All Article articles – Page 618
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Highways England appoints new chief executive
Highways England has appointed Jim O’Sullivan as its chief executive, following its transformation from the former Highways Agency earlier this year. An engineer by trade, O’Sullivan comes from a background working on “safety critical transport projects”, as well as working with British Airways and Heathrow Airport Holdings.He replaces Graham Dalton, ...
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Reed Boardall buys 50 Volvo tractor units
Temperature-controlled operator Reed Boardall has bought 50 new Volvo FH tractor units, bringing its fleet to 230 vehicles all under three years old. The tractors, provided by Crossroads Truck and Bus, will pull some of Reed Boardall’s fleet of 300 refrigerated trailers.They come equipped with a series of safety features, ...
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Rail freight must respond to evolving road transport sector says minister
Secretary of state for Transport Clare Perry has told the rail freight industry that it must respond to developments such as the autonomous truck, and electric vans, in order to retain its ‘green’ credentials.In a speech to the rail engineers forum on 15 June Perry said that "the automotive sector ...
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2MV Logistics joins HazChem Network
Farlington, Portsmouth-based haulier 2MV Logistics has joined the HazChem Network, covering the PO1-22 areas. It made its first radial deliveries in the region last week.HazChem said that it wanted to thank Andover, Hampshire-based Switch International – sister company to TWT Logistics – for “kindly releasing the area to allow 2MV ...
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Palletways on life in the sector after UK Pallets
As part of his contribution to a pallet distribution feature that you can read in full in Motor Transport on 29 June, Palletways MD Luis Zubialde, set out the network's responses to a series of issues facing the sector post UK Pallets. The below Q&A was pulled together by Palletway's ...
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Whistl's exit prompts Royal Mail regulations review
Ofcom has announced a “fundamental review” into the regulation of Royal Mail, after the withdrawal of Whistl’s final mile delivery service left it without a major competitor in the postal market. In 2012, new regulations gave Royal Mail more freedom to set its own prices, to protect it from rivals ...
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XPO Logistics' takeover of Norbet Dentressangle 'a golden opportunity'
In April US 3PL XPO Logistics surprised the European logistics market with an unsolicited €3.24bn (£2.3bn) offer for French giant Norbert Dentressangle (ND). With the deal, in essence, completed last week ND chief executive Hervé Montjotin, now chief executive of XPO’s European business, told MT that the offer was a ...
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BVRLA calls for 'national framework' for city devolution
The BVRLA has said that the government must provide “direction” to its Cities Devolution Bill to ensure that vehicles are not subject to different legislation in different cities.In May, chancellor George Osborne set out plans for English cities to get more powers over areas such as transport as part of ...
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Fors-disqualified operator loses O-licence revocation appeal
Cowan Plant, the operator disqualified from Fors last year, has lost an appeal against the decision to revoke its O-licence.The Hayes, Middlesex-based company had its Fors membership taken away by TfL in December following a public inquiry (PI) that resulted in the loss of its O-licence and the disqualification of ...
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Diane Abbott calls for London ultra-low emission zone
London mayoral candidate Diane Abbott has called for the introduction of an ultra-low emission zone (ULEZ) in the capital by 2018, two years ahead of plans proposed by current mayor Boris Johnson.Abbott secured a Commons debate on London’s poor air quality last week (9 June), claiming City Hall has “abjectly ...
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It's a wrap for Knights of Old's Scanias
Knights of Old has acquired 10 new Scanias at short notice for a contract renewal – and had them decked out in a new livery. Paul Abbott, group director, said the R450 tractor units were needed to facilitate the unnamed contract and so the company relied on ‘stock’ vehicles already ...
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GMB claim hearing against Marks & Spencer likely "sometime in 2016"
A judgement in the legal claim being brought by the GMB union against four companies involved in the operation of Marks & Spencer’s South Marston, Swindon DC over agency staff pay could take months to be made. The union revealed it had lodged a claim against DHL, Wincanton, Twenty Four ...
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RHA to make emergency submission to government on driver shortage
The RHA is to make an emergency submission to the government this week demanding that it steps in and sorts out the industry’s driver shortage, before it undermines the fragile economic recovery.It comes as a survey from the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport (CILT) revealed that 74% of its ...
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Ryder adds 750 trucks and trailers to rental fleet
Vehicle rental firm Ryder has ordered 400 new tractor units to refresh its current fleet, along with 350 new trailers. The 6x2 tractor units are a combination of Daf, MAN, Mercedes-Benz and Iveco models. They are joined by 200 curtain-sider trailers, 100 temperature controlled trailers and 50 box trailers.The ...
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Pollock sees turnover boost after Gilbraith acquisition
Pollock (Scotrans) saw turnover climb in its first financial results since its acquisition of fellow Palletways member Gilbraith (TS) last February.At the time of purchase, Pollock said it was expecting to see its turnover rise to more than £25m in the future. The company’s latest results, for the year ending ...
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UK Pallets: The cost of closing down a pallet network
While sending a pallet has never been more affordable the same can’t be said if you are sending an actual pallet network on its final journey.UK Pallets, officially recorded as no more by parent company UK Mail in its April results, ultimately cost more than £10m to wind up (much ...
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Union holds protest against Dixons Carphone DC closure
The Communications Workers Union (CWU) has held a protest today over the proposed closure of consumer technology retailer Dixons Carphone’s Wednesbury repair and distribution centre. The planned closure is expected to take effect in early 2016, at the cost of around 500 jobs - although affected workers have been offered ...
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Record progress for pallet networks shows no sign of stopping
Despite the trauma of losing UK Pallets this year, in a general sense the pallet sector remained in rude health for the majority of networks during 2014, delivering yet another year of volume growth.According to the Association of Pallet Networks (APN) – which never counted UK Pallets amongst its membership ...
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FSDF dismisses claim stowaways may cause supply chain collapse
Claims that the UK supply chain is “in danger of collapsing” as a result of delivery failures and delays caused by migrants attempting to stow away in vehicles passing through Calais are “an exaggeration”, according to the Food Storage & Distribution Federation (FSDF). The claim was made by the FTA ...
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Industrial action by DVSA testing staff averted
Industrial action by DVSA vehicle testing staff looks to have been averted after a positive meeting between the government agency and trade union Prospect last week. The meeting covered union concerns about the new contracts vehicle testers are being asked to sign up to as part of the introduction of ...