The bosses of Abbey Logistics Group and Suckling Transport are disappointed that their efforts to promote the industry with a Love Logistics livery on their vehicles haven’t been embraced by other operators.
Six months after the Love Logistics liveries were introduced, inspired by former Labour spin-doctor Alastair Campbell’s suggestion at an MT Directors’ Club meeting that trucks were the perfect moving billboards to promote the industry, no other operators have followed suit.
James Hookham, MD of policy and communications at the FTA, which spearheads the main Love Logistics initiative launched in 2010, said: “We did challenge members to do it, but changing a livery is hugely sensitive.
“Decisions like that have to go backwards and forwards in large organisations and it is really down to businesses where individuals can make those decisions. No one else stepped forward and agreed to do it.”
Suckling MD Peter Larner said he was surprised by the lack of support from the industry for the initiative. “It’s a good idea but not everyone recognises the potential,” he said.
Steve Granite, MD of Abbey Logistics Group, has decided not to do any more Love Logistics liveries for now as a consequence of this apparent apathy.
“It’s the FTA’s initiative [Love Logistics] and I expected that once we started they would grab it and find more operators,” he said.
However, Granite said drivers, employees and customers had been positive about the Abbey livery – which features the straplines: “I’m delivering the ingredients that make the food you eat” and “I’m delivering fuel to your local filling station... to save you collecting it from the refinery”.
Larner, however, remains committed to the idea, and is about to take delivery of two more Love Logistics-liveried tankers. “We were successful in getting our customers to support it,” he said.
Hookham added that the FTA remained ready to work with operators that do want to promote careers in logistics.
