FBJ 4 FREIGHT BUSINESS JOURNAL


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FBJ boasts the most informative and authoritative source of information with unrivalled in-depth knowledge of the rapidly changing freight business environment.


By Chris Lewis


The agonisingly protracted birth-pangs of Heathrow’s third runway took another turn on 1 May, after the High Court threw out a legal challenge by local councils, environmental groups and the London Mayor to the government’s National Policy Statement. Heathrow itself proclaimed the result as a battle won, though certainly not a final one. It’s by no means a foregone conclusion that concrete will ever be poured. Pro-runway people argue that the third runway is needed if London is not to fall behind other cities in Europe in attracting more flights, along with increased opportunities for international commerce and trade. The antis say that it will simply add pollution, noise and congestion on the surrounding road system. Who is ultimately proved right depends, we suspect, on whether it’s a reasonable assumption that air travel will continue to grow as it has over the past half century. There is a movement in Sweden called Flygskam (literally ‘flight shame’) in which people – often high-profile celebrities – eschew taking the plane in favour of more environmentally-friendly modes such as trains or ferries. Whether such movements gain traction and start to reverse the once unstoppable rise in long haul air travel remains to be seen. While taking the train might be an option for wealthy Scandinavians with time on their hands, it seems hard to believe that business people will forego the convenience of a seven hour business class flight for a similar number of days at the mercy of the Atlantic wind and waves. The other possibility, of course, is that advances in IT make high-definition video conferencing a practical reality.


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One of the objections to the third runway is the increased road traffic that will arise, as a by-product of more flights. But trains be part of the answer? As described in the news pages of this issue, rail company Orion has plans for a nationwide network of high speed trains carrying light freight, including a terminal in the vicinity of Heathrow cargo terminal. It’s an interesting suggestion, though one that has been kicking around in some for or other for a couple of decades now. But maybe it’s an idea whose time has come?


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Is the vision of a zero-emissions freight industry by 2050, as envisaged by the National Infrastructure Commission (NIC) report published in April, realisable? It suggested, among other things, a complete ban on the sale of diesel-powered heavy trucks by 2040 in favour of hydrogen and battery HGVs which it says are already well advanced and expected to be commercially available by the early 2020s. Leaving aside the question of whether gas or battery trucks are really less- carbon producing than diesel when the complete fuel supply chain from well to wheel is taken into account, is this a realistic goal? From a technological point of view, possibly, but much will have to happen to make it come about, in particularly the creation of an infrastructure for alternative fuels. If your nearest gas truck filling station is 100 miles away, nationwide fleet operation could be a tad difficult.


Fears of a no deal Brexit led to an upsurge in imports into the UK in 2018, says IT specialist Timocom, with truck transport from all parts of Europe more than doubling compared to the previous year. However, there may be wider forces at work and the signs are that the steady rise in European freight volumes of recent years could finally be coming to an end, or at least moderating. No less a person than chairman of the Davies Turner Group, Philip Stephenson says that, in contrast to the very tight situation in Europe a year ago, there is now plenty capacity to handle demand, driver shortages notwithstanding. What goes up, must come down – eventually.


As the defi nitive publication within the sea, air, road and rail freight sectors, each issue includes regular news and analysis, in-depth coverage discovering the business decisions behind the news stories, shipper and exporter reports, opinion, geographical features, political and environmental issues.


If you have any stories or letters which should be of interest or any feedback on FBJ, please contact our editor Chris Lewis - +44 (0)208 6450666 chris.lewis@f j-online.com


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Issue 4 2019 - Freight Business Journal From the Editor


///NEWS


FBJ is the only UK and one of the few pan-European Multimodal newspapers. The comments we have received prove there is still room for a hard copy publication within the freighting industry. You don’t have to look at a screen all day!


Last year, the Government decided that it needed to pay three ferry companies (later two) cash to keep the country’s trade lanes open after Brexit. This prompted tunnel operator Eurotunnel to sue the government for being excluded from the deal, and Government hastily agreed to a £33 million payout. But this in turn led to another ferry company that had not been included in the three Brexit-busters initially selected to sue the Government for its payment to Eurotunnel. If it wasn’t true, and it wasn’t our hard-earned taxpayer’s cash that was being so liberally sloshed about, it would be funny. But if there is heavy demand for ferry and shuttle services as a result of Brexit, surely the firms involved would lay on extra services to take advantage of it. Whatever happened to market forces?


Where would we be without the freight industry? Scarcely had the recent Cyclone Idai made landfall in Mozambique than teams from the express, logistics and airline industry swung smoothly into action to ensure that aid got to the people who were most desperately in need of it. The Cyclone was a tragic event, to be sure, but the industry’s swift and efficient help doubtless saved many lives. Nor is it just a matter of providing airlift to the stricken region. Coordinating everything on the ground, and ensuring that incoming aircraft do not get in each other’s way – as has happened on one or two previous occasions – is also vital. This is where the skill of the logisticians comes in, such as DHL’s Disaster Response Team, who spent three months in the region. Aid agencies may get most of the credit, but it is the freight industry that makes things happen.


Theresa May’s Brexit compromise on 21 May may turn out to be her swansong. Indeed, by the time you read this she could be Prime Minister in name only with the country preparing for at least a Tory leadership election, possibly yet another general election. But would a new leader, or even a new government necessarily change anything, fundamentally? Parliamentary arithmetic could remain fundamentally unaltered, with a majority of MPs still unwilling to light the blue touchpaper of a No Deal Brexit.


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