Operator News

From third-party logistics to own-account operators Motortransport.co.uk has it covered: we report on all 3PLs, from DHL Supply Chain to Eddie Stobart Logistics, and from XPO Logistics to Wincanton. We also cover the UK home delivery and parcels market from Royal Mail to DPD and from Hermes to Yodel. We have all the latest news from own-account operators, including Tesco Distribution, Travis Perkins, Bidvest and the latest developments from pallet networks including Palletways and Pall-ex.

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Wincanton hit by decline in volumes

April 3, 2012 Hayley Pink

Wincanton has warned that a decline in customers’ volumes and a reduced demand for warehousing will “adversely affect” the business in the next 12 months. In a trading update issued today (Tuesday 3 April), the group says that while it has successfully retained and won new contracts across all sectors, market conditions in retail, FMCG and containers have been challenging. It adds that a number of its customers are seeing a decline in volumes, which is resulting in reduced demand […]

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K+N sell off Renault Trucks dealership

April 2, 2012 Laura Hailstone

Logistic company Kuehne + Nagel has sold its Renault Trucks dealership RH Commercial Vehicles for an undisclosed sum, a year after it bought its parent company The RH Group for £66.9m. The new owners of the East Midlands dealership, that employs 55 people, include its current MD Nigel Baxter and general manager Paul Pearson, who becomes commercial director, as well as Neville and Peter Baxter. Last year the dealership turned over £16m from sales, parts and servicing from its head […]

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Yodel well prepared for Olympic challenge

April 2, 2012 Laura Hailstone

Yodel has announced its plans for ensuring deliveries are handled effectively throughout the busy Olympic Games period this summer. The parcel firm’s contingency plans include informing customers of those postcodes most likely to experience delays; the creation of a dedicated ‘Olympics Village HQ’ at Yodel’s Vauxhall depot in central London; as well as daily updates for clients about congestion, disruption and hotspots. Yodel has been liaising with Transport for London and Olympics officials for more than a year now, to […]

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DHL to close Coventry depot serving Sainsbury’s

March 30, 2012

DHL is to close its Coventry depot, which it runs on behalf of retailer J Sainsbury, in a move that places 550 jobs at risk. The logistics giant plans to transfer the garment operations currently undertaken at Coventry  for the retailer to another of its sites in Bedford. A DHL spokeswoman says: “In support of Sainsbury’s planned expansion of its UK clothing operation, the company is proposing to transfer its clothing volumes for both boxed and hanging items to its […]

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Road transport operators prepare for fuel shortage

March 29, 2012 Laura Hailstone

Truck fleet operators are drawing up contingency plans in the event of a national strike by fuel tanker drivers. Unite union leaders representing more than 2,000 tanker drivers working for Wincanton, DHL, BP, Hoyer, J W Suckling, Norbert Dentressangle and Turners (Soham) are locked in talks with employers over a dispute about safety standards and employment terms. With evidence emerging of panic buying of petrol in some areas following confusing advice from government, distribution firms have been drawing up their […]

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DBC Foodservice in administration

March 28, 2012

Own-account operator DBC Foodservice has been put into administration, after attempts to sell the business failed. By Chris Druce The £300m turnover company supplies some of the best known cafes, restaurants and bars on the high Street including Café Nero, Prezzo, Loch Fyne and vodka bar chain Revolution. Other customers include hotels, local authorities, the MoD, NHS and police. Russell Cash, Ben Woolrych and Mark Wilson from Baker Tilly Restructuring and Recovery were appointed to handle the administration yesterday (27 […]

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McDowell’s reveals rapid expansion

March 28, 2012 Laura Hailstone

Fast-growing Keighley, West Yorkshire haulier McDowell Haulage and Distribution says work will begin shortly on a new 25,000ft2 warehouse in order to keep up with demand. The company, which has contracts to transport school furniture and cosmetics and is also a member of The Pallet Network, opened a new depot in Bellshill in December and earlier this month deliveries began to arrive into another new warehouse in Avonmouth. Now that the firm has been given the green light to construct […]

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Operator News

TNT Post reveals second end-to-end postal trial

March 28, 2012 Hayley Pink

TNT Post is to conduct a second end-to-end delivery trial from mid-April in west London, following the successful conclusion of a final-mile trial in Liverpool. The private postal operator has held long-term ambitions to roll-out a complete end-to-end service rivalling Royal Mail, but says it has been unable to achieve this goal due to the national incumbent’s exemption on final mile deliveries. Nick Wells, TNT Post chief executive, says: “TNT Post has built an excellent reputation for quality, innovation and […]

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Increase in fuel duty is a disaster, says Hermes

March 21, 2012 Peter Steele

Home delivery specialist Hermes has branded the Chancellor’s decision to implement a 3ppl rise in fuel duty as “a disaster for the haulage sector”. Jon Tobbell, commercial director at  Hermes, says: “Whilst we welcome the freeze in Vehicle Excise Duty, it pales into significance when compared to the pain being experienced by hauliers as a result of the rising price of fuel. “At Hermes we have seen a 30%  increase in fuel costs and now spend well over £10m annually. […]

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Hellmann targets Iberian growth

March 21, 2012 Peter Steele

Hellmann UK  has launched a freight partnership with a Portuguese logistics company that increases the number of round trip road freight services to the country each week. The partnership with Rangel Express and Logistics enables Hellmann to undertake three direct level departures to Oporto and Lisbon and the company says it also strengthens its European network. “We are always looking for ways to improve, strengthen and widen the scope of our service,” says Hellmann UK commercial director Matthew Marriott. “Finding […]