14


Issue 1 2015 - Freight Business Journal Questions, questions


John Stubbings, group director at Essex


forwarder Woodland


Q. What was your first job? (In any industry, not necessarily freight or transport).


A. I had a number of part time jobs while completing my ‘A’ Levels at senior school. These included paper round, mobile shop deliveries and waiter.


Q. How did you first get involved in the freight industry?


A. Like most people I did not know what I wanted to do and went for a number of interviews including the Bank of England, HM Customs & Excise and another called International Express Company, which I joined as a management trainee in 1978.


Q. Did you plan to get involved in freight – did you have much notion of the industry before you got involved with it?


A. Absolutely not. Prior to joining International Express, I had very little idea what was involved in the industry.


Q. What has been the biggest achievement or high point of your career in the freight industry?


A. One memorable occasion was being invited to join the Board of Kelleher Forwarding and to become a shareholder at the age of 30. I hope there are many more high points to come!


Q. Any low point(s)? A. Daily, but I don’t let them last long.


Q. If you had the undivided attention of the Secretary of State for Transport for ten minutes, what would you tell him?


A. Ten minutes is not enough. He needs to learn an awful lot more about our industry in order to do it and indeed the people of Britain justice.


Q. What is the biggest challenge facing the freight industry today? A. Increasingly we face more regulation and red tape (but this is not necessarily a bad thing). Margins in the freight industry remain low.


Q. Where do you see the freight industry in 12 months’ time? A. Undoubtedly we will see more mergers and acquisitions in the next 12 months, as the big boys gain and build their volumes.


Q...and in 50 years time? A. Struggling to meet customer demands, as undoubtedly rates will remain on the agenda. We may or may not have oil supplies; road infrastructure will no doubt be challenged even more than today.


Q. When you meet people from outside the industry, how easy is it to explain to them what you do?


A. I find the best way to describe what we as freight forwarders do is to make a comparison to the services of the travel agent. It’s nothing one can’t do for oneself; however choosing the right forwarder will result in a good service at an economic rate and take the hassle away from the client.


Q. How do you relax away from work? A. I have been happily married for 27 years with two grown up children so family to me is important and allows me to switch off from work (at least occasionally!).


Ferry operator for sale: one careful owner


Eurotunnel Group is to put its MyFerryLink Dover- Calais operation up for sale, following the ruling by UK competition


authorities


last year that the Channel Tunnel-operator should cease its water-borne operations within six months. Eurotunnel chairman and Jacques Gounon,


CEO, said


that MyFerryLink had been an operational and commercial success in a sector where many others had failed, but it had failed to surmount the intransigence of the British authorities. Groupe


Eurotunnel


acquired the assets of the defunct company, SeaFrance, from the French railways in June 2012 and subcontracted the operation of the ferries Rodin, Berlioz and Nord-Pas- de-Calais to an independent company, SCOP SeaFrance. Since operations began on


20 August 2012, MyFerryLink had moved 400,000 trucks and 350,000 cars. A spokesman for


Eurotunnel said that, notwithstanding the recent turbulence in the ferry and short-sea market, he believed that there would be “a lot of interest” in the sale. Despite the uncertainty created by the competition probe – which had made it hard for MyFerryLink to secure longer- term freight contracts – the operator had in its short life built up a 10% market share. While


there has been


retrenchment in some of the longer cross-Channel services


in the face of recession and the new sulphur emission control area, this had had the effect of concentrating demand on the ‘Short Straits’ market, he said. “Eurotunnel itself is looking for a 500,000 increase in trucks, and existing capacity just cannot handle that at peak times.” Exactly who would buy


MyFerryLink is not clear. It’s highly unlikely that the competition authorities would countenance a sale to P&O Ferries, the biggest Dover- Calais ferry operator. Sale to smaller rival DFDS might be feasible from a market share perspective, but could attract adverse comment. The Eurotunnel spokesman


described MyFerryLink as “an absolute godsend” during the weekend of 17-18 January when the tunnel was closed by a suspected truck fire on board a Eurotunnel freight shuttle. He said that it was particularly helpful to be able to direct passenger car traffic to the ferry operator, knowing that there would be capacity ready and waiting. The spokesman added: “It


was also a perfect example of what we have been saying – there is a need for extra capacity for the management of incidents.” As for the fire itself, he


said that improved response procedures


had helped to


minimise damage to the tunnel and shuttle train. In the event, most of the damage was smoke deposits on electrical contacts over several miles.


More shuttles on the way


Eurotunnel’s shuttle arm is to add three new freight trains to its existing 15-strong fleet. They will boost capacity by 20% and help the operator reach its target of transporting 2 million trucks per year by 2020. There will be up to eight departures an hour at peak times, compared with six currently. The new, €40 million order, been


has placed, following


a European tender process, with WBN Waggonbrau Niesky GmbH. Each shuttle will be 800


metres long, with 32 carrying wagons, three loader wagons and a passenger carriage for drivers. Delivery is set for the end of 2016 and early 2017. The new shuttles will be built


using the latest technology to ensure that energy efficiency and strength are coupled with reliability but will be fully interoperable with the existing trains. The order is supported by a €30 million programme of investment in terminals in Folkestone and Coquelles.


///NEWS News Roundup


P&O Ferries says it will shortly start work on an extension to its rail hub in Rotterdam Europoort to meet growing demand. Rail freight volume grew 78% in 2014 over 2013, which was itself up 43% over 2012; predicted growth for 2015 is around 80%. Much of this additional traffic is Poland to UK business generated by ERS Railways, shipped by P&O Ferries to either Hull or Teesport or by Stena Line, from its adjacent terminal, to either Harwich or Killingholme.


The Unite Trade union is urging haulage firms to sign up to a driver’s charter. It calls for a maximum 48-hour working week and an end to minimum wage pay for professional driver. , Drivers are currently working up to 60 hours a week, says the union.


The International Road Transport Union (IRU) called for more cooperation between member states and the road freight transport industry, to tackle the problem of clandestine immigrants at the Land Transport Security Expert Working Group in Brussels on 22 January. It said that authorities and the industry must work together to find solutions without placing excessive burdens on transport operators and drivers or leaving them to face the situation alone. The IRU has been developing best practices for several years with the UK and France and is now seeking to expand this.


The Russians Customs Service officially notified the Russian TIR guaranteeing association, ASMAP, of the extension of its agreement until 28 February 2015. It follows an order by the Russian Government on 17 November to the Federal Customs Service and the Ministry of Transport to reinstate the TIR system as soon as possible. Russian Customs has made repeated threats to withdraw the TIR system from the whole of the country for the past few months. While these have never been executed, TIR cover has been withdrawn piecemeal by a number of Russian customs offices. However, the International Road Transport Union warned that, considering the lack of available information, there could still be problems at border-crossing points in Russia in the near future.


The European Commission is unlikely to produce suggest reforms to address the issue of “social dumping” in road transport until the end of 2015, say Brussels sources. Transport Commissioner Violetta Bulc is currently reviewing legislation in the sector, including that on access to the profession, cabotage and access to domestic haulage markets. The Commissioner wants to address inconsistencies in interpretation between different member states.


The Juncker Commission published plans on 17 December to simplify and clarify legislation on access to the occupation of road transport operator and on access to the international road haulage market, while dealing with the social dumping issues. One of the problems with existing cabotage rules is that they can be interpreted in many ways and are relatively easy to circumvent. The ‘REFIT’ plan aims to establish more clearly what is or is not permitted It also aims to eradicate so-called ‘letter- box’ companies that hire Eastern European drivers at low wages in the West by clarifying the existing rules on ‘establishment’. MEPs rejected on the same date a draſt regulation under which illegal cabotage would not lead to a haulier’s loss of repute.


GB Railfreight managing director, John Smith, called for


“intelligent electrification” at a Transport Select Committee session on 1 December. Whilst recognising that parts of the Government’s ‘electric spine’ scheme to create an electrified route from the south coast to the north of England, are good for rail freight, he called for the prioritisation of certain corridors – such as Birmingham-Nuneaton – in order to encourage the industry to invest in electric locomotives.


Road & Rail


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