The new rules, published in official government guidance, allow for the use of elongated aerodynamic HGV cabs as well as approved rear devices such as flaps or fins that can reduce the trailer’s drag without taking up additional load space.
This new legislation amends the Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) Regulations 1986 and brings UK lorries in line with similar EU legislation enacted in 2012 which allows for the safe use of aerodynamic devices.
Aerodynamics are the wings, folds, flaps and bodywork shaping seen on vehicles that are used to shape the air around a vehicle, allowing it to pass through with less air resistance and drag, which means that an engine needs to work harder to maintain the same speed.
Whilst many lorry trailers already use limited levels of aerodynamic design such as shaped trailers and cab fairings, the new legislation allows for far more options whilst away from urban areas, with retractable and foldable aerodynamics devices that can be fitted to the rear of the trailer.
Foldable aero devices can be, whilst in operation, wider than the total maximum width of the vehicle, although they should be closed in urban and rural areas where there is a greater chance of being closer to pedestrians.
They also should not be used whilst reversing, parking, when parked and in the process of loading or unloading goods from the side, and when the lorry is travelling on ferries or via rail and should remain folded.
As well as this, the load length still needs to be within legal limits and the lorry needs to be able to meet the required level of turning circle manoeuvrability, and red lights and reflectors must be fitted to the devices whilst outstretched to warn other road users of a wide load.
]]>However, the Transport Secretary’s rejection of REL Haulage’s application serves as a cautionary tale that proves the old adage that one should never count their chickens before they have hatched.
REL Haulage was a subsidy of REL Capital, a private investment company that aims to help struggling businesses through consolidating the profitable elements of different firms together that were individually struggling.
The company applied for a licence in July 2021 and whilst it assured the overseeing bodies that it had no plans to operate lorries until their application was approved, was found to have already started taking jobs even whilst the application was taking place.
What made this more concerning is that owner Andy Scott and overseer Adam Lewis both had a reputation of running failed logistics companies, with a combined 11 companies entering liquidation or dissolution under their watch.
The Traffic Commissioner, Nicholas Denton, in his long report on his decision, described how Mr Scott and Mr Lewis had a history of running failed road haulage companies, before siphoning the profitable elements into new ones, escaping creditors and HMRC in the process.
He subsequently accused the pair of planning to do the same with REL Storage; they would leave the unprofitable warehousing business to collapse and continue the profitable road haulage element under a new company.
As well as this, on the day of the inquiry, he noted that he was shown a letter that threatened the staff of the company with redundancy as an attempt to influence Mr Denton’s decision.
The application was rejected in early January 2022 due to a lack of ‘good repute’ required in a road haulage operator.
]]>The Independent reports that HGV drivers have been forced to use roadside bushes due to a lack of toilet and bathroom facilities, as the government is being urged to build lorry parks and facilities near Dover.
Following the UK’s withdrawal from the EU, additional checks at Dover and across the English Channel are now the new normal but have caused massive queues and bottlenecks that have forced authorities to implement traffic access protocols such as Dover TAP to mitigate congestion in the city.
Rod McKenzie, Road Haulage Association’s (RHA) executive director for policy and public affairs, has said that the new regulation ‘means friction where none existed’.
“Any change is uncomfortable. That’s part of leaving the European Union and having to do new border custom checks,” he said.
However, despite the long queues, the RHA believes that the freight situation post-Brexit is not in such a sorry state of affairs as it was once expected to be, saying that while there is friction due to the checks, the situation is not disastrous.
Shipping giant Maersk said in January that 2022 didn’t start with the right foot, with major delays registered at ports such as Felixstowe, where average waiting times were up to 10 days – the highest in Europe.
However, the industry has rebutted that and claimed that EU trade is going smoothly.
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]]>Glasgow Live reports that logistics workers at Carntyne Transport in Springburn in north Glasgow will see a 19 per cent increase in their salaries following an ongoing dispute with the union. Forklift operators, cask handlers, and shunter drivers will also benefit from the pay increase.
Staff at Carntyne will see a 19 per cent to basic hourly rates, with an overtime premium of up to 35 per cent, and will affect 200 workers at the firm.
This equates to a basic hourly rate increase from £12.60 to £15, and after nine hours from £12.60 to £17.
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “This inflation-busting pay deal of 19 per cent on the basic pay is a major victory for our members at Carntyne Transport who led the fight for better jobs, pay and conditions.”
Graham added that the deal is yet another example of union members fighting back and helping to drive up standards across the industry.
Linda Pollock-Wilson, Unite industrial officer, added: “Unite is delighted to secure a massive 19 per cent increase in the basic pay of workers based at Carntyne Transport.”
She added that the union managed to secure a minimum of £15 an hour for HGV drivers, which was the primary objective, as well as a significant increase for other logistics workers at the firm.
“This is an excellent deal and demonstrates the power of being a member of Unite.”
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]]>With the Department for Transport pausing its smart motorway roll-out, there has been a range of responses with the Road Haulage Association welcoming the rethink whilst others are concerned about increased congestion.
Smart motorways, sometimes known as managed motorways are a section of a motorway that uses a variety of active management methods to increase capacity and reduce congestion in busy areas when needed.
Typically this takes the form of variable speed limits to manage traffic in the case of congestion or a traffic incident, variable lanes including opening the hard shoulder up to driving, and digital signage and alerts to keep drivers informed as to the state of the motorway.
This takes the form of either dynamic motorways, where the hard shoulder is opened up at certain times and all-lane running where outside of emergencies the hard shoulder is always open, with emergency refuge areas available.
The aim is to add capacity without the expense and delays caused by construction work, however, concerns have been raised about their effectiveness at reducing congestion and their potential dangers.
The hard shoulder is needed to ensure that people on the always-moving motorway have a safe place to stop their vehicle in case of an incident or a breakdown, and by reducing this or by allowing the hard shoulder to sometimes be used for ordinary travel, it increases the risk of accidents.
Another consequence is breakdown services and emergency services would take longer to reach an incident due to not being able to use the hard shoulder.
A series of Freedom of Information Act requests in early 2020 found that 38 deaths had been attributed to incidents caused by all-lane running, with a 2000% increase in near-misses.
The government announced increased funding for safety features on smart motorways, an increase in stopping places that need to be within a mile of each other, and five years worth of safety data needs to be gathered before any more schemes are accepted.
]]>Logistics Manager magazine reports that the new electric HGVs will be transporting food and other products from the Wentloog rail terminal just outside Cardiff to Tesco’s distribution centre in Magor, also in Wales.
To charge the electric vehicles, FSEW has installed charging points at its site in South Wales, which provide enough energy to power the HGVs for 100 miles before needing to recharge.
The 30-mile stretch between Wentloog and Magor provides a great opportunity for the companies to explore the potential and range of the vehicles for future use across the UK and elsewhere in Tesco’s fleet.
Tesco and FSEW said that by demonstrating the commercial viability of electric HGVs, the companies’ efforts will contribute to wider investment in technology and innovation.
This should support the haulage sector’s efforts to reduce emissions and air pollution which are disproportionately high. While HGVs make up just five per cent of vehicle miles in the UK, their contribution to emissions is around 16 per cent.
This first use of fully-electric heavy-duty trucks should also contribute to Tesco’s efforts to achieve net-zero emissions in its own operations by 2035.
At the same time, FSEW is working to replace more than 40 diesel vehicles with low-carbon alternatives and switch to fleet-wide zero-emissions transport operations already by 2025.
In July 2021, Tesco was one of seven UK companies to pledge to electrify their fleets by the end of the decade, and the supermarket has gone to considerable efforts to improve charging point availability at stores for its customers.
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]]>Business Live reports that experts at real estate advisory company Colliers have said that the take-up for large industrial distribution warehouses has increased to record levels, with around 50.7 million square feet of large distribution warehouses snapped up in 2021, an increase of 3.6 per cent on 2020.
It reported that the soaring demand for warehouse locations has been accelerated by the pandemic-fuelled growth in online retail. According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), UK online retail surged to 30.1 per cent of all sales in November 2021, compared to 21.6 per cent in November 2019, before the pandemic.
Retail property owners have been banking on the growth of e-commerce, despite easing of the pandemic restrictions that had closed shops at the beginning of 2020.
Colliers’ research also highlighted that there were 11.1 million sq ft of speculatively built supply of sites over 100,000 sq ft completed in 2021, and around 75 per cent of the speculatively developed space is either already let or under offer.
This leaves only around 11.8 million sq ft of available industrial space left, representing a record low supply.
Andrea Ferranti, head of industrial and logistics research at Colliers, said that the logistics sector has been continuing to benefit from online consumer spending.
“High levels of occupational activity and demand for new warehouses, due to the unceasing expansion of occupiers’ supply chains to keep up with e-commerce sales and online deliveries, will remain elevated throughout 2022,” she said.
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]]>The Driver Academy Group, a consortium led by HGV training specialist HGVC, and including workforce solutions group Manpower and trade body Logistics UK, has won the lead role on a government scheme to train and place 11,000 HGV drivers across England, helping to address a nationwide shortfall of almost 100,000 HGV drivers.
Logistics Manager reports that the Driver Academy group aims to train and place 2,160 candidates into HGV driving roles as part of the government’s ‘Skills Bootcamp’, flexible courses of up to 16 weeks that provide an opportunity for people to develop sector-specific skills, and a fast track to interviews with local employers.
HGVC will oversee the training of 750 new drivers in England, while Logistics UK will provide drivers with soft skills training, and Manpower will support qualified drivers in their search for suitable roles in the industry.
The Skills Bootcamps in HGV Driving is open to anyone with a car license aged 19 and over. The consortium is keen to help underrepresented groups, such as women, people from ethnic minorities, and younger drivers, as well as those who have found themselves unemployed, ex-offenders, who are encouraged to apply.
James Clifford, the chief executive of HGVC said that finding has become a major barrier for those looking to train as an HGV driver, so the funding from the Department for Education will make a positive impact.
“By providing these courses, we are training up the new drivers that the UK needs to ensure the economy keeps growing while helping existing drivers into more critical and higher-paid roles,” he said.
The Government-funded training is provided via nine pathways, and courses range from novice drivers looking to gain their HGV licence, to refresher courses and upgrades for current licence holders.
Companies looking to upskill existing drivers can also apply for government funding of 70 per cent of the scheme’s cost.
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The lorry driver shortage has been exacerbated by a perfect storm of events this year. These include delays to training and tests caused by the pandemic, an aging workforce retiring faster than new recruits are brought in, EU workers leaving because of Brexit, and an increased demand for consumer deliveries.
A temporary Visa programme was introduced in September, but so far this has had little effect, and is due to end shortly in any case. The situation has eased slightly, as new starters have been tempted by generous signing on bonuses and better wages. The new bootcamp scheme has 11,000 places available.
Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said: "The government has worked tirelessly to tackle the driver shortage caused by coronavirus and years of undervalued wages. We have now introduced 32 actions to help get more HGV drivers on the road.”
He added: “It is good to see that these measures are clearly working, with the haulage industry reporting a significant increase in tests carried out and licenses issued. Now these training camps will provide a further boost for the sector as we work together towards its recovery."
FE Week reports that the Department for Education (DfE) has chosen 21 colleges and other providers to deliver the HGV training bootcamps, which consist of 16-week courses. The first graduates are expected to enter the workforce in March 2022.
In addition, 500 extra lorry driving tests will be carried out a week. Anyone aged over 19 can apply for the free scheme, if they already have a full UK driving licence.
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]]>The deal will see the finance being provided by global investors KKR and Apache Capital for a stake in Moda Living’s £1.7 billion plan to build new homes in several core cities.
Moda, which already has a flagship skyscraper development at Angel Gardens in Manchester, will build 4,000 new homes with the funds. Its plans will cover a number of different cities, but the priorities will be in London, Birmingham and Brighton & Hove.
Building firms may need plenty of lashing winches to help carry materials to the top of cranes, should more of the developments feature buildings as tall as its Manchester scheme, which has 35 storeys and is 355 ft (108 m) high.
Discussing the plans, managing director at Moda Living Tony Brooks said: “With the backing of Apache Capital and KKR we will deliver the next generation of build-to-rent neighbourhoods.”
He added that these developments ”will set new standards for style and service while meeting the growing demand for high quality rental housing that is responsive to modern lifestyles”.
Moda has already partnered with Apache on The Lexington, a scheme in Liverpool where 60 per cent of apartments have already been leased.
The Moda pipeline for the future also includes plans for new developments in Leeds, Edinburgh, Glasgow and York.
In the latter case, no building is allowed to be taller than York Minster, while Edinburgh is also a low rise city that jealously guards its historic architecture. However, the Holland Park development in Glasgow will be 22 storeys in height.
The developer’s biggest skyscraper, however, will be The Mercian in Birmingham, which at 42 storeys will become the tallest residential building in the city.
]]>Railfreight.com have said that a radical adjustment to the use of rail freight should be considered as a long-term solution to the HGV driver shortage, which may not ever be fully resolved. Even improved pay offers don’t seem to be attracting great numbers to a sector which demands long hours in uncomfortable conditions.
Rail is also a far greener method of transport than road, causing less than half the amount of carbon emissions. According to the Institute of Export, just one freight train takes about 60 HGVs off the road, so it makes sense for rail to become used more frequently to transport goods.
New Civil Engineer reports that engineers are proposing to take matters one step further, with plans for a zero-emissions underground freight pipeline. Designed to provide an access link to the Port of Liverpool, the underground route would replace the controversial planned bypass to connect the port to the motorway network.
Mole Solutions technical director Stuart Prosser said: "The need to maintain an effective supply-chain and to decarbonise our infrastructure have never been more relevant, with the impacts of Brexit and the climate emergency dominating the news agenda.”
He added that the system would be capable of transporting any kind of goods, and is commonly used in other parts of the world. Campaigners have been fighting the proposed bypass for over four years, as it would cut through the Rimrose Valley Country Park in Merseyside.
National Highways, who are responsible for building the new port access link, have yet to make a final decision.
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]]>By 2030, the government plans to ban new diesel and petrol vehicles for sale in the UK, which means that millions more EVs will be on the road. It is estimated that 480,000 public charging devices will be needed, compared to the 25,000 devices which are currently available. 19 million home charging points will also be needed.
Energy firm Vattenfall UK has also urged businesses to upgrade their electric infrastructure, so that they are in a position to power their transport fleets in the future. UK Haulier reports that many businesses currently underestimate the scale of upgrade that is required, as the world moves away from using fossil fuels.
Maria Lindberg, Vattenfall’s Director of Heavy Transport said: “Business and industry will need a substantial upgrade of their electrical infrastructure to cope with the power demands of a post-fossil fuel future.”
She added: “There is a diminishing window of opportunity to get this done – but the technology and business models do exist to make it a manageable and economic shift.”
The UK government recently pledged £620m to expediate the rollout of public chargepoint infrastructure, but there are still many areas of concern. For example, the rollout so far has been described as a ‘postcode lottery’, with London having the majority of charging points so far.
Another issue is that chargepoint operators are finding that demand outstrips supply, and this is leading to them charging extortionate prices through lack of competition. The operators have been accused of cherry-picking locations, and demanding exclusive contract and maintenance deals.
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]]>Among the new pledges is the amendment of the construction timetable for the £1bn A66 trans-Pennine route from nine to five years. The 50-mile route, between Cumbria and Yorkshire, will have sections of single carriageway dualled. Five new bypasses will be added, and key junctions improved.
National Highways director of road investment for northern England David Haimes, who also heads the acceleration programme, said: “We are aiming for a win-win for road users, highway builders and the country.”
He added: “We will accelerate and deliver major highways projects more quickly and efficiently. We will reduce the time it takes to develop, design, and deliver road improvements. This will require all parties to adopt new processes and modernise their approaches.”
Further new initiatives include identifying route options more quickly, speeding up the decision-making process, and running operations side by side, rather than one after the other. The agency is also looking to develop new, more efficient ways of working, and embed this as standard practice for every new project.
The procurement, design and construction processes will also be examined, and modernised where possible, for example, by using digital design techniques. Aims to improve budget compliance were also put forward, despite the fact that the acceleration of the A66 improvements has led to a 28% jump in costs.
Recent major schemes, such as the Stonehenge Tunnel and the Lower Thames Crossing, have been plagued with delays and controversy, which the agency will hope to avoid in the future.
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]]>The scheme is part of the DfT’s Restoring Your Railways fund, which was announced in January 2020 as part of the government’s Levelling Up agenda. A total of £500m has been allocated to restore local railway services. The first round of the process is now underway, and is known as the Ideas Fund.
A DfT brief states that any “bid for funding should focus on making the strategic and economic case for the scheme […]. Your submission must include any constraints, such as buildings that have now been constructed upon the route or complications anticipated beyond straightforward reinstatement of the line.”
The brief adds: “We would also expect to understand the land ownership of the route and whether landowners would expect compensation. For example, we would expect councils to provide necessary land that they owned for free if the scheme went ahead.”
85 submissions made it down to the third and final stage of the bidding, and 13 of the proposals have been accepted for the next stage of the programme, which involves developing a more detailed business case.
Some of the restoration schemes are already well underway or nearing completion, such as the Dartmoor Line between Exeter and Okehampton in Devon, which by the end of 2021 should resume passenger services for the first time in 50 years.
Further restoration plans are in the pipeline for the Darlington to Weardale passenger line, the Ashton to Stockport line, the Middlewich line, and the Rawtenstall to Buckley Wells line. Additionally, three lines in Yorkshire will be restored, two in the West Midlands, one in Wales; and two stations will reopen in the South West.
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]]>The first is the extension to cabotage, the movement of freight across the UK by HGVs registered in another country.
This is often undertaken by long haul drivers who make the trip from the EU to the UK to deliver goods, before delivering goods from one place in the UK to another and was previously restricted to just two cabotage legs within seven days of entry into the country.
The extension will allow unlimited cabotage legs for up to 14 days after arriving in the UK, allowing an EU based driver to work in the UK for two weeks before having to return to the EU without having to pay Vehicle Excise Duty (VED).
The second major rule change is a continued relaxation of the EU drivers’ hours regulations, allowing either for a temporary increase in daily driving or a replacement of the weekly rest periods requirements to an alternative specified rest period.
This does not override the working time directive, where drivers can only drive a maximum of 60 hours per week, with an average of 48 hours a week over six months.
It also requires evidence that there is a risk to human and animal welfare should the regulations not be relaxed, such as a risk of shortages of food, fuel and medicine.
The response to both of these relaxations has been mixed, with the Road Haulage Association, in particular, expressing “extreme disappointment” that these measures have been taken instead of adding HGV drivers to the Shortage Occupation List and changing the Driver’s CPC requirements.
]]>The measures are designed to be temporary, and if they are approved, they should come into effect by the end of the year and stay in place for six months. They are intended to boost the pre-Christmas trading season, and alleviate the supply chain pressures which have already led to empty shelves in supermarkets, and fuel station closures.
The Road Haulage Association (RHA) has not welcomed the government’s proposals, however. In a press release, they argue that allowing foreign hauliers to work in unlimited two-week blocks (a process known as cabotage), UK companies will lose work, and incentives to improve working conditions for UK drivers will be weakened.
In a statement, the RHA’s manager for policy and public affairs, Rod McKenzie said: “This proposal undermines the good work done already on training, testing of drivers and the improved pay and conditions we have started to see for drivers.”
MacKenzie continued, “These two measures proposed by the RHA (and others) would make a difference to the availability of lorry drivers for UK companies, it is a shame that the UK government chosen not to proceed in a timely way on these measures and instead decided to offshore UK haulage work to unaccountable operators from outside the UK”.
The RHA would prefer to see measures aimed at training and retaining UK workers, and the process made easier for retired or lapsed UK drivers to return to the industry. They point out that UK drivers are continually assessed for compliance with safety standards, but under the cabotage proposals, there would be no effective control of safety standards.
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]]>The Independent reports that the Unite believes there are 4,000 vacancies for bus and coach drivers across the country, and some companies have been forced to cancel services due to driver shortages.
Unite’s national officer for passenger transport, Bobby Morton said: “It all goes back to the lorry drivers, the shortage of lorry drivers in the haulage industry.
“And a number of the things that lorry drivers share with bus drivers is very long hours, massive fatigue levels, lack of basic facilities such as toilet facilities and washing facilities.”
He explained that many bus drivers are in the mindset that if they are to continue working such long hours and poor conditions, they may as well do it for more money as HGV drivers get £20 an hour rather than £10.
Trentbarton, which operates services in the East Midlands said that it had been forced to reduce the frequency of services on several routes.
Jeff Counsell, the managing director of Trentbarton, said driver shortages are ‘having an impact on a daily basis at the moment’.
Trentbarton has a shortfall of 90 drivers out of its workforce of 900, and while some drivers have retired or relocated, some have left to join the haulage industry.
According to the Confederation of Passenger Transport (CPT), bus operators have put recruitment plans in place, and discussions are underway with the government to help streamline the recruitment process.
“What we now need to see is the requirement for a provisional licence to be issued to begin training abolished and the DVSA to not prioritise HGV testing to resolve the shortfall in that sector at the expense of the bus and coach sector.”
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]]>The strategy appears to be paying off, as Tesco’s shelves have remained well-stocked in recent weeks, unlike many of their rivals, who have been hit by shortages. Tesco currently have five rail freight deliveries a week of fresh produce from Spain, and will add two more in the near future, including one between Spain and Scotland.
A Tesco spokesperson said: “As industry supply chains came under increasing pressure, we were able to leverage our strong supplier relationships and distribution capability to maintain good levels of availability for customers, contributing to our market outperformance.”
Railway News reports that the amount of freight on British railways has now returned to pre-pandemic levels. Figures from the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) show that between April and June 2021, a total of 4.33 billion net tonne-kilometres of rail freight was moved across the network, an increase of 35.5 per cent from the same time last year.
Construction products were moved by rail freight in the largest amounts, partly fuelled by the high level of demand from the HS2 construction project. Domestic intermodal goods, including to and from ports, also had a strong demand, despite delays and disruption to the global shipping freight network, which looks set to continue into next year.
Meanwhile, Tesco plans to increase its current rail use from 65,000 containers a year to 90,000 by November or December this year. The reliance on rail has helped them to maintain healthy profit levels, and cut prices for customers despite rising delivery costs.
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]]>The logbook (or V5C) is a document that indicates who is responsible for registering and taxing a vehicle, from small cars to full-sized heavy goods vehicles, and you need to keep it with you if you travel out of the country.
If you do happen to lose it, there is an easy and quick online process, but the government has recently published some of the oddest reasons why people would need to replace it.
Thankfully, so long as you pay the replacement fee, the DVLA do not care about the reason why.
Typically, any important documentation should be kept out of reach of children as much as possible, but sometimes curiosity and necessity override common sense.
Such is the case with one poor parent, who found out their child had covered their school book with, presumably under a layer of sticky-back plastic.
On a related note, plenty of people also gave the classic homework of excuse of claiming their dog ate it as well.
Getting a car for your birthday is a wonderful experience, but having to immediately pay £25 to use it because of a well-meaning but costly mistake can kind of temper the experience.
For example, one kind person gave another a car for their birthday, but having apparently run out of wrapping paper decided to wrap the keys in the V5C, which naturally led to it getting torn up.
Car keys, unless they only consist of the fob part, are sharp enough to rip through paper, so do not wrap the keys in anything you need to remain undamaged.
There are a few safe places for your logbook, although typically keeping it secure in your glove box is the safest bet if you need to regularly refer to it.
However, if you are going to check it whilst on the move, try to keep the windows closed, as one unfortunate person found out to their horror as the paper flew out of the window, never to be seen again.
]]>The new facility will be built on the site of an old oil rig fabrication plant at Hartlepool dock, creating 100 jobs in the process. When it gets up and running, it will make the concrete sections for the tunnels running under west London between the station at Old Oak Common and Green Parkway.
The contract for the tunnel parts was awarded to STRABAG by the Costain Skanska STRABAG joint venture, the main civils work contractor for HS2.
HS2 minister Andrew Stephenson said: “This landmark contract to build a new factory in Hartlepool to manufacture items for HS2 shows building back better in action, giving new life to a vacant site and bringing over 100 new skilled jobs to the area.”
Ratchet strap suppliers will find their wares in big demand to transport the new sections from Hartlepool to London, as there will be no less than 36,000 of them.
Indeed, the supply chain will be heavily involved in this part of the project, with H2’s announcement highlighting the extra jobs that could be created for them. Mr Stephenson also focused on this, noting that companies in the north east “are already benefiting from being part of HS2’s vast supply chain, with 400,000 supply chain contract opportunities expected on Phase One alone”.
The new factory could be one of a number built across the country to supply concrete tunnel sections for the HS2 project, as the lines will not just run underground beneath west London.
Giant boring machines are currently tunnelling under the Chilterns to ensure the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty is not disrupted by the line, while shorter tunnels will be built in the Midlands where the line approaches Birmingham.
Later phases of the project will also include significant tunnels, with these running under Crewe town centre and south Manchester.
]]>Developer Renaker Build has submitted plans for a second residential skyscraper at Greengate, featuring 444 one, two and three-bedroom apartments and 7,000 sq ft of ground floor commercial space in 42 storeys, all of which would be situated next to the existing 52-storey tower.
If approved, construction of the 160 m (525 ft) skyscraper will begin in January next year.
The tower has been designed by Denton Corker Marshall and would add to the growing Greengate Cluster, located between Trinity Way, Collier Street and Boond Street. The site lies just across the River Irwell from Manchester Victoria Station, ensuring good transport links via rail and tram.
It will mean more flat lifting slings being required by crane operators as they list the various materials into place build the tower, which will have a brick-clad podium and a façade of glazed and solid aluminium panels.
Salford’s construction boom is part of a wider pattern across central and inner areas of Greater Manchester, which have seen numerous tall buildings and other significant developments rising up across the core of the conurbation.
Other major developments in Salford include the expansion of Media City in the docklands and a number of other developments just across the river from Manchester City Centre, most notably the Middlewood Locks mixed-use development.
Scarborough International, which is developing Middlewood Locks submitted a planning application in July for the next phase of the masterplan. This would feature 659 apartments in two blocks, one ranging from 28 to ten storeys and the other from 32 to 11 storeys.
When completed, the Middlewood Locks area will offer 2,215 new homes and 900,000 sq ft of commercial space.
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]]>The government has come under criticism for not taking more decisive action to solve the problem, which organisations such as Logistics UK have been warning about for several months. Although an increase in capacity for HGV testing has been announced, many in the industry fear that this is too little, too late.
Speaking to Sky News, the transport secretary Grant Shapps said: "We'll do whatever it takes. We'll move heaven and earth to do whatever we can to make sure that shortages are alleviated with HGV drivers." However, Chris Yarsley, Logistic UK’s policy manager, thinks that more needs to be done to tackle the mounting issues, as Fleet News reports.
He said: “This includes boosting apprenticeships and access to funding there, as well as introducing short term visas to attract European drivers to help address the shortage. There are even things to do with infrastructure and facilities for lorry drivers that can make the profession less appealing, so there are many areas where policy can make a difference.”
Shapps has suggested to the BBC that if necessary, the army would be drafted in to drive fuel tankers, although it is not yet confirmed if this will be the case.
However, he was resistant to suggestions that visa rules for foreign workers should be relaxed to help the situation, despite calls from haulage industry leaders, members of the construction industry, and bosses of supermarket chains such as Morrisons, Iceland, and Ocado.
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]]>The truck, owned by DPD Switzerland, powered by a Futuricum electric motor and using Continental tyres, travelled 683 miles in 23 hours and highlights that a long enough range to make electric haulage equipment viable is indeed possible.
The record has been verified by the Guinness World Records and was achieved on Continental’s dedicated in-house test track, the Contidrom near Hanover, Lower Saxony, Germany.
The run began at 6:37 am and ended a day later at 5:33 am, driving at an average speed of 31mph.
The vehicle, a modified Volvo FH was 15.5 metric tons at the time the record was attempting, featuring a rigid trailer at the back, and used Continental’s EfficientPro tyres designed to provide low rolling resistance, allowing for more efficient use of power.
This, along with using a vehicle that had already been on the road for six months, emphasised that the record was achieved not in a bespoke custom lorry designed for hypermiling but a standard vehicle that has already been used in Switzerland travelling 300km every day.
Along with this, the temperature was 14 degrees Celcius, which due to being relatively low may have affected the charge, and the run was beset by strong winds, which reached heights of 40 kph during the attempt.
DPD Switzerland’s Strategy and Innovation Director, Marc Frank, credited the success of the project on investing in EVs at an early stage and claims the result has sent a signal for a future for haulage dominated by sustainable drive systems.
]]>The Guardian reports that logistics firms are also trying to lure in new starters with a retention bonus of £5,000. Industry leaders have warned that the shortage could lead to price rises in the shops and empty shelves at Christmas.
Jo Pick, people director for operations at logistics firm Wincanton, told the publication that they currently had a shortfall of 600 drivers.
The firm have a fast-track scheme for current staff, as well as an apprentice scheme which is proving to be popular. They are encouraging people who wouldn’t have considered HGV driving before, such as women.
Pick said: “A lot of the movement in the industry recently has been just moving the same driver population around different companies, so we want to focus on trying to stop that merry-go-round and increase the driver workforce overall.”
According to the Road Haulage Association (RHA), there has been a perfect storm of issues which have led to the current situation. Many drivers from Eastern Europe returned home after Brexit, and some drivers left the industry over Covid concerns. There is also a backlog of driver testing and training in the UK due to the lockdown restrictions.
Being a trucker has always had something of an image problem too; it can be a tough job with long hours away from home, and can lead to a poor diet and limited opportunity to exercise. Many drivers currently working are in the older age groups, and are retiring at a faster rate than new recruits can be brought in.
The RHA has called for the government to relax immigration rules, so that truck drivers can be included on the Shortage Occupation List as a short term measure to ease the pressure on the haulage industry.
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]]>A UK.GOV press release says that the news follows DfT publishing its response to the consultation of longer semi-trailers (LSTs), for which 57 per cent of respondents were in favour, and follows a nine-year trial of LSTs, which can be up to 15.65 metres in length.
LSTs are estimated to remove up to one in eight freight journeys by carrying the same amount of cargo in fewer lorries, which would all support the government’s Transport Decarbonisation Plan by reducing mileage, congestion, and carbon emissions.
Following the trial and consultation, the Department for Transport will now consider the use of LSTs on Britain’s roads outside trial conditions and the vehicles could be rolled out at some point in 2022.
The non-year trial showed that there was a reduction in the number of lorries, an average 8 per cent reduction in miles covered by freight, and a fall of 6.2 per cent in pollutant emissions. While the trial showed the use of LSTs caused fewer collisions, additional mitigations are under review to ensure hauliers and road users are kept safer.
The government is also to launch a separate trial on the use of heavier than usual 48-tonne vehicles, also following a positive response from a consolation on their introduction.
The maximum weight of a lorry (44 tonnes) makes it difficult to carry heavier materials to rail depots, meaning goods are dispersed between more lorries to be taken to their end destination by road. Taking more goods in heavier trucks to rail depots to be transported by train will help reduce congestion across and reduce emissions.
The trial would ensure these heavier lorries are only used on specific routes and would limit their use to a maximum journey length.
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]]>In a joint statement from John Newcomb, the CEO of the Builders Merchants Federation and CEO of the Construction Products Association Peter Caplehorn, this shortage was listed as the primary concern, with “with some suppliers asking builders merchants to collect their orders as they cannot get enough drivers to complete deliveries”.
They added: “Regional distribution is a particular issue, with some finding challenges arranging deliveries to Scotland and the South West of England.”
This means supplies of haulage drivers are more of an issue than any shortage of haulage equipment, even though all kinds of products are in distinctly short supply. The statement noted that this particularly applies to “timber, cement, roofing products, bricks, blocks, insulation, steel and cable management systems”, while a global shortfall of semiconductors continues.
However, they stated that the overall supply situation “has not changed substantially”, although this is primarily due to the holiday period easing demand and some projects being cancelled due to supply shortages.
Materials inflation has slowed down, but is not expected to “stabilise” until next year.
Writing for Business Daily about the issues faced by the supply chain, founder and principal consultant of automotive solutions firm OP2MA Calum Lewis said the need for more “resilient” supply chains is something the global pandemic has highlighted.
He noted that for years the economic conditions surrounding logistics have helped keep driver pay low, a situation that will now need to be revised in order to increase staffing numbers.
Such actions may help build greater resilience in the future, helping industry, construction, food distribution and other services to avoid the kind of strains that are being faced at present.
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]]>BBC News reports that industry action groups and experts have been urging the government to help recruit drivers, and have said that better pay and improved working conditions are needed to lure non-working HGV drivers back.
Experts have pinned the blame of the shortage largely on Brexit and the pandemic, which saw 14,000 EU national drivers going home, with only 600 returning, leading to ‘unsustainable pressure’ on supply chains
Of the UK HGV license holders in employment, the number is seven per cent less than in 2019, when 310,000 were working.
Over the last 12 months, the industry has seen a large number of drivers retiring, while the lockdown measures impacted the training of new drivers, with 40,000 HGV driver tests cancelled.
The average age of a UK lorry driver is put at 56 to 57 and not enough young people have joined the industry due to its long hours, unattractive conditions and poor pay.
The median hourly pay for drivers has increased by 10 per cent since 2015 to £11.80, which is below the 16 per cent rise for salaries across other sectors, and new tax changes are likely not in drivers’ favour.
HGV drivers are only permitted to drive for nine hours per day, but many are away from home for up to 15 hours a day, which is off-putting for many young people who do not want to work such hours.
The RHA said that of the hundreds of thousands of HGV drivers not employed could be because some may be training new drivers, or have moved professions, while others may be off sick, taking leave, or only working part-time.
Experts have issued warnings over a 'chronic lack of safe and secure parking spaces' for lorries which means more than 1,400 drivers sleep in their cabs each night. Logistics UK has urged the government to ensure there are adequate areas for drivers to take their legally mandated breaks, including short stops and overnight stays.
Haulage bosses claim that drivers are being forced to put themselves and their loads at risk, which is also a strong deterrent for new entrants into the sector, especially women.
Alex Veitch, general manager of Public Policy at Logistics UK, said: “In addition to recruiting, testing and training a new workforce of HGV drivers, it is imperative that government and industry listen to the feedback of those who have left a career in HGV driving and takes action accordingly.
“Poor facilities such as safe, secure rest places are a key issue for many of these drivers, and we call on government to deliver on its promised improvements to lorry parking.”
He added that there are other possible reasons why some individuals may hold HGV licenses beyond employment, such as for equestrian use, or drivers who have now moved into managerial roles.
If you’re looking for stainless steel ratchet straps, visit our online store today.]]>As the Road Haulage Association (RHA) and Logistics UK both say that the 100,000 shortfall of drivers in the UK is down to a combination of the ‘pingdemic’, where people need to self isolate, and the unavailability of EU drivers due to Brexit, Gist is offering a £5,000 incentive, while John Lewis is to pay HGV drivers £5,000 more per year, according to Talking Retail.
New drivers for Gist will receive a £2,000 sign-on bonus, and then three annual ‘retention payments’ of £1,000 for continued service.
Gist’s managing director, Julian Bailey said: “We’re hoping to entice experienced drivers back into the industry.
“These may be those that have recently retired or moved to alternative careers and, in the longer term, we’re hoping to encourage younger people to consider driving as an attractive career choice.”
Competitor haulage firms have responded by describing the news as ‘nice if you can afford it’.
Enticing former drivers back into the sector has been seen as an essential short-term solution, but some drivers have said that extra money from haulage firms will not solve the crisis in the long term.
One driver said that the pay was comparable to warehouse work, but the working hours mean long periods away from families with ‘no real added benefit’ especially as the job and treatment of other drivers have left them feeling unappreciated.
Another driver said only by addressing structural failings and hostile attitudes towards drivers would their numbers climb sufficiently.
Gist said the financial incentives were intended as a supplement to the driver training programme launched in 2019, which is set to reopen next month, aiming to boost homegrown driver numbers.
It also assists those re-training as drivers and is offered to trainee apprentices and Gist employees changing career paths.
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]]>The Sun on Sunday reports that around 2,000 personnel with HGV qualifications are believed to be on a five-day notice to help distribute food and essentials including medicine.
According to reports, the government is set to make a formal request to the military for help, and members of the Royal Logistics Corps and other regiments are expected to be called upon by the end of September.
A source told the newspaper that messages are being sent out to all Army personnel with HGV qualifications.
“They are being put on five-day standby notice for driving jobs at major distribution centres around the country. Soldiers will be put up in hotels where necessary and will be working extended hours to assist with the crisis.
“They will be involved with food distribution as well as the transportation of other essential goods and medical supplies,” they said.
The intervention will take place under Operation Rescript, part of the military’s ongoing efforts to tackle the pandemic.
The Road Haulage Association (RHA) warned there was a shortage of 100,000 lorry drivers as thousands are forced to wait to take their HGV test due to a huge backlog created by the lockdown.
Transport secretary Grant Shapps temporarily increased the maximum time lorry drivers can spend on the road. However, lorry drivers have slammed the relaxation of rules as ‘stupid and dangerous’ – as critics accused the Government of relying on short-term solutions.
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]]>A comprehensive policy manifesto is due to be published ahead of the COP26 climate conference, which is taking place in Glasgow in November this year, with members being called upon to work with the organisation to achieve the ambitions set out in the new routemap.
One of the key focus areas for the logistics industry is transport decarbonisation, with the sector fully committed to achieving net zero come 2050.
Other top priorities include commercially viable zero tailpipe technologies for HGVs by the mid-2020s, rapid rollout of recharging and refuelling infrastructure for commercial vehicles and incentives to help overcome higher upfront purchase prices.
It is also focusing on an equitable approach to funding power upgrades for depots, research and investment into multimodal approaches for logistics and devising a clear policy framework to support alternative fuels that can reduce emissions right now.
Members can now get involved by joining the organisation’s Environment Working Group, which will help to inform Logistics UK’s policy on environmental issues that affect the logistics supply chain.
Transport is now the UK’s biggest greenhouse gas emitting sector, responsible for 27 per cent of all emissions. Road vehicles produce the most emissions across the transport sector, with taxis and cars emitting 61 per cent of emissions in 2019, compared to the 18 per cent from HGVs and 17 per cent from vans.
Head of public policy at Logistics UK Michelle Gardner said: “Logistics UK and its members understand the urgency of the climate crisis and are working hard to decarbonise logistics operations; we are pleased to launch this campaign today to support and encourage the industry’s journey to Net Zero.
“A key component of this campaign’s success will be getting the right support from government. Logistics UK will be working in partnership with its members and government to help ensure the right policies, infrastructure, power supply, funding and vehicle markets are in place to realise the logistics industry’s net zero ambition.”
Back in April, the organisation also called for the government to unlock capacity for rail freight services in order to help the UK hit its net zero targets by 2050.
Policy manager of multi modal Zoe McLernon explained at the time that if seven million lorries were taken off the roads each year, rail freight could have a vital role to play in meeting the nation’s decarbonisation targets - but capacity is currently “severely constrained”.
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