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Issue 8 2018 - Freight Business Journal Budget short on detail, says BIFA


BIFA said that whilst it welcomes some of the announcements in the Budget on 29 October, it was all overshadowed by the ongoing uncertainty over the UK’s exit from the EU. Director general Robert


Keen commented: “Whilst the investment in road infrastructure might make a difference


to our members,


we should not forget that back in November 2015, the Government announced that funding would


provided


for the largest road investment programme since the 1970s. “I am not sure that the


country’s network of A-roads and motorways has become any less congested since that announcement.” He hoped that infrastructure


investment “will cease to be just talk and we will see some spades in the ground.” BIFA members would also


welcome the freeze in fuel duty, but would have preferred to see an outright cut, the introduction of an essential user rebate and some form of fuel duty stabilisation mechanism. Speaking before the Prime


Minister’s announcement on 15 November that an agreement on a Brexit plan had been agreed by UK and EU negotiators, BIFA


the government achieve an


agreement on trade and customs as an urgent priority. That will be of much greater importance to the work of our members than anything announced in yesterday’s budget.” Baxter Freight chairman Ian


Baxter (pictured) commented: “What we have learned from the Chancellor’s Budget announcement


consequences and: “If the


Government believes there is any real prospect of either happening then we will need a plan to deal with them.” A ‘no deal’ Brexit would


is that he really isn’t planning on a no


require a completely new Budget announcement and economic forecast from the Government and the £500m no deal funding, £2.2billion Brexit funding or £15 billion Brexit contingency announced on 29


Fine print fails to reassure agri goods traders, says ports body


The British Ports Association has warned that Brexit negotiators have failed to guarantee that burdensome checks on food and agricultural products will not be introduced at some point in the future on UK/EU trade. Commenting on a leaked


draſt political declaration on the future relationship between the


UK and the EU, chief executive Richard Ballantyne, said the agreement appeared to offer no firm commitment to avoid new border checks on UK-EU trade flows. He said: “Whilst there is some encouraging language around minimising trade barriers and agreeing common principles, it falls short


Teesport hits box record


PD Ports says it has handled an all-time record container volume at Teesport, according to the latest government annual maritime statistics. It also said that Teesport saw volume growth higher than any other UK port in 2017. A major factor was the


increasing number of containers and trailers shipped from the Continent to Teesport with 54,400teu handled in October, the highest on record, following an


exceptional five-week period in September. Growth was supported by


additional vessels laid on by A2B-online, Containerships and Unifeeder and new connections to Rotterdam Botlek and Dunkerque, an upliſt in ferry volumes and “exceptional performance” at its intermodal rail terminal. The port has invested in a fiſth


ship-to-shore crane and three RTGs in the last two years.


of committing [to] frictionless trade and could therefore cause potential disruption for some parts of the ports industry.” Paragraph 24 of the declaration


merely states that the UK and the EU “should treat one another as single entities as regards SPS [sanitary and phytosanitary] measures”. This means that


said its members remained


concerned about the potential impact on infrastructure plans, labour shortages and border delays of a no-deal Brexit, and wanted to see much more progress with


the agreement


on several key processes if a frictionless border is to be achieved. “Our members want to see


deal Brexit, which may be the biggest thing to cheer of all his announcements. Nor does the Government have an adequate plan to deal with the directly foreseeable consequences of leaving the customs union whether in March or at the end of a transition period. Baxter said that either scenario would have serious


October “would not touch the sides of the problem”, Baxter argued. As well as emergency funding


for HMRC’s customs capacity support would be needed for business which might face shutdowns (at least temporarily) of huge production lines and laying off staff from the likes of Nissan, Honda, Toyota and Jaguar Land Rover as well as significant extra costs of doing their day-to-day business. Baxter added: “Of course, the


obvious reason the Chancellor hasn’t revealed the true cost of a ‘no deal’ Brexit to the UK is that letting the EU know this truth wouldn’t help our negotiating


position at this


crucial stage. Regardless of the type of deal negotiated, we need to be prepared for all Brexit eventualities. “In practical terms, this


means training more customs officers and building up HMRC’s IT


capacity and physical


infrastructure at the UK’s borders. So, whilst the final Brexit outcome is unclear, we are yet to see a tangible commitment to urgent investment in these areas. We can only hope the Government ends up getting a deal which makes such preparations unnecessary.”


the UK and EU would need to undertake physical checks and inspections on products of plant and animal origin at the border, says BPA, adding: “These checks are time consuming and could cause significant disruption at roll-on roll-off ferry ports.” BPA said however that it


supported the Government’s ‘Chequers’ proposals as it committed to an agreement that ensured frictionless trade, by agreeing a common rulebook with the EU.


Rhenus moves to larger Hull site


Rhenus Logistics UK moved its Hull facility to a larger site on 30 October, with official opening due to place on 5 December. Country Manager Rhenus UK, Gary Dodsworth, said: “The decision to move the Hull facility to the Saxon Business Park signifies a major step


forward for Rhenus’ operations in the region. Over the past 12 months Rhenus has seen numerous developments across UK region including a new facility in Manchester, additional routes launched to both Europe and Asia and an expansion of the temperature- controlled logistics division.”


Aerospace logistics provider B&H Worldwide has appointed Gary Wilson as managing director and promoted Mark McKenna to the new position of head of global operations and quality. Wilson has spent the last three years working closely with B&H’s group chief executive Stuart Allen on shaping the group’s strategic development. McKenna has been responsible for leading the EMEA team and in his new role will take the global lead in standardising operations and service quality across the network.


Rhenus Group has opened two new air and ocean offices in Hanover and Dortmund. With a combined population of 3.8 million, the Hanover, Braunschweig, Göttingen and Wolfsburg regions are an important services and manufacturing region while Rhine-Ruhr is one of the largest urban regions in Europe, with a population of over 10 million. Rhenus Air and Ocean currently operates 13 business sites in Germany and is planning further branches.


CEVA Logistics has signed a deal with intermediate bulk container firm Goodpack to develop an intelligent returnable unit for tyres. Tyrecube is a patented collapsible and stackable container that eliminates the labour-intensive loose loading and is suitable for 90% of all tyre types.


Geodis has appointed Antje Lochmann as its new managing director of Geodis Freight Forwarding Germany, based in Hamburg. She joined the company in 2011 and has held several positions where she was responsible for sales, marketing, key accounts, tender management and sales control and was most recently director national sales and marketing of Geodis Freight Forwarding Germany. She succeeds Matthias Hansen, who will be supporting Antje Lochmann during a two-month transition period to December 2018.


Europa Air & Sea has appointed Jasraj Singh, Tom Macdonald and Rebecca Couper as business development managers in Heathrow, Nottingham and Manchester respectively. It is also on the lookout to recruit more staff to further strengthen the UK sales arm of the business with the aim of embedding at least one Air & Sea business development manager at each of its 13 branches throughout the UK.


News Roundup Forwarding & Logistics


DP World and the government of Rwanda have set up a logistics hub 20km from the capital city Kigali, close to the international airport. It is the first ever inland dry port developed by DP World in East Africa. The secure, bonded facility is spread over 13 hectares and features an inland container terminal with modern warehousing, a container yard, administrative and service buildings, parking areas and other facilities. The site offers container handling, stuffing and de-stuffing, warehousing, storage and other cargo handling services.


Allport Cargo Services (ACS) has opened a new office in Germany at Schwalmtal, central Germany, close to Mönchengladbach and Düsseldorf. It will handle all aspects of freight forwarding. It is headed by managing director, Sascha Stroetges who has extensive freight forwarding experience in continental Europe. It follows opening of ACS ventures in the Netherlands, Belgium and France.


UPS has appointed Romaine Seguin as president of its Global Freight Forwarding arm. She will oversee air, ocean, and rail freight forwarding, brokerage and supplier management for 220 countries and territories. Seguin began her career with UPS in Missouri in 1983 as a part-time hub supervisor and most recently was president of the UPS Americas Region.


Yusen Logistics UK has been awarded national warehousing and final mile distribution for Australian animal healthcare specialist Jurox. It will handle its entire UK supply chain including international cross border air freight, together with their complete outbound and inbound flows from Australia to worldwide destinations.


///NEWS


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