All Interviews articles – Page 9
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ArticleTerror on the streets: what the road transport industry can do to minimise risk
Scenes of a devestation at the Breitscheidplatz Christmas market after a heavy goods vehicle ploughed into crowds of people during a terror attack in Berlin, Germany, 20 December 2016. The attack was masterminded by the Tunisian national Anis Amri and resulted in the deaths of twelve people and many more ...
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Article
Michael Conroy, CEO of Palletforce, on why 2017 will be super year for the network
Michael Conroy has a bounce in his step as he shows MT a series of wall-mounted photos of the network’s development in Fradley before its move to Callister Way, its current home, in 2009.And why shouldn’t he? Palletforce is a year and a half on from its £30m sale to ...
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Article
What happened at AM Widdowson & Son
With Widdowson Logistics in administration once more, Motortransport.co.uk revisits the events that lead to the operator’s pre-pack in July 2016.Although incorporated in 1975, business conducted by former coal merchant AM Widdowson & Son can be traced back more than 100 years.Like any haulage firm with a few years on the ...
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ArticleDriver First Assist - saving lives on the roads
Driver First Assist (DFA) was recognised at a parliamentary reception last week (18 January) and has received warm words and £70,000 of funding from the DfT. Motor Transport technical editor Colin Barnett takes a look back at the development of the first aider scheme.I first met David Higginbottom back in ...
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ArticleMotor Transport's Power Players - the 10 most influential people in transport
Welcome to Power Players, the list of the most influential people in road transport. It is entirely subjective and based on the opinions of the Motortransport.co.uk editorial team rather than any objective criteria so feel free to let us know what you think @Motor_Transport.This year’s Power Players has a different ...
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Article
Wincanton on its half year results, Brexit and falling container volumes
Despite walking away from contracts and uncertain container volumes, Wincanton’s half year results recorded a 52% jump in pre-tax profit. Motortransport.co.uk talks to CEO Adrian Colman. The figures for the six months ended 30 September this year showed pre-tax profit of £19.6m, compared to £12.9m for the same period in ...
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ArticleDriving ahead in logistics recruitment
Driving Plus is one of the fastest growing driver recruitment agencies in the UK, having acquired the Milestone business in September last year and being part of the Staffline Group that is on course for a £1bn turnover in the next two years.MD Mark Underwood gives MT a brief lesson ...
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Article
Menzies Distribution looks to parcels growth as traditional market declines
Menzies Distribution is looking increasingly towards the parcels market as it looks to diversify the business to offset falling revenues from its core newspaper distribution business.Paul McCourt, Menzies Distribution MD, told Motortansport.co.uk that the parcel division, dubbed Menzies Parcels, had grown rapidly after the operator introduced its diversification strategy 15 ...
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ArticleForce to be reckoned with in growing returns business
iForce is one of the leading efulfilment specialists in the UK, working for blue chip clients including John Lewis, Tesco.com, Sainsbury’s and Fortnum & Mason.The boom in online retailing has seen the company grow fast, not least because it has developed a highly effective returns operation to maximise the value ...
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ArticleRoad transport on right track to improve safety
A confidential reporting system where transport employees can flag up safety concerns is being introduced into the road haulage industry.Ciras, which has been used for 20 years by railway operators, is a not-for-profit, independent member organisation governed by a committee of industry representatives.It was launched in 1996 to provide confidential ...
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ArticleThe road to 2020: what the haulage industry will look like in four years
Watch what happened at the Microlise Transport Conference last month, when Motortransport.co.uk chaired a debate between seven of the eight major truck manufacturers, who were looking ahead to what the market holds for all in road transport in 2020. Over a wide-ranging session hot topics such as autonomous trucks; alternative ...
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ArticleAll things green: Tuffnells Parcel Express
Now part of the Connect Group, Tuffnells is packaged better than ever. We spoke to MD Chris Ward to find out why.Everyone knows Tuffnells. Its big, green parcel machines have been on UK roads since 1914 and the company has a fleet and balance sheet to make its competitors – ...
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ArticleArrow XL's Ian Howell talks parcels, profit and the VIP treatment
Arrow XL split from Yodel in 2013, and in the last two years chief executive Ian Howell has built a two-man delivery firm that prides itself on giving all of its customers the VIP treatment.You could be forgiven for thinking of two-man delivery as the awkward cousin of the more ...
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ArticleCM Downton's trailblazing apprenticeship
Last year industry players won their long-waged battle for a government-funded driver training apprenticeship. The Trailblazer pitch had been denied twice previously when the government said it didn’t think training a driver would stretch over the 12-month period needed to meet funding requirements.While the Trailblazer scheme was eventually approved, CM ...
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ArticleGulliver's growing its high end contract hire business
Bristol-based contract hire rental firm Gulliver’s Truck Hire is growing rapidly, and made the Top 20 in the 2015 CV Informer league table of top rental companies with almost 6,000 assets, up from number 27 in 2013.Sales director Neil Jeremiah, pictured, says the company has grown from its south west ...
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ArticleCentury earns plaudits for untangling knotty problem of returns
Century Logistics is earning a reputation in the logistics industry for its innovative approach to managing returns.Sleepy Saxham in Suffolk is not exactly the sort of hotbed of logistics innovation where a company winning plaudits for maximising the value from that most thorny of retail problems – returns - might ...
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Article
Potter makes it a double celebration in 2015
Potter Logistics picked up the Haulier of the Year Award in the 2015 Motor Transport Awards - the same year it celebrated its 50th anniversary.Naming Potter Haulier of the Year, the judges said it was a family business with a customer-centric ethos that had secured some very loyal, long-standing clients.The ...
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ArticleGenial Geordie at the reins of Isuzu Truck (UK)
Pete Murphy took over as MD of Isuzu Truck (UK) in November 2013 after founder Nikki King sold the business and became honorary chairman. The genial Geordie took the reins at an interesting time for the UK truck market, with the turmoil of a change in Euro emissions standards about ...
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ArticleSalford Van Hire - 50 years young
In 50 years Salford Van Hire (SVH) has established itself as one of the most influential players in the CV market. The Manchester-based business was created by Italian-born Raffaello Bacci (pictured, centre) in the 1960s when Mr B, as he is known to his 200 employees, spotted an opportunity to ...
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ArticleAll change at the top for Fortec
Pallet network Fortec, owned by French logistics giant Geodis, has undergone a change in its management structure following the departure of MD Neil Hodgson and commercial director Marcus Fischer.In October last year, Dave Spong, general manager commercial and Adrian Bradley, general manager operations, took over from Niel Hodgson and Marcus ...