34


Issue 1 2012 Taking a


balanced view of freight flows


The Freight Transport Association has been involved in intensive negotiations with retailers and manufacturers


to try and find


ways of correcting the historic imbalance of container traffic north of the border. Scotland is almost unique in the UK in that its containerised exports outweigh its direct imports in shipping line boxes, meaning that shipping lines must expensively transport empty equipment to the major exporters’ premises – predominantly the whisky manufacturers. But there is also another imbalanced flow into Scotland – the major retailers move a lot of freight by road and rail from England to Scotland, but very little out again. In theory, matching up these


two flows in some way could go a long way towards correcting the imbalance. But achieving it is another matter – as it would mean retailers’ domestic flows from England to Scotland somehow being handled in metal deepsea containers – and many regional distribution centres are not set up to handle them, being geared towards


curtainsided trailers,


rather than a box with an opening at one end only. FTA’s head of policy for Scotland Chris MacRae said that exploratory talks had however been going on with a number of retailers. “I was actually surprised by the level of interest shown,” he told FBJ. “While it’s not an easy issue to crack, and there are undoubtedly operational problems to be solved, we have been encouraged by the level of interest and we will be holding more talks in 2012.” The Association has also been


involved in modal shiſt efforts within Scotland, in particular finding ways in which the whisky manufacturers of Speyside could use rail to move bulk whisky


Better Shipping t. ward


0131 554 1231 www.tward.co.uk shipping@tward.co.uk


International shipping expertise throughout the UK


south to bottlers and blenders in the Central Lowlands. An intermodal


terminal at Elgin


has been provisionally priced at around £1.5m, and it would also be important to get a number of major producers on-side as no one company is likely to have enough volume to fill a train on its own. But there could be a good business case for a terminal, if a suitable funding package can be put together. Many road hauliers might even welcome it, as they can concentrate on short hauls to and from the rail-head rather than wearing their trucks out on the long haul from Speyside to Glasgow. The scheme also highlights the


continued importance of Freight Facilities Grants to the Scottish economy, MacRae argues. While these were withdrawn and then only partially restored, recent discussions with members of the


Scottish the parliament Scottish have


indicated that some funding could well be made available through


Futures


scheme. Such funding


is important,


MacRae insists. “Even where you are dealing with multinational companies, they guard their funds jealously and you cannot expect any business to increase its costs, even to fulfil a green agenda. So an element of funding is still important.” FTA has also been involved


in discussion at many levels of government and industry on winter preparedness, including Transport Scotland and the Critical Infrastructure Group. Issues covered vary from ensuring fuel deliveries to rail locomotive depots


to ensuring


that roads to ports are kept clear. FTA has also taken part in Exercise Polar Storm. “Oſten, it’s the ‘last mile’ that is the issue and we need to coordinate with local councils,” says MacRae. While snow hit the headlines


in the winter of 2010/11, it’s important not to get too fixated on one type of weather event, he continues. At the time of writing, a Red Alert had been issued for high winds. FTA can and does issue alerts to hauliers, urging them to pull trucks off the roads when conditions get hazardous.


///SCOTLAND


Scottish freight figures cheered as whisky flows


The Scotch whisky industry is bucking current economic trends, says James Bryson. The managing director of global beverage logistics specialist JF Hillebrand says that his company in fact has had “a tremendous year” in 2011, with business up 20% over 2010 across almost all key markets. Even the Eurozone held up reasonably well, with the understandable exception of Greece where business was down 35%. (Surprisingly in 2010, Greece was in the top ten export markets by value, says the Scotch Whisky Association.) But this has not dented what has been an excellent year overall for JF Hillebrand, with key markets such as the US seeing growth of around 18% in the year to date. “The Scottish whisky industry is very good at identifying new markets, like emerging countries in Asia or South America,” Bryson explains. The new free trade agreement between the EU and South Korea will also boost business, according to the SWA, despite being only a few months old, and there are also encouraging signs in markets like India where trademark protection issues had been holding back development. Russia’s finalisation of its World Trade Organisation membership by the end of 2011 may also boost business there, although this was already a developing market. There was a tiny fall in the total


world whisky trade in 2010 over 2009 but that was more than offset by a 10% increase in value, thanks to a programme to promote whisky as a premium product. “All this is very promising for us


at JF Hillebrand,” Bryson continues. The company started its logistics and warehousing service – based in Renfrew - back in September 2010 and volumes have now doubled over the past 12 months or so. “Quite a large chunk of the 30,000sq of space is being used now and we’re moving around 110 in-transit containers a month through it – 65% of them exports and 35% imports. And we’ve employed more people.” Customers appreciate JF


Hillebrand being able to offer its own warehousing rather


than


through a third party, especially as it is operated to the industry’s own standards – for example, pallets are not double-stacked, containers and trailers are properly loaded to minimise movement and other measures are taken to ensure the integrity and security of the load. Also, as a specialist logistics provider, JF Hillebrand recognises the importance of not mixing your drinks – that is, not mixing drinks traffic with any other commodity like pipes or heavy machinery that could potentially cause damage. “Over the next year we will


grow our warehousing service still further,” continues Bryson. “We think that there is even greater potential for export consolidation.” JF Hillebrand can already consolidate traffic – all drinks related, of course – for multiple customers and because it is not moving as groupage, there are price and safety advantages. “It could be any beverage – whisky, gin, rum, wine or even mineral water.” Another service that the company has been offering is


contract management at customer premises. “We’ve implemented it for a key customer with a full operational team and contract manager, plus a similar set- up overseas and we would be interested if


other customers


would like to tap in to a similar concept.” Another development is a hub concept in strategic


locations


overseas where drinks can be warehoused and, if necessary, reworked, relabelled or repacked before onward distribution to nearby countries. Singapore, for example, has been acting as a hub for Asia and Australasia for the past eight months.” Again, the concept can save customers money by consolidating multiple loads into one full load rather than resorting to groupage and also has the advantage that strategic stocks can be kept closer at hand to the point of consumption. Airfreight has also done well in


the past year, despite its high cost. “Growth has continued and we are increasing our staff count,” says James Bryson. “What we’re offering our customers is a one-stop shop. We have an excellent portfolio of services here and we’d like to offer them to more customers.” One factor that no Scottish


logistics company can escape is the weather and since the snows of winter 2010/11 the company has set up a business response team of experienced operators and managers to keep on top of the developing situation and, equally importantly, keep customers informed of what is happening. “Whenever there is an issue, we


speak to the ports and terminals, communicate that back to the customer and establish possible contingency planning,” says Bryson. “We have used it on four occasions since we set it up, during high winds and flooding and it has proven to be very successful.” As the leading beverage


specialists JF Hillebrand takes the security of customer products very seriously. James Bryson is on the Distribution Industry Partnership for a


Scotland (DIPS) Committee, collaboration


of producers,


transport operators and forwarding and logistics organisations that aims to improve anti-theſt measures in all aspects of the supply chain. Initially set up by the whisky industry, DIPS now aims to include all parties involved in moving high value goods by disseminating best practice and educating drivers, operators and customers. DIPS also works in partnership with other industry groups such as the Transported Assets Protection Association (TAPA). “Theſt of product has always been a concern for the whisky industry. There have been instances of not just cases being stolen, but sometimes full trailers of product,” Bryson explains. “But we have identified specific areas where security could be improved and made recommendations on where, for instance,


trucks should safely


stop for breaks and overnight. And we ourselves at JF Hillebrand insist that drivers stop only in recommended DIPS approved areas, so our track record has been exceptional.”


Emirates adds second Dubai flight


Emirates will add an extra 13 tonnes of cargo capacity a day to its Glasgow-Dubai service with the introduction a second flight operated by an Airbus A340-300 aircraſt - a 59% increase on existing volumes. The aircraſt on the existing service is a Boeing 777-300ER. Emirates’ vice president UK and


Ireland, Laurie Berryman, said: “Our Glasgow route has been a real success story, and we are extremely confident that there is the demand for additional services flying east


to Dubai and onward to our global network of over 115 destinations. The service brings real benefits to Scotland’s economy and its international competitiveness.” The main commodities being


shipped include Scottish produce such as whisky, smoked salmon and oysters, as well as oil-well equipment, helicopter and aircraſt parts, and medical equipment. There has also been an increase in demand for transporting live animals, particularly pets such as


cats and dogs moving to Australia via Dubai. Since it started in 2004, Emirates’


Glasgow service has carried over 46 million kilos of cargo to and from the Middle East and beyond.


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