The operator, which is based in Thame, appointed administrator Quantuma last Friday afternoon (17 May).

MT understands that Interoute director Neil Daniells had been offering the business for sale ahead of its collapse.

Carl Jackson, partner at Quantuma, told MT that the transport side of the business – a member of both the Pall-Ex and Hazchem Networks -  had been loss making for several years and had been propped up by the warehousing operation.

However, a major client “significantly” reduced the business they were doing with Interoute recently and this combined with the company’s weak balance sheet left the directors with no other choice but to call in Quantuma.

Around half of the firm’s 65 employees have been made redundant as a consequence, and its vehicles have been returned, or shortly will be, to the respective firms they were leased from.

Interoute itself held an O-license for 35 vehicles and 53 trailers.

Quantuma is currently marketing the firm’s 120,000ft² leasehold warehouse and associated customers for sale.

The trailers are equipped with Anteo tuck-under tail-lifts, Whiting roller shutter doors and the latest Thermo-King Spectrum fridge units to cope with urban deliveries. The tractor units can also operate on overnight trunk routes using standard length trailers, resulting in greater operational efficiency.

Landgons will deploy the new trailers on established routes in and around Aberdeen to support significant and continuing growth in the area, said the firm. Malcolm Wilde, Langdons general manager for Scotland, said he also hoped to trial double deck trailers on some routes soon to further improve operational efficiencies and reduce the environmental impact of its Scottish operations.

“As we enter our fifth year of operations in Scotland and look ahead to the Commonwealth Games and Ryder Cup events we expect 2014 to be a very exciting year for Langdons and for the Scottish food & drink sector as a whole,” he added.

Langdons Glasgow is one of eight UK depots operated by Langdons. In March it revealed is to take the name of its parent company Nagel Group and re-brand throughout the UK.

By Andrew Stone

The 4,000m² warehouse boosts the company’s storage capacity by 13,000 pallets taking total storage capacity to 143,000 pallets.

“As the biggest employer in a predominantly rural area, the company makes a major contribution to the local economy,” said Paterson, who is also MP for North Shropshire (pictured centre).

“In the last 15 years, the company has implemented a substantial development plan which is to be congratulated,” he said.

Grocontinental joint MD David Grocott (pictured left) added that the storage facility was part of a £12m investment plan for 2013, which also included renewing its entire vehicle fleet.

The operator recently revealed a 29% boost in profits.

Turnover, however, remained broadly flat at £782m, down slightly from £791 during the previous 12 months. The directors attributed the 1% dip in turnover to “changes in long term contracts with major value customers”.

Despite poor trading conditions in both the Eurozone and wider international markets, the firm said the strength of the brand in the UK enabled it to maintain high trading levels. It declined to comment further on the figures posted at Companies House.

The robust performance of the UK business comes after parent company TNT Express reported a 26% drop in first quarter EMEA operating profit. It did, however, recently revealed plans to deliver an adjusted operating profit of 8% by 2015.

TNT UK recently added two 15.65m longer semi-trailers to one of its trunking routes.

Its network of parcel shops currently stands at around 5,250 across the UK, located in local convenience stores and petrol stations.

Chief executive Neil Ashworth said: “It has been a very strong twelve months for CollectPlus as a greater number of retailers and their customers have discovered the solution we provide in a changing retail environment.”

The site, which is operated by alternative fuels firm Gasrec, will operate in the similar way as a traditional petrol station and is capable of storing enough Bio-LNG to fill 700 LGVs, with five refuelling lanes and 10 pumps.

The filling station is located at the Daventry Interrnational Rail Freight Terminal in Northamptonshire and has the capacity to fuel up to 250 trucks per day.

A spokeswoman revealed that three of a planned eight sites are expected to be operational by this time next year, with the remaining sites expected to be opened by the end of 2015.

The planned network will be located near motorway junctions, allowing 85% of operators to reach at least one location within four hours’ drive.

Transport minister Norman Baker, who opened the site today, said: “This represents a significant step towards achieving carbon and air quality benefits and I am very pleased that demonstration fleets from the government’s low carbon truck demonstration trial will be refuelling from this site.”

The site was opened following plans to extend the number of alternative fuelling sites around Europe, put forward by the European Commission earlier this year.

The Challenge app works by calculating the true cost of tyres over time and shares the performance data with all other users, before providing performance comparisons against competitors’ tyres.

Deployed in 2012, the technology has revolutionised Bridgestone’s sales process and is now regarded as a strategic tool, after being created by RNF Digital.

Bridgestone’s product and marketing manager Andy Mathias said: “The application that we developed in the UK is now being used across Europe and is even being trialed in North and South America.”

Users can wirelessly synchronise their device with a centralised server, whereupon the sales representative’s data is uploaded.

At the same time, data captured by other representatives is downloaded to the device. The application then has at its disposal a significant body of globally sourced data, from which highly dependable statistics can be derived.

By sharing data in this manner it effectively creates a ‘crowd sourcing’ experience, where users are mutually benefiting from data being collated from various locations across the globe.

The app also provides Bridgestone with a wealth of previously unobtainable management information, not only in terms of how their own tyres are performing, but also how they are performing against their competitors.

The app has been shortlisted in the Innovation category of the Motor Transport Awards, which take place on 3 July.

Like many long-established firms with roots in construction and transport, Clugston – still based in Scunthorpe in Lincolnshire – has suffered since the recession. Its results for the year to 31 January 2012 showed that the logistics division made an operating loss of £454,000 on turnover of £9.8m, though a turnaround in construction’s fortunes saw that division make a £4.2m profit on turnover of £73.8m. Overall, the group made a pre-tax profit of £2m on turnover of £83.8m in 2012, compared with a pre-tax loss of £4.4m on turnover of £65m in 2011.
In recent years, Clugston Distribution Services under head of logistics David Heath (pictured) has begun diversifying in search of more profitable revenue streams. Alongside its traditional industrial powders, bulk foods, building products and steel vehicles it now operates curtainsiders, intermodal trailers and fuel tankers.
And the expansion has continued in 2013, with a further £1.5m being invested in the fleet. This will see the arrival of 15 new Renault Premiums, including five specified for fuel operation and eight kitted out for bulk powder operation. These will take the Clugston fleet to 88 vehicles; while all new vehicles are Renault there are still a few older Dafs in the fleet.
Renault is about to replace its entire Euro-5 line up with its new Euro-6 range and while many Clugston vehicles are 08 or 58 plate it has a batch of 54 and 56 plate trucks that will need replacing in 2014. “We were considering getting in a late order for Euro-5 for delivery in 2014 but have now elected to wait and replace with Euro-6,” says Heath. “I don’t like the fact that Euro-6 is expected to cost more – though we will now wait and see how it goes on fuel economy and purchase cost.”

New arrivals
Other new arrivals include four intermodal 30ft tipping trailers, four 49 cu m powder tankers, a new fuel tanker and a Lawrence David aero curtain-sided trailer that has been liveried using designs by two school children from a local primary school. They won a competition to come up with images reflecting the trailer’s environmental credentials, which include a projected 5.9% fuel saving over conventional trailers. The design (pictured) was shortlisted for the 2013 Motor Transport Livery of the Year Award, but the curtains aren’t just good to look at – the trailer has been built to EN12642 to safely carry steel rod and coil as well as general freight.
Heath says the strategy is to cover five key “channels”, each of which are busy at different times of the year to maximise utilisation of the fleet. “Cement picks up in spring, while flour builds up ahead of Easter and fuel is busy during cold weather,” he says. “They are rarely all busy at the same time.”
Clugston moved into fuel tankers in April 2012 and now has revenue streams worth £1.7m a year. “We have nine fuel tankers with five more on order,” says Heath. “We have a good client base – we have always offered a gold-plated service without the gold-plated price.”
While some of Clugston’s fuel contracts are for retail deliveries most are with fuel distributors to deliver heating oil to homes and small businesses. It is expanding  the fuel operation from Immingham to  a second base in Teeside in June 2013 to continue its growth plans.
“There are not as many fuel distribution contractors on the Humber and Tees as in the North West,” Heath says. “We have ended up working for a range of customers which we didn’t initially expect when we started the fuel logistics operation a year ago.”

Boost
Clugston’s steel work – now mainly for the nearby Tata steelworks through Norbert Dentressangle’s Key-PL logistics management contract – has had unexpected boost with the recent temporary closure of the railway line linking Doncaster with Grimsby and Scunthorpe in February due to a landslip at Hatfield.
“A lot of steel shifted to road in the short term as a result,” says Heath. “One train is equivalent to 30 trucks.”
While Clugston is still a major contractor in the steel supply chain, it has worked hard to reduce its exposure to this sector to below 25% of its logistics revenue. “We do not want to be over-exposed to any one market,” says Heath.
Business and account development manager David Clugston says the same goes for bulk cement products, which were a mainstay for the firm before the recession knocked the bottom out of the construction market. “We were too reliant on cement and it dropped savagely,” he recalls. “The group took a double hit in construction and logistics. So we have moved strategically into fuels and intermodal transport – they are less reliant on construction and give us a smoother volume profile. ”
Heath adds: “We branch into markets that are related to our existing areas, so you won’t see us leap into car transporters or refrigerated trailers. You can end being a jack of too many trades.”
The investment in growing the logistics business paid off in the year to January 2013, with an increase in turnover to £11m.
“We were in a lucky position last year, as construction had one of its best years ever,” says Clugston. “But the market is still very difficult.”

Low margin
Heath adds: “We are also moving out of low margin business and have pulled out of markets where we were losing money. We will waive bids for work where we know the rates will be suicidal and are moving towards more contracted work.”
Clugston has for example signed a five year contract with intermodal bulk transport giant InterBulk, which will be marked by painting four of its new bulk powder tractor units in InterBulk livery.
Heath is optimistic that rates will pick up quickly when the economy eventually starts to grow, arguing that there are  lot of operators out there with ten-year-old trucks that badly need replacing. “It varies by sector but there are a lot of older vehicles in construction,” he points out.
Since his arrival in 2011 Heath has introduced a more rigorous costing model so unprofitable work can be turned away. “In the past, if we had capacity, we would take on the work,” he says. “We tested the market for curtainsiders and found it really hard, so we ended up only keeping two key clients.”
But Heath also knows the company has to grow its turnover to help spread its high fixed overheads.
“We need to get back to £14m or £15m a year, where we were five years ago,” he says. “We have a lot of tenders out and it only takes one to land to get us to our target.”

Telematics boosts efficiency as well as safety
With fuel now representing 37% of Clugston’s running costs – up from 33% as a result of the recent price hikes – the company has worked closely with telematics provider CMS Supatrak to encourage safe and fuel efficient driving (Safed) across its fleet.
The operator is installing CMS Supatrak Ecotrak in all its trucks to monitor key driver performance indicators such as speed, rpm, idle time and time on cruise control. As well as allowing managers to view this data, Ecotrak includes an in-cab display to give drivers instant feedback.
“We have nearly 20 vehicles carrying steel,” says Heath. “With CMS we are saving £50 a week per vehicle on our benchmark fuel bill. We knew we could make some phenomenal savings – other than reducing headcount it is the only way to make six-figure savings.”
Over a three month period, Clugston saw a 10% saving in fuel consumption using CMS Supatrak. “We monitor driving style not fuel consumption,” says Heath. “We reward the best drivers with £25 shopping vouchers.”
Heath says the drivers are happy to adopt a more fuel efficient style.
“We cut our speed from 55 to 53mph and that makes for a more relaxed drive,” says Heath. “All our drivers are paid by the hour so there is no incentive related pay.”
The CMS system automatically generates reports on driving style which are used in monthly review meetings.
While telematics has helped improve fuel efficiency, business and account development manager David Clugston says the key driver was to reassure customers of the safety of its fleet and specifically fuel tankers.
“Fuel customers are very demanding,” says Clugston. “Fuel economy came out of the back of a safe driving style. We found there were repeated examples of harsh braking on the same road so we were able to feed this back to the drivers.”
Clugston is part of Jaupt-approved consortium WTTL and is putting its drivers through its own inhouse Driver CPC training – it employs a full-time safety manager and two drivers are also acting as trainers.
“We use telematics to target the training where it is needed,” says Clugston. “Every driver in the fuel fleet will have done Safed training by the end of the year and we are 60% of the way through our Driver CPC training.”
As well as reducing fuel usage, Clugston uses its contacts in the fuel industry to buy at the best price.
“We pick up our own fuel and buy from traders which in turn has allowed us to understand better where the market is going,” says Heath. “We saved 1.3ppl one week – that is more money than two trucks make in a week.”

The 385,000ft² site, which it plans to establish in the Great Haddon Employment Zone and is intended to provide around 300 jobs, has drawn criticism from two local parish councils recently.

The most vociferous, Hampton Parish Council, claimed the latest plans for the site bore no comparison to the original plans, since two separate structures had become one with twice the number of loading bays originally envisaged.

Yaxley Parish Council, meanwhile, suggested the planned height of the building was excessive.

Positive thinking

Responding to the claims, Yearsley Logistics MD Harry Yearsley admitted that some of the design details had changed over time but told Motortransport.co.uk the scheme was “still in accordance with the outline permission” previously granted and that he was “confident the outcome will be positive”.

The move to a single building would reduce the external surface and thus heat gain through the walls, making the site more sustainable, stressed Yearsley. The number of loading bays, meanwhile, had actually decreased from 45 across the two original buildings to 43, he said.

A noise assessment undertaken at the site showed there would be “no noise impact” on Hampton, he added. “The site is 1.3km from housing and further buildings will be located between the cold store and Hampton in the future,” he said.

A spokesman for Peterborough City Council said he could not confirm how soon the planning committee’s final decision would be announced.

The firm, which operates from a 142,000 pallet capacity cold store in Boroughbridge, North Yorkshire and runs 160 refrigerated trucks, won the award for a combination of good service and the use of high-capacity double-deck reefer trailers.

Will Langham, Tesco’s primary manager for fresh and frozen foods, said Reed Boardall had striven to provide the best possible service and been proactive in extending the use of double-deck trailers. “We congratulate them,” he added.

“We aim to tick all the right boxes to help our food manufacturing customers, as well as their customers, achieve their own service and corporate responsibility goals,” said Reed Boardall MD Tom Cassells. “This award shows we are getting it right consistently and we’re very proud of that.”