours a day throughout the UK, Europe and worldwide.

The company has established itself by building a quality reputation for providing fast, reliable and secure express courier deliveries, specialising in UK and worldwide direct express delivery services. A significant part of its success is due to its committed approach to responding to its customers’ needs and providing them with almost any type of delivery service they may require. Whether it’s an envelope, multiple pallets or temperature controlled consignments, 999 strives to make express deliveries stress free.

Services include same day responsive courier, rapid response delivery, air and sea freight worldwide. Indeed, 999 was established with proven expertise from all corners of the transport industry to create a solutions service that would excel in a truly door to door service. The company’s experience and capability allows it to respond and dispatch a solution all day, every day, whether it be a rapid response motorcycle or a 7.5 tonne curtain-sider.

The high standards and reputation 999 operates to, means that its service is competitive and comprehensive enough to work with an assortment of industries and company profiles, from local businesses to multinational PLC’s.

Significantly, 999 is proud to be the sole licensee for United Pallet Network, distributing and inputting palletised freight in and around the ME and TN postcode areas.

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“999 PROVIDES A PREMIUM AND ECONOMY COST EFFECTIVE SERVICE” By being a member of one of the UK’s premier pallet networks, 999 can offer its customers wider options and solutions to their logistics requirements whilst remaining under the 999 brand, customer service and ethos.

999 provides a premium and economy cost effective service moving palletised freight nationwide via a qualified network. With the widest range of pallet definitions available and the UK’s premier track and trace technology available to all customers, 999 in partnership with UPN brings customers a first class service to enable it to continue to deliver on its motto: “Working to keep your customers, your customers.”

Most recently, 999 opened a new depot in the heart of Medway City Estate, highlighting its ongoing growth and continual investment.

The new facility will be linked directly to the head office enabling a full service of vehicles, IT and freight forwarding solutions directly to customer’s doors. As part of its ongoing customer service programme, the company’s business development manager Neil Ellwood spoke to all 999’s customers to tell them about the added benefits of the new depot. This investment again shows 999’s commitment to offering the best possible service to customers.

A proud moment for the company this year was when it featured on BBC News when the national TV channel highlighted 999’s exemplary service during a period of severe weather. www.999courier.com Tel: 01732 884499

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south east coast ambulance.qxp_feature 2 05/12/2014 09:59 Page 62

PUBLIC SECTOR: SOUTH EAST COAST AMBULANCE SERVICE

RIGHT FIRST TIME

South East Coast Ambulance Service prides itself on providing a quality service and value for money ncreasing pressure on NHS budgets is made more pronounced by greater demand and enhanced patient expectations. But financial pressures, insists Justin Wand, Head of Fleet Operations at South East Coast Ambulance Service, won’t distract from the main focus: “Understandably our prime motivation is on patient care, maintaining quality whilst delivering value for money has to be about effective use of our resources and ruthlessly avoiding duplication of effort.

“Society’s expectation of what we do is also increasing, in rising to that challenge we’re making good headway in taking forward a clinical framework and technical support infrastructure to do that.

Patients will benefit as they will have a more joined up experience through a more efficient ‘high performance’ system - all everybody wants a more efficient

I

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system don’t they?

South East Coast Ambulance Service is a statutory NHS ambulance service covering Kent, Surrey, Sussex and North East Hampshire. It responds to about 680,000 emergency calls and undertakes approximately 400,000 non-emergency journeys per year.

The 800-strong fleet comprises emergency ambulances and fast response cars, the former generally covering 500,000 miles in their seven-year average lifetime.

“We have the obligation of responding to patients whilst negotiating traffic calming measures, increased road use and congestion” says Justin. “We need to get to 75% of life threatening calls within eight minutes, the target providing the best survival outcome for people who have a cardiac arrest outside hospital.

That’s a really significant focus for the team, making sure we have a robust operational fleet that’s well maintained, using airline style preventative mainte-

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PUBLIC SECTOR: SOUTH EAST COAST AMBULANCE SERVICE

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PUBLIC SECTOR: SOUTH EAST COAST AMBULANCE SERVICE

nance regimes also ensures that vehicles are as available as often as possible.”

Vehicle availability is also being improved through a ‘Make Ready’ initiative, a pit stop process if you like! It involves every ambulance being washed, stocked and maintained at a purpose-built centre after each shift. The vehicles are then posted into a plan covering strategic locations where historic data indicates incidents is most likely to arise.

These Make Ready sites resemble large warehouses, five have been built so far as part of a multi – million pound programme to replace old ambulance stations and ensure response posts are in areas where they are best suited to demand. Its one element, as Justin explains, in a

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plan to improve overall performance: “We’re about two-thirds of the way through an efficiency drive but as our activity increases about 7% each year being able to absorb this increase in activity through improved productivity management is a real testament to the efforts our staff are making.

SECAmb were the one of the first ambulance Foundation Trust’s in the country, this allows more commercial freedom and the opportunity to operate in an astute manner rather than the traditional ambulance service model that was constrained by outmoded processes and logic in terms of business acumen.

“We’re able to re-invest savings directly into frontline services and achieve best of breed outcomes for patients. We have Critical Care

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Paramedics working on intensive care ambulances and specialist Paramedic Practitioners who focus on managing chronic conditions in the community. We’re also trying to manage our demand imaginatively and that includes us being one of the few ambulance services in the country also responsible for the NHS 111 non-emergency system. That alignment of functions enables us to join up the various elements of the process and really add value for the patient.”

Technology is playing an increasing part in improving efficiency and performance, ambulances being viewed as communication hubs that not only contain life-saving equipment but also capture and record vital information about patients and other aspects. “We are embarking on a substantial innovations project exploiting technology, developing ‘connected’ vehicles so we can capture all patient and maintenance interventions at point of completion,” states Justin.

“If those interventions don’t happen in a resourceful and cohesive manner that has an impact on the clinician and may adversely affect patient care. If things go wrong, we want the ability to track back through the whole process and learn from errors so we can continually

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Proud to support SECAMB ossetts Commercials, a Mercedes-Benz commercial vehicle dealer for Sussex & Surrey have been supplying and maintaining the complete range of Mercedes-Benz products from the Citan through to the Actros for over 20 years for all sizes of businesses, all the way from sole traders up to major fleets.

South East Coast Ambulance Service (SECAMB) has been a valued and loyal customer of Rossetts for over 15 years and during this period both companies have developed an extremely close working partnership.

This relationship has developed to such an extent that it involves all aspects of Rossetts operations, including Vehicle Supply, Servicing, Parts Supply and Vehicle Rental.

Rossetts were very pleased to have been selected to supply SECAMB with a fleet of 14 Citan vans which will be used for internal transport within the operation.

One of the key benefits of the Citan is that with servicing from only ÂŁ6.33 per month, this outlined the low total cost of ownership.

To add to this Rossetts has a dedicated hire division, Rossetts Rentals. With access to over 800 vehicles, the fleet of Mercedes-Benz vans and trucks encompasses specialist vehicles such as refrigerated sprinter box and panel vans as well as 7.5tonne freezer bodied vehicles. Supported by 4 branches covering the South Coast – Aldershot, Crawley, Eastbourne and Worthing...

R

...Rossetts have got you covered.

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PUBLIC SECTOR: SOUTH EAST COAST AMBULANCE SERVICE

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PUBLIC SECTOR: SOUTH EAST COAST AMBULANCE SERVICE

improve what we do.

As part of this agenda an holistic approach to road risk management centred around the vehicle and the driver is being introduced. We’re installing a driver behavioural system into the vehicles, the first in the UK, which enhances normal vehicle telematics and adds driver behaviour metrics as well as vehicle data from the engine, allowing us to improve driving standards as well as reconstruct critical incidents.”

Additional information is made available through electronic patient records that are replacing manual

JUST BECAUSE WE’RE AN EMERGENCY SERVICE, WE CAN’T DISREGARD THE EFFECT FUEL PRICES HAVE UPON US

www.secamb.nhs.uk Telephone: 0300 1230999

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paper-based records. They deliver improved business intelligence by capturing in real-time using tablet devices details of clinicians’ and support teams’ actions. Justin says: “That should give us the opportunity to analyse the pathway through to the patient and, when the patient has any interventions done, we can record those and learn from that data.

Through this approach we can really support our staff, highlight areas where they need additional development as well as recognise outstanding performance.”

Whilst the well-being of patients is always the priority, that doesn’t prevent the service focusing on its environmental credentials and in particular fuel efficiency.

It’s helped by the fact that only about 5% of the 17 million miles each year are under ‘emergency response’ conditions and gives provides for significant opportunity to reduce the £6.6 million annual spend on fuel.

A recently introduced dynamic speed controller will ensure staff drive in a more environmentally friendly manner when not responding on emergency.

This initiative is expected to save the Trust in the region of £800,000 a year.

In addition, the driver safety system involves a £2.2 million investment but has an estimated fifteen-month payback period. “Just because we’re an emergency service, we can’t disregard the effect fuel prices have upon us or the duty we have to protect the environment.” remarks Justin.

Alternative fuels and hybrid vehicles are also being considered but their operational viability will depend on the infrastructure to support them being available, enabling our services to be delivered in a reliable manner.The intention is always to put the patient first while looking at opportunities new technology can provide.

Reducing our carbon emissions is particularly relevant to the NHS since they affect people with respiratory conditions and give an extra reason to manage our vehicles fleet. Overall, it’s a sizeable project with many facets that will affect the whole culture of the service. These include realigning telematics with CCTV footage as well as triggering e-learning packages such as speed awareness courses for drivers who receive too many speed infringement points through the driver safety system.

The whole package, Justin believes, should deliver a more proficient service as well as one that’s better for patient outcome: “Changing technology, better system design, improving clinical skills, advanced interventions and refining workforce expertise means patients should have a much better encounter right across the care spectrum, not just for emergencies calls but for all ailments people have.”

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AWARDS: ISLINGTON COUNCIL

CLEANER GREENER COUNCIL Islington Council makes further progress in carbon reduction and fleet fuel efficiency

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AWARDS: ISLINGTON COUNCIL aving already made great progress in reducing its carbon emissions, Islington Council made further gains with the introduction of 29 hybrid vans to its fleet. In 2009, the council invested in eight Ashwoods hybrid vans which it used successfully for five years. The improvements in fleet fuel efficiency was such that 29 new vehicles have been added to increase the fleet size to 37. This makes it the largest hybrid light commercial vehicle fleet in the UK for a local authority.

The vehicles help the council drastically reduce carbon emissions. 22 tonnes of carbon and an estimated £48,000 in diesel fuel costs will be cut over the next three years.

Fleet and depot manager Chris Rutherford said: “Islington has been fully committed to greener purchasing for many years. With these hybrid vehicles we can green our fleet in a way that also reduces the burden on the public purse by lowering fuel spend.

“The vehicles perform well, reduce our fuel use and therefore save us money and lower our emissions. The drivers like them because they are hassle-free. There is no extra maintenance required, or extensive operator training.To the driver, they run just like normal Transits.”

The 3.5 tonne vehicles offer a flexible configuration making them ideal for an array of council tasks. Within the fleet, Islington has both panel vans and tippers which are used by the council’s Parks & Environment team for a range of operations from grounds keeping to waste and recycling collection.

Ashwoods’ Hybrid Drive technology reduces fuel consumption and carbon emissions by 15-25%.

However, unlike other hybrids or electric vehicles, it never needs plugging into a charging point. Indeed, the vehicles are designed to work for a range of customer needs without impacting upon users’ business operations or behaviour. And, Ashwoods Hybrid systems do not carry the risks associated with other low emission

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AWARDS: ISLINGTON COUNCIL

technologies such as limited range and prohibitively expensive battery costs.

Hybrid Drive, which the Ashwoods use, is a groundbreaking hybrid technology, developed, patented and brought to market by Ashwoods for light commercial vehicles. Using an electric motor or generator, the Hybrid Drive assists the vehicle in heavy load situations – reducing both the harmful emissions of CO2 and fuel consumption, as if the engine were running in a low load state.

Similar to Formula 1’s KERS (Kinetic Energy Recovery Systems), Hybrid Drive recovers the kinetic energy usually wasted through braking and deceleration – instead using it for battery charge. Formula 1 uses this recovered energy for additional power. Ashwoods uses it to assist the engine – lowering the loading and the resulting fuel consumption.

By communicating with the vehicle through the standard vehicle diagnostic socket, the Hybrid Control Unit activates the electric motor to assist when the engine is under load.

This is usually in urban traffic and at speeds of under 60mph, when the engine is at its least efficient. Once the engine is not under this load, the

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motor adjusts to act as a generator to charge the battery, using the energy that’s normally wasted during deceleration and braking. This creates a self-sufficient hybrid vehicle system that requires no plug-in charging.

Islington Council has been so impressed with Ashwoods’ solutions it is currently trialling its Lightfoot in-cab driver behaviour system.This software advises the driver, through real-time audio and visual aids, on how to best operate

which provided a subsidy of £3,430 per vehicle.

Unsurprisingly, given its efforts to reduce its carbon emissions, Islington Council recently won a Green Apple award for environmental best practice. The council, along with Project Centre, won a prestigious Gold Award for its work introducing the largest car club in the UK. The council sees car club members drive over four million miles per year. That’s unsurprising given that there are more than 10,000 members.

HYBRID DRIVE RECOVERS THE KINETIC ENERGY USUALLY WASTED THROUGH BRAKING AND DECELERATION the vehicle to aid fuel efficiency therefore reducing its reliance on diesel power. The technology is proven on average to deliver fuel consumption improvements of 15%.

Islington Council purchased the Ashwoods fleet through the Department for Transport’s Low Carbon Vehicle Procurement Programme (LCVPP),

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“Islington’s car club is a success story that councils across the country are copying,’ said Mark Raisbeck, Project Centre’s managing director. “Car clubs are one of the most cost effective ways of reducing carbon emissions and we are delighted that our work with Islington Council has been recognised.”

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AWARDS: ISLINGTON COUNCIL

Cllr Paul Smith, Islington Council's executive member for environment, said: “In tough economic times this is a way for the council to be on the side of ordinary people who cannot afford to buy and maintain a car.”

Car clubs have made significant contributions to organisations trying to improve their environmental efficiency. They have been successful thanks to the use of newer, cleaner cars compared to those on the road, while members generally drive less and often sell their own cars after joining. Thanks to the car club, Islington Council has contributed to a 4.5% reduction in carbon.

As the council looks ahead, it is committed to “greening” its entire fleet to ensure its operations are as environmentally responsible as possible. The council takes a comprehensive approach to reducing vehicle use, so as well as running a variety of alternative fuelled vehicles it promotes more sustainable staff travel and is piloting new vehicle technologies.

Initiatives include staff bicycle schemes encouraging them to use bicycles or electric scooters to get around the borough while the council’s fleet of electric cars, hybrid cars and LPG vehicles, are powered by renewable wind energy.

AS THE COUNCIL LOOKS AHEAD, IT IS COMMITTED TO “GREENING” ITS ENTIRE FLEET Its Highways service runs an electric Modec van, which is silent and creates zero emissions, while its entire diesel fleet has been running on UK sourced bio-diesel since 2006.

The council is currently piloting a scheme using pure plant oils straight from the source on buses and refuse vehicles, which use less fuel and significantly reduce emissions.

The majority of the council’s refuse and recycling fleet is now Euro V using Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR) to significantly reduce emissions from the heaviest polluters in the fleet, and its waste transfer vehicles are running on a combination of LNG and bio-diesel. Enhancing this is driver training where vehicle operatives are educated on the Government recognised SAFED course, which aims to both reduce accidents and reduce fuel consumption figures. In addition, a fully integrated GPRS system now helps to reduce ‘dead mileage’ through more efficient routing.

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www.islington.gov.uk Tel: 020 7527 2000

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air canada.qxp_feature 2 25/11/2014 13:03 Page 74

C2K: AIR CANADA CARGO

ADAPT EVOLVE ADVANCE Air Canada Cargo implements innovative techniques to deliver a first rate service and ensure high customer satisfaction

reputation for being first with initiatives is reinforced by Air Canada Cargo’s push to go electronic and eliminate paper. That’s combined with an insistence on completeness and dependability that, as Director of Operational Strategy Mike Morey confirms, can delay release: “We don’t want to come out with our e-booking solution until it offers everything. “We can do general commodity airfreight but want to offer special commodities. A benefit to customers is the ability to do specialised freight; there’s a lot involved in that so we want to automate the process.”

Typical of the emphasis on high standards is Cargo 2000 (C2K), which aims to implement quality air cargo standards worldwide, and where Air Canada has been involved from day one. That will introduce more rigour in operations through a formal measurement process of performance quality.

“One challenge is to determine how we evolve,” remarks Mike. “We have to adapt to changes in the

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regulatory environment. From a whole supply chain perspective, air mode not only has to maintain and enhance its relevance, we have to quantify and demonstrate to shippers and consignees the value to them.”

The intention is to make the process transparent to shippers so they can see where their goods are and how they’re moving. A main feature is a Master Operating Plan that is accepted as an IATA recommended practice. That provides a clear mapping of each step and interaction between them, identifying potential bottlenecks and problems so they can be overcome, enabling customs and security data to be provided in advance and generally delivering cost and time saving benefits.

Involvement with C2K is part of the process of continuous improvement that involves several internal developments. These include the creation of a customer experience department and a push for automation. “We’re always looking for more efficient ways of dealing with operational challenges,” says Mike.

Examples are a smart phone app to update ware-

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C2K: AIR CANADA CARGO house transactions, the imminent implementation of RFID technology and a ramp tracking system that minimises exposure of special commodities to the elements when transferring at the airline’s hubs. That’s important when specialised freight is part of the wide range of commodities carried on Air Canada’s scheduled passenger services to 158 worldwide destinations.

At the main Toronto hub, there’s an automated import prioritising system enabling operatives to identify which pallets need to broken down first and moved to the correct pick-up location. Mike says: “Technical and procedural advancements are starting to come together. We’re taking aircraft acquisitions almost every month that have a better and more consistent capacity so we’re not constantly dealing with variations in lift, giving us the best possible handling and consistency.”

They enable the cargo operation to provide dependability and consistency that are measurable and provable. And, believes Mike, they give Air Canada Cargo the edge: “We don’t promise what we can’t deliver and we help to streamline the process. If we can guarantee a consignment will be there at a particular time, it gives the predictability of pick-ups and deliveries, enabling customers to manage costs.”

www.aircanada.com/cargo Telephone: 001 5144222290

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chudley international.qxp_feature 2 02/12/2014 16:58 Page 76

REMOVALS: CHUDLEY INTERNATIONAL hudley International started in 1994 packing containers for architectural antique companies and the packing and shipping of antiques remains a substantial part of its business. Since then, it has diversified into domestic and overseas removals, commercial shipping and storage to provide a truly comprehensive service.

Chudley holds BS EN12522 and BS 8564, which are recognised quality standards for UK and Overseas moves and is also a member of the British Association of Removers that sets standards through its code of practice. These standards are maintained through fully trained, in-house staff using a modern vehicle fleet to cover all areas of the UK. This is complimented by a 12,000 square foot warehouse for the safe storage of items prior to shipping.

All removals are provided through a tailored service that starts with a site survey to establish what is required and ensure the service meets individual needs. The company’s location in the South West

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WORLDWIDE SERVICE INDIVIDUAL CARE An experienced specialist in the transportation of fine art and antiques

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REMOVALS: CHUDLEY INTERNATIONAL

means it often represents some of the larger removal companies that have no resources in the area. There’s a particular emphasis on moves for large properties such as manor houses and farms that can spread over several days while all moves have the availability of a professional and comprehensive packing service to ensure safe transport of fragile items.

The company’s international business covers many worldwide destinations, with a big focus on America and Cyprus, through partnerships with local companies. The arrangement means Chudley can handle anything from a single item to a full house move, operating part load international removal services and consolidated airfreight to many destinations. It uses trained and experienced packers and top quality packing materials to ensure the safe arrival of everything. It also handles all the insurance and customs paperwork, with its partners in destination countries dealing with customs clearance and final delivery to homes, even helping with unpacking if required.

Antiques and fine art shipping remains a significant part of the business and involves the packing and consignment of items by sea and air to many worldwide

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destinations. Clients can take advantage of a door to door service that covers collection, packing, delivery, documentation and insurance. Collections are made from the major antique fairs in the UK and continental Europe, with many antique shops and interior design businesses making regular use of the service.

Chudley manufactures bespoke packing crates made from materials that meet the international ISPM 15 standard to ensure safe transportation of fine art, antiques and any fragile or valuable items to anywhere in the world. Enhancing the service are trackers on all the company’s vehicles to enable the progress of consignments to be monitored.

Despite the greater use of technology, Chudley remains at heart a provider of personal services from a company that cares about its customers. It is a family business that includes Mark’s brother, son and daughter in positions of responsibility. Whilst the company always aims to do everything correctly in the first instance, it takes great pride in being able to put things right quickly on the few occasions when it doesn’t.

That attitude has resulted in plenty of recommendations that have helped the company to grow.

www.chudleyinternational.com Telephone: 01460 55655

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nelsons removal.qxp_feature 2 05/12/2014 14:13 Page 78

REMOVALS: NELSON REMOVALS

REMOVALS & STORAGE

As a family run business Nelson Removals adopts a friendly approach and attention to detail. With a wealth of expertise it is no wonder they have been enjoying success for almost 40 years stablished in December 1975 by Peter and Kath Nelson, Nelson Removals is a family run business which displays a wealth of experience and a friendly, family-driven approach.

Still run by Peter and Kath almost 40 years later, Nelson displays great expertise and has enjoyed great success through what has been a difficult economic climate.

Initially offering general haulage and household removals within Dumfries & Galloway, the company has successfully built up a considerable reputation for the quality of service which it provides and has enjoyed great prosperity and growth over the years. Having subsequently also merged with Binning's of Cumbria, an equally respectable company operating within the sec-

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tor, Nelson has been able to greatly expand upon its service portfolio and support its clientèle even further.

Offering global removal and shipping services, Nelson operates its own storage facilities with 250 cubic foot containers and self-storage units for customers requiring 24 hour access to their goods, safely and securely. Through allowing customers to access these goods on demand, in addition to offering tailor made services for packing, customers are able to choose exactly what they want to pack, opt for Nelson to pack and manage the storage process to minute detail.

In addition to its storage facilities, Nelson also possess its own, extensive fleet which is regularly developed and maintained so as to ensure high standards consistently. With a mixture of 18.5

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ton, 7.5 ton and 3.5 ton vehicles from reputable manufacturers such as Renault, MAN and Mercedes, all of Nelson's vehicles are rigid, purpose-built bodies that can be loaded with the industry standard 250 cubic feet containers.

In developing and maintaining its fleet, Nelson works very closely with key partners such as Penman Engineering and McDougall Commercials to ensure that the fleet is consistently operating at maximum potential. With McDougall undertaking periodic maintenance checks and vehicle tests, Penman further supports the business with repairs and maintenance to bodywork so that Nelson can provide a consistently evolving service from its fleet.

Through its work with Penman, Nelson has also successfully added a brand new Mercedes Axor 1843

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REMOVALS: NELSON REMOVALS

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REMOVALS: NELSON REMOVALS

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REMOVALS: NELSON REMOVALS

to its fleet, with the build just recently being completed.

Commenting on the project with Penman, Mark explains: “This has been a great project as we worked closely with Penman Engineering Ltd who are a local company that build specialist and armoured vehicles for clients all over the world. Although its not armoured the new removal truck is exceptionally well built and we can now move forward with plans to add some 12/13 ton vehicles to the fleet for those tight accesses.”

Detailing what makes Nelson stand out from other, similar organisations within the sector, Mark Leslie, manager explained: “We believe our strength is the massive amount of experience our staff have. Many of our employees have been in the industry for over 20

WE BELIEVE OUR STRENGTH IS THE MASSIVE AMOUNT OF EXPERIENCE OUR STAFF HAVE

Tel: 0800 037 8919 www.nelsonremovals.co.uk

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years and for some it’s the only line of work they have ever done. Where some companies may have to look at a problem two or three times its likely we have already done something the same or similar. This gives us a huge head start with potential customers.”

Through investment into technological advances,

Nelson has implemented tracking capabilities into each of its driver's handsets in a bid to improve communication with customers, giving them regular updates and a better picture of costs: “This makes us a little more competitive on price and helps secure more work,” explains Mark. In addition to utilising a mixture of recording and monitoring software, Nelson is able to not only monitor progress, but also efficiency goals such as fuel usage and even collate customer feedback so that the company can continue improving its service.

In maintaining standards for quality, environmental standards and for health and safety, Nelson has acquired and maintained a QS standard (8522:2009) which ensures that all policies are kept up to date, with regular reviews and audits each year, meaning you can rest assured that all of Nelson's operations are as responsibly handled as possible.

Looking to the future, the prospects for Nelson look positive as the company benefits from the improving economic conditions of the sector, as Mark details: “Overall the last 5 years have been difficult but with confidence appearing to return to the housing market this year we aim to take advantage of this and grow the business. We plan to expand our collections and deliveries into Europe within the next year or two so we can take advantage of jobs we would normally pass on to other companies.”

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williams haulage 153.qxp_feature 2 03/12/2014 16:03 Page 82

NATIONAL ROAD HAULAGE REVIEW: WILLIAMS HAULAGE

LOGISTICS ON DEMAND Williams Haulage has been serving the customer with reliable solutions for more than four decades

or more than 40 years, Williams Haulage has built up a wealth of experience and an enviable reputation for reliability. Supplying a range of logistics solutions to a variety of clients operating within the UK, Europe and further afield, the company has established long-running relationships with customers who have become accustomed to its unrelenting cmmitment to first-rate standards.

From its base in the heart of rural North Wales’ agricultural community,Williams Haulage is exceptionally well placed to satisfy the logistical needs of its clients. And, through continual investment, it has been able to enhance the service it can offer through a range of modern equipment and IT to provide a highly customer-focussed serv-

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ice, optimising the efficiency of the customer’s supply chain with a keen eye on driving costs down.

Sophisticated e-reporting also allows for real-time monitoring of the status of deliveries, but the company recognises the important of the human element in all its endeavours.That’s why Williams Haulage values customer service by working closely with clients, being adaptable to needs and developing solutions to individual requirements.

“When a customer needs their goods moving to a tight schedule, we do absolutely everything that we can to make that happen. Williams Haulage really do go the extra mile for customers. We’ve built a business on it,” says Huw Williams, Managing Director.

This keen eye for detail has also been witnessed in

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NATIONAL ROAD HAULAGE REVIEW: WILLIAMS HAULAGE the company’s endeavours to reduce its impact on the environment and lower its carbon footprint.

“Reducing carbon emissions should be at the forefront of all haulage companies in this day and age. Our fleet replacement programme ensures we stay up to date with the latest technology,” says Transport Operations Manager Eric Speed.

“The ever increasing fuel costs are a major factor in finding solutions to fuel economy. We have, for instance, installed TomTom telematics in all fleet vehicles which gives us a real time view of what truck is better suited to collect goods from the nearest customer. This enables us to reduce empty running fuel waste and maximise the fleet and drivers’ working time. Fleet telematics enables us to look at each individual driver and their performance in real time. We can tell them to switch the engine off if they are found to be idling excessively, for example.”

While the company hasn’t yet introduced eco-driving into its training regime, it is considering incentives for driver performance. “Drivers have attended, as part of their DCPC training, a module on economic driving practices. We also have in our main office a visual display of the current and overall scores of all drivers. This gives them a competitive edge to try to improve their individual performance.” Eric says the company continues to monitor its emissions and will endeavour to make further improvement and carbon reductions as an ongoing process.

www.williamshaulage.co.uk Tel: 01490 412576

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lookingback.qxp_feature 2 01/12/2014 11:14 Page 84

Looking back at...

THE SHINKANSEN In our regular column we take a brief look at some of the great pioneers, innovators and technology that has helped shape the world’s transport system he Shinkansen, which is sometimes referenced by the name Bullet Train, actually means “new trunk line”, the title given to Japan’s revolutionary highspeed rail network. The English description is actually a literal translation of the Japanese “dangan ressha”, a nickname the project was given during early proposals in the 1930s. When the first trains were unveiled, their resemblance to a bullet did not go unnoticed and the name stuck.

The country was the first to dedicate rail development towards high-speed lines because its existing network prior to the first half of the 20th century utilised narrow-gauge lines to navigate the abundance of mountainous terrain.

These lines were not as adaptable to high-speed rail travel as standard gauge necessitating a need to address the issue in order to move Japan’s rail infrastructure forward.

The high-speed rail system had to wait a long time before it was fully developed thanks to the

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devastating impact of World War II on Japanese industry and the economy. As the country got back on its feet, the rail network’s capacity was slowly pushed to its limit and by the 1950s some lines were operating to capacity. This prompted the Ministry of Railways to revisit the Shinkansen project.

In addition to Japan’s need for rail investment, another reason helped it lead the way in high-speed rail travel. That was, quite simply, a belief in rail and its capacity to be a form of travel for years to come. In America, and in Europe, it was felt that the roads and, more significantly, the air would be the most popular and best form of travel. However, the President of Japanese National Railways Shinji Sogo held a strong belief that high-speed rail travel (more than double the speeds seen previously) was possible and would become a vital part of the transport network.

Work began on the first new line in 1959

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between Tokyo and Osaka. Following trials throughout 1962 and 1963, the route went into operation in 1964. It reduced the usual journey time between Tokyo and Osaka from almost seven hours down to just three hours and ten minutes. This changed the style of business and life for Japanese people as it drastically reduced travelling time between two of Japan’s biggest metropolises. Despite going well over budget and having to take out loans from the US the success of the new railway line was immediate.

100 million passengers used the service in its first three years, while Shinkansen passed the one billion passenger mark in 1976.

Today the network consists of nearly 1,500 miles of track providing routes offering top speeds of between 150mph and 200mph. The network presently links most major cities on the islands of Honshu and Kyushu, with construction of a link to the northern island of Hokkaido underway.

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THE BUILDING BLOCKS OF SUCCESS : e d i s Also in cleansing service group Page 48

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