22 >> 20 Simpson. The


Issue 5 2021 - Freight Business Journal


home and efforts to plug the gap


through increased recruitment of domiciled workers are a long way from bearing fruit, says Mammoet Ferry Transport’s UK commercial director, Alan Brough. Indeed, he says, as restrictions are liſted in the


coming months and the economy increasingly opens up, the pressure on the Transport industry could increase, he warns. Mammoet Ferry Transport


operates its own 450-strong trailer fleet, carrying out its own maintenance at


its main


Locals call for urgent rebuilding of logistics lifeline


The remote single-lane A83 has become a hot political topic, says Logistics UK head of policy for Scotland and Northern Ireland, Mags


route,


sometimes referred to as the Rest and be Thankful road (it is named aſter an inn, one of the few landmarks along its length) has suffered from chronic landslips for quite some time and while it may not be the UK’s busiest by a long chalk, it is a vital link for people and industry in this part of the world. Locals refer to it as their M8, and it is indeed as vital to them as the main Glasgow to Edinburgh route. The unstable ground above


the route – exacerbated by wet weather - means that the main route has had to be frequently closed, forcing lorries to take a 60 mile diversion. Although the Scottish government has now


made rebuilding the road a priority the situation has meanwhile been a nightmare, says Mags Simpson. She points out that not only are movements of commodities such as timber and fish affected, but also vital exports of whisky from the many distilleries in the area. The long-term solution to the


problem will most likely involve building a new road on a parallel but less vulnerable alignment, but it will probably take a minimum of five years to bring to fruition, says Mags Simpson. Logistics UK is meanwhile


calling for other Scottish trunk routes


to be dualled to help


smooth the flow of freight. Visitors to Scotland to England are oſten surprised by the large percentage of the road system that is still single carriageway, with substantial lengths between the lowlands and Inverness and on the A90 north of


operating base in Rotterdam, and uses traction provided by long-standing contractors. It maintains tight control over transport planning and routings, and almost exclusively uses North Sea unaccompanied trailer ferry services via


Aberdeen, for example. The latter route is now seeing


substantial movements of wind turbine blades for the many offshore windfarms in the region and while Logistics UK appreciate the environmental sensitivities, it points out that the turbines are a vital element in the UK’s decarbonisation programme. The driver shortage meanwhile to bite in Scotland,


continues


much as it does in the rest of the UK. Existing problems have been greatly aggravated by the Covid crisis that led to a complete stoppage of testing at one stage, and Logistics UK is urging the government to fast track the process. There are also serious shortages


of mechanics and warehouse workers. With people in other sectors of the economy such as hospitality or tourism being made redundant in large numbers by Covid, the Logistics industry could offer a great alternative to these workers, Mags Simpson argues.


Immingham, Killingholme, Teesport, Felixstowe, Harwich and, occasionally, Tilbury and Purfleet. It has regular contract- capacity with the ferry lines, allowing it to maintain continuity


///SCOTLAND


of operations. There are currently no regular


international ferry services to and from Scotland itself, but Calum Stewart says that Mammoet Ferry Transport has used the DFDS


service between Rosyth and


Zeebrugge when it existed and it continues to keep a close eye on ferry service developments in order to maximise cost and service efficiencies.


Work on the operations and maintenance (O&M) base at Montrose


for the Seagreen


offshore windfarm is progressing at pace, says the north-east Scottish port, with the building expected to be completed and occupied in November 2021. The tender for the communications mast was awarded to an Aberdeen-based company that is repurposing it from another wind farm in Scotland.


This continues the


environmental theme of the project which was first established by using a repurposed office building, previously located in Aberdeen. At the time of writing in early June, the port was expecting to announce the successful bidder for the supply and installation of the pontoon for the base, the last piece of the puzzle. Chief executive and


Forwarder sees opportunities, not problems


The last 12 months have tested the freight forwarder’s skill and knowledge to the limit, says Davies Turner Cumbernauld branch manager, Darren McLaughlan. With Brexit and Covid putting supply chains under pressure as never before, it has been up to the company’s skilled and knowledgeable staff to find solutions to seemingly intractable problems. “Moving cargo isn’t easy at the


moment, so you have to find ways round the issues. Every day is a challenge,” he told FBJ. Moving from frictionless trade to full customs clearances came


as quite a shock for many Scottish traders with the EU, who had to quickly get to grips with form- filling, Incoterms, VAT and origin of goods. Even firms that regularly exported to countries outside the EU had to get used to the fact that the EU requires 8-digit rather than 6-digit commodity codes. “It’s oſten the little things that


cause the issues. We had to make sure that everyone was fully aware of what was needed, talking our clients through the process,” states Mr McLaughlan. By and large, most customers


have coped with the Brexit transition. While clearly


companies have to be taken through the new processes, matters do get easier once the process becomes repetitive. The fact that Davies operates


its own bonded warehouse in Scotland was also “a huge help” Mr McLaughlan adds. Being able to move goods under your own T1 transit documents gives a degree of control that would have been lacking with a third party agent and also gives a level of reassurance to hauliers that goods are not going to be snagged by Customs at the port, making Davies Turner a popular client to work for among European-based


truckers. Also, Mr McLaughlan points


out: “Scotland is a long way from the ports, if there are any problems. It would be a long trip back by road to sort any problems that did arise.” That said, Customs have


intervened in only a very small number


of Davies Turner’s


consignments, thanks to the high quality of its customs work, he adds. The forwarder has long been involved in overland movements to non-EU countries and regions like Turkey or North Africa, “so for us, Brexit wasn’t a massive change”. He sees opportunities for Davies


harbourmaster Tom Hutchison adds: “We are also ensuring that the community is brought along on the Seagreen journey with us, which, as a trust port, is something we are extremely passionate about. We have engaged with local schools and are keeping residents whose properties are close to the site updated regularly.” He continues that Montrose


is extremely positive about its ability to diversify from a predominantly oil and gas based business into


renewables and


decommissioning alongside continued growth with general cargo, having secured long term leasing deals with energy technology firm Baker Hughes. The company has also invested £13 million in a subsea centre of excellence in Montrose. Montrose is also recognised


as the largest chain and anchor port in Europe, and hence a


Turner to become more involved in EU markets now that customs clearance is a requirement. There could even be opportunities in the Scotland/Northern Ireland market when customs controls are fully implemented. Full customs clearance is not


yet being applied to imports into mainland UK from the EU, but Davies Turner has already implanted procedures including full inventory linking from the start, so as to be ready from Day 1 of the new regime. The other issue that has gripped


the freight industry in the past few months is the congestion and shortage of capacity in ocean freight, especially from China


key element in floating wind projects. Tom Hutchison says that the port is also well positioned to support the upcoming ScotWind leasing round and hopes


to attract


more renewables work. He says: “We are happy with


how the business managed to weather the storm of Covid-19 and still be seen as a viable option for global marine traffic, with vessels regularly leaving us for and arriving from Europe, Australia, China and the Middle East. Our recent phase of digitalisation saw us move to using ION’s Marlin SmartPort port management software just before the first lockdown. The


Cloud-based


system has proven invaluable and been a key component in the transition to remote working by allowing port staff to keep a real-time eye on port activity from the safety of their homes.”


and the Far East. Mr McLaughlan explains: “This has driven a lot of volume into our railfreight product from China. As one of the few operators running an LCL rail service, we have been able to offer dedicated containers into Scotland, via Duisburg and then by road via Teesport or Purfleet.” Current transit time is 26 days,


making it significantly faster than the sea freight alternative and for about the same price – rail charges have been much less volatile than sea freight in recent months. So successful has the service been that Davies Turner is now considering adding further options from South Chinese cities such as Wuyishan.


ABP completed a seven-year £2.2 million investment strategy to upgrade all front-line machinery at its Scottish port of Ayr in May this year. Ayr specialises in handling dry bulks, including salt, animal feed, heavy liſt and forest products and the latest high-performance crane, which will optimise vessel discharge speeds for customers, will create a more efficient and


reliable service for customers and support their growth. Ayr has developed a niche


in importing salt used on roads in inclement weather by local authorities, with 4,000-tonne cargoes capable of being discharged in under four hours. A 3,500sq m storage and distribution centre has been developed and offers a range of salt products for


various industrial applications. However, at around 20,000


tonnes a year salt is a small percentage of what the port and it is of course seasonal and weather- dependent. There is also an artisan


company, Blackthorn Salt, at the port which makes table salt by trickling seawater through imposing ‘thorn’ towers.


Timber at the Port of Troon is


a good example of port-centric logistics as quite close by there is a saw mill, a paper mill, a jet processing plant and a biomass plant. So, the entire log of timber can be used by businesses near the port. ABP also has its own ship at


Troon with which it has been operating the ground-breaking


Timberlink service on behalf of Forestry Commission Scotland for the last 21 years. This saves an estimated million lorry miles


per year,


relieving congestion


on busy local tourist routes and helping to reduce carbon emissions.


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