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●inbrief...
Wincanton’s new contract
Wincanton, one of the leading European providers of supply chain and business outsourcing services, has secured a five-year storage and distribution contract with Best Buy, a leading consumer electronics retailer, ahead of its launch in the UK in Spring 2010.
Wincanton has refitted a
distribution centre at its Daventry site for Best Buy and has developed software to integrate with the retailer’s IT systems, enabling efficient goods monitoring and distribution. Wincanton’s Chief Executive, Graeme McFaull, commented: “This partnership confirms Wincanton’s market leadership in the retail sector and demonstrates the continued growth of our core business in the UK & Ireland, complementing the progress we are making in Mainland Europe and in our newer sectors and services.”
www.wincanton.co.uk
New career website
Skills for Logistics has announced the
launch of a new website which promotes logistics as a vibrant career choice for young people. The website will help to recruit a new generation of employees and address a worrying gap in knowledge of the industry. Following research last year showing that less than 6% of careers influencers felt well informed about logistics, the Delivering your Future programme – funded by the trustees of the Road Haulage and Distribution Training Council and managed by Skills for Logistics – has developed and launched this industry-backed online resource. The website,
www.deliveringyourfuture.co.uk, packages information on jobs, companies and employees.
www.deliveringyourfuture.co.uk
Haulier’s growing fleet
Kent-based haulier Salvatori has taken delivery of eight new Schmitz Cargobull S.CS Freepost curtainsider trailers.
The new trailers bring Salvatori’s overall fleet size up to more than 80 vehicles and will be employed on a contract delivering fresh fruit between growers and the factory where the fruit is turned into juice.
www.cargobull.com/uk
Cautious greeting for Budget speech
In his 2010 Budget speech, the Chancellor has announced that fuel duty rises will be staged over three months, instead of the expected inflation-busting rise of 3p in April. He revealed that fuel duty rises of 1 pence per litre will be enforced in April, October and January 2011. The Budget also revealed that the so-called fuel duty escalator which had threatened to bring above-inflation fuel duty rises up until 2013, has been extended to 2014.
The Freight Transport Association
(FTA) says that although this comes as a “welcome relief” and will effectively save industry £150 million, it will still represent a significant extra cost to businesses in the aftermath of the worst post-war recession.
James Hookham, FTA’s managing director of policy and communications, said: “For companies struggling to stay afloat, a staggered approach to increasing fuel duty will provide some breathing space. However, any increase in fuel duty, which is an unavoidable business cost, is bad news for the economy in the long-term and a staggered approach will delay its inevitably detrimental effects.” The FTA says that celebration at the staggered introduction will be muted in the logistics sector, not only as the full 3p will take effect by January 2011, but also because the fuel duty escalator, reintroduced in last year’s Pre Budget Report, is to be extended to 2014.
Stobart Group goes green
Stobart Group Limited, one of the UK’s leading providers of multimodal transport and logistics solutions, has taken a controlling interest in newly formed Stobart Biomass Products Limited together with A.W. Jenkinson Forest Products, one of the largest suppliers of wood related biomass in the UK.
The new company has been created to source and distribute, on a long-term contractual basis, supplies of biomass fuel to the UK renewable energy market, which has the potential to grow ten-fold in the next three to four years.
www.stobartgroup.co.uk
Hookham concluded, “If the Chancellor is serious about reinstating business confidence in the UK, he should look on the road transport sector – quite literally the wheels of British industry – as more than just a tempting target for revenue raising.” Elsewhere, the Chancellor is to plough millions of pounds into developing the UK’s road transport infrastructure. The improvement of weather-damaged local roads in the UK will be boosted with a £100 million investment. Motorways will see a £285 million investment in a bid to free up capacity.
Money will be distributed to local highways authorities via a formula based on road length and condition. This is additional Department for Transport funding to support road repairs, and will enable the authorities to fix the damage caused by the worst winter in 30 years.
Also, the Budget announces additional investment to enable more rapid progress on the Managed Motorways programme and other transport projects, part funded by reductions in the DfT’s marketing and communications budgets and other lower value spend. This will enable more rapid progress on the road programme and other transport schemes, and will deliver congestion and economic benefits more quickly.
The Chartered Institute of Logistics
Barrier method
Jayline Products has introduced a low- cost solution to the costly problem of damage caused to palletised loads by the forks of forklift trucks.
The heavy duty moulded rubber load protectors have been designed to fit to the rear face of a forklift truck’s forks and absorb the impact of an
incoming load,
providing a
cushioned barrier between the load and the back of the forks. As the pallet is picked up, the protector prevents the load from hitting the truck’s forks. The load protectors are quickly fitted using a simple yet robust strapping system and their slim profile means that a fork truck’s load handling capacity is not compromised by their use. Peter Kimberley, sales and marketing director of Jayline Products, comments: “By neatly and cost effectively addressing the problems associated with load damage, these products have the potential to save users thousands of pounds.”
www.jaylineproducts.co.uk
www.PressOnShD.com April 2010 ShD 7
and Transport in the UK (CILT), welcomed the Chancellor’s
announcement. Its chief executive Steve Agg said: “Poor or zero maintenance, together with the predations of unpredictable summer and winter weather, has resulted in millions of cracks and potholes requiring substantial and urgent repair in order to prevent higher than necessary fuel consumption and vehicle wear, damage to vehicles and risks to safety. “The next Government must make sure that local government is adequately funded to maintain our highways networks: this will contribute towards Britain’s economic and environmental objectives. Neglecting essential repairs now will store up problems and higher costs for the future.”
Jo Tanner of the FTA commented: “The Chancellor seems to recognise the importance of investing in the UK’s road transport network, which is a drum that FTA has been banging particularly loudly and is a prominent feature of our logistics manifesto.
“While we still have some way to go to iron out the details, we are at least making progress in getting the policy makers to recognise that investment in the logistics sector will allow it to perform its essential function to its best abilities and will benefit the businesses that rely on an efficient supply-chain so greatly.”
inbrief
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