All Interviews articles – Page 12
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ArticleAspray24 expands with new £6m logistics hub
Express carrier Aspray24 is celebrating its 30th anniversary in 2013 and has marked the occasion with the opening of its new £6m state of the art warehouse on a six-acre plot next to its existing 12-acre site in Noose Lane, Willenhall.According to MD Stuart Laight, the acquisition of the site ...
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ArticleThe good, the bad and the ugly - Tony Pain's 45 year in truck marketing
One of the best known figures in the UK transport industry, Daf Trucks marketing director Tony Pain retired on 4 October at the age of 63,45 years to the day since he started work at Leyland.Pain got into the job because he always wanted to design trucks, but says he ...
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ArticleThe future is still orange for TNT Express
UPS’ failed attempt to take over TNT Express left a shadow of uncertainty hanging over the Netherlands-based express carrier. But it has emerged with a clear strategy for success as TNT Express Services UK & Ireland Managing Alistair Cochrane tells Steve Hobson.The proposed takeover – which UPS had said ...
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ArticleAcumen proves profit is sanity in car deliveries
Last year Acumen Logistics Group gate-crashed the MT Top 100 for the first time, scant reward for a phenomenal performance over the past few years that has seen the company rise from an £8.2m turnover in 2009 to £20m in 2012.While this rate of growth has not all been organic, ...
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ArticleKeyPL proves 4PL model can deliver cost and service benefits
While TDG may not have invented the term 4PL, it was certainly one of the leaders in making the concept work for its customer Corus Steel back in 2006. Since then TDG has been acquired by Norbert Dentressangle (ND) and Corus taken over by Tata Steel, and 4PL has been ...
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ArticleKeep young and beautiful if you want to be hired
Fast-growing trailer rental firm Hireco is investing in new tracking technology as well as new trailers as director James Smith tells Steve HobsonWith a fleet of 5,000 trailers, all under five years old, Berkshire-based Hireco ranked fifth in MT’s first CV Informer league table of trailer rental firms. Director James ...
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ArticleTransaid goes back to its roots
International development charity Transaid has gone back to its roots providing logistics support to other aid organisations since Gary Forster took over as chief executive in 2011, as he explains to Steve Hobson.While Transaid was set up as an independent body in 1998, its origins go further back, and ...
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ArticleYodel chief Neil Lloyd looks to improve customer experience
Home delivery specialist Yodel has gone through some well-publicised growing pains since its creation from the merger of HDNL and the day domestic side of DHL in 2010.Despite halving its losses, it still posted a £67m deficit at the end of June 2012 and had suffered capacity issues during the ...
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ArticleRead all about it - C&H (Hauliers) focus on newsprint
To remain competitive C&H (Hauliers) has wrapped up the niche paper reel market, expanded into recycling and invested heavily in its fleet.The choice of becoming a niche player with a limited pool of clients or a general haulier swimming in a bigger pond is always a tough one. Essex-based C&H ...
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Volvo boss full of confidence in new Renault line up
At this week’s multi-million euro launch of Renault Trucks’ complete new line up in Lyon, senior directors from its parent Volvo Group turned out to lend their support to this €2bn (£1.7bn) project to revitalise Renault’s ageing CV portfolio. These included Volvo Group president Olof Persson and he spoke to ...
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ArticleMichelin weathering the recessionary storm
It is now five years since the credit crunch plunged Europe into deep recession. MT editor Steve Hobson went to Michelin HQ in Clermont-Ferrand to find out how the super-premium tyre maker is weathering the storm.Recessions are tough on premium brands, as buyers go into survival mode and the long-term ...
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ArticleClugston back on growth path with new revenue streams
Although Clugston can trace its roots back almost 120 years to 1895, when the grandfather of current chairman John Clugston set up a builders merchants in Scunthorpe, it celebrated its official 75th anniversary since incorporation last year.Like many long-established firms with roots in construction and transport, Clugston - still based ...
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ArticleNorbert Dentressangle MDs take joint approach to UK market
With the appointment of Malcolm Wilson to the board of its French parent company earlier this year, Phil Shaw (pictured below) was promoted to replace Wilson as Norbert Dentressangle (ND) UK Logistics MD. The company does not split turnover and profit for each country, and between them Shaw and Mike ...
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ArticleBNP Paribas - the bank that likes to say 'yes'
With UK banks under constant fire for failing to lend to British businesses, it is refreshing to talk to a banker who is positively eager to work with UK operators.Graham Winslet is sales director of BNP Paribas Rental Solutions, a wholly-owned subsidiary of BNP Paribas, one of the strongest banks ...
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ArticleJam today for Bibby's Iain Speak
Visiting the Atchison Topeka depot in Droitwitch, now run by Bibby Distribution, it is easy to imagine – after seeing a warehouse full of jam ready to go into a famous biscuit – that they have turned the phrase ‘jam tomorrow and jam yesterday, but never jam today’ on its ...
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ArticleCV Show partners expect big things for 2013
The CV Show is back with a bang, with all but two of the major truck builders making an appearance.If 2011 was the return of the “full-fat” CV Show, then 2013 will be a full-cream, gold-topped event, with all but two of the major truck builders using the show to ...
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ArticleFowler Welch MD Nick Hay - Part 2
Fowler Welch’s move into ambient distribution alongside its chilled business is already paying dividends as MD Nick Hay tells Steve HobsonAlthough Nick Hay - MD of Fowler Welch since November 2010 – has, like the firm he runs, a background in chilled distribution, he sees ambient markets as far more ...
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ArticleFowler Welch MD Nick Hay - Part 1
Fowler Welch MD Nick Hay has strong views on fleet replacement cycles and the switch to Euro-6 as he explains to Steve HobsonFowler Welch runs a fleet of 400 units and 800 trailers from 10 sites around the UK. Best known as a chilled operator, it dropped the ‘Coolchain’ from ...
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ArticleScania helps operators go green
Late last year, Scania held a high level conference in Brussels to discuss how European road freight transport can cut CO2 emissions while remaining competitive. MT caught up with recently appointed Scania chief executive Martin Lundstedt at the event.At its annual conference held in Brussels last year, Scania took on ...
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ArticleExpansion means better coverage from Rygor
Like hauliers, truck dealers are consolidating, getting bigger, and widening the range of services they offer. Dealers no longer just sell trucks; they are increasingly taking on the vehicle repair and maintenance as more operators close their fleet engineering departments and rely on dealers for their R&M and other technical ...