Fleet Transport October 2015

IRELAND'S LEADING COMMERCIAL VEHICLE MAGAZINE Inside!

Award Winning DAF CF Silent

FEATURES S

Pull-out Supplement Inside OCTOBER 15

TEST: Renault Range D 26.320 6x2 REVIEWS: Mondello Truck Show 2015 & TCS&D Show 2015 REPORTS: Mayo Energy Agency Event & ComTrans 2015 - Moscow TECHNOLOGY: Cummins Engines - 50 years and beyond

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Contents October 15

Fleet Transport Magazine, D’Alton Street, Claremorris, Co. Mayo, Ireland. F12 E7P2 Tel: +353 (0)94 9372819/ 9372826 Fax: +353 (0)94 9373571 Email: enquiries@fleet.ie Subscription Hotline: 094 93 72827 Editor: Jarlath Sweeney - editor@fleet.ie Contributors: Sean Murtagh, Paul White, Cathal Doyle, Jonathan Lawton, Donal Dempsey, Howard Knott, Jerry Kiersey, Rob Van Dieten, HSA, Joe O'Brien, Dr. Betty Maguire, Michael Corcoran, Leonard Allison Photography: Jarlath Sweeney, Paul White, Cathal Doyle, Rob Van Dieten, Howard Knott, Joe O'Brien, Michael Corcoran, Jerry Kiersey, Leonard Allison, Keith Gallagher, Gianenrico Griffini, Paul Sherwood Administration: Orla Sweeney, Denise Owens, Paula Mullarkey - enquiries@fleet.ie Advertising: Mary Morrissey - mary@fleet.ie Orla Sweeney - orla@fleet.ie Design: Eamonn Wynne Printed in Ireland

www.fleet.ie | 3

4 News Dennison launches new Eco-Combi trailer • Brian Cunningham Transport opens Dublin depot • New Iveco Eurocargo arrives • Renewable Gas is an option • NextGear comes to Ireland • Shell Rimula Survey • Western Truck & Trailer Parts sets-up • Great turnout for Truck Run 4 Katie

23 Awards – 24 page pull-out special

8 Roundtable with Mairead McGuinness, MEP

30 Review II TCS&D Show, Peterbourough, UK

10 Cover During the award winning DAF CF Silent

32 Report II ConTrans, Moscow

12 New Fleet More Shinning steel hits the road

34 Finance Profit = Cash = Wealth

14 Test Renault D26 6x2

36 Opinion Surveys & Opinions

16 Fleeting Shots Pin Pictures

37 Comment Overweight Containers

18 Technology Cummins’ developments

38 Shipping & Freight Maritime issues

20 Report 1 Mayo Energy Agency event, Castlebar

40 Legal Fatigue

21 Review 1 Mondello Truck Show 2015 (4 pages)

42 Soapbox RSA – Friend or Foe?

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25 Fuel Prices & Safety Matters 26 Times Past Marking 70 years of CIE 28 Health Matters Cancer

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P16

Fleet Transport/ Fleet Car/ Fleet Bus & Coach/ Fleet Van & Utility/ Fleet Trailer & Body Builder/ Fleet Maritime/ Green Fleet Management are published by JJDS Publications Ltd. Registered Office: D’Alton Street, Claremorris, Co. Mayo.

Co. Reg. 368767 Directors: Jarlath Sweeney, Sean Murtagh.

Transport Barometer: Data from 16/08/2015 - 14/09/2015

Disclaimer: Fleet Transport Magazine management can accept no responsibility for the accuracy of contributed articles or statements appearing in this magazine and any views or opinions expressed are not necessarily those of Fleet Transport management, save where otherwise indicated. No responsibility for loss or distress occasioned to any person acting or refraining from acting as a result of the material in this publication can be accepted by the authors, contributors, Editors or publishers.

The Editor reserves the right to make publishing decisions on any advertisements or editorial article submitted to the magazine and to refuse publication or to edit any editorial material as seems appropriate to him. Professional legal advice should always be sought in relation to any specific matter.

Fleet Transport Official Irish Jury Member of the International Truck of the Year Award

Official Irish jury member of the International Forklift Truck Award

follow us on twitter.com/fleettransport

Tip of the month in TC Truck&Cargo

For our customers who are busy every day in TC Truck&Cargo with entering vehicles, entering freight, searching for vehicles and searching for freight, TimoCom presents a small but clever feature which might save you a lot of time.

It recommends everyone who either enters vehicle and/or freight offers, searches for vehicle and/or freight offers our template feature, that instead of having to enter the same vehicle or freight details manually each time, you can easily save your search details using the template feature.

1. In the tabs “Enter vehicle offers” and “Enter freight offers” you will find the template feature on the right next to the “Print” button. In the tabs “Vehicle offers – Summary” and “Freight offers – Summary” you will find the template feature on the left side next to the “Reset filters” button”.

2. Enter all the details 3. Click on the template feature which says “Templates” and name you template e.g.

Cardiff – Munich 4. Click “save as template...” and you have it ready for your next entering/search and just have to click once in the template list.

Now you are ready to roll with the templates.

4 | NEWS 1

Dennison Eco-Combi trailer launched at Fleet Transport Awards

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ennison Trailers created quite an impact with the first official showing of its Irish spec 25.25m Eco-Combi at the Fleet Transport Awards Exhibition Arena at the Citywest Hotel last month. Built specially for midWest haulage company Eoin Gavin Transport, Bunratt y, County Clare, the double semi-trailer combination with front link trailer offers 160m3 cubic capacity from its 21m loading space. When coupled with a double deck trailer at the rear, the total deck loading space increases to 34.5m, with a total cubic capacity then extending to 170m3.

David Dennison, Innovation & Development Director explained to Fleet Transport on the exact specification of the new combination unit, which is part of a Department of Transport approved pilot project for moving

pallets more efficiently across the country. “The front link curtainside trailer is 7.7m long with 59m 3 capacity that comes with a sliding roof, flush fitt ing aluminium doors, XL reinforced curtains, Guardian load restraint system and is patent protected. The rear curtainsider is more standard – 13.5m long with 101m3 capacity and has a single sliding pillar, galvanised rear door frame and locking gear, and the same Guardian load restraint system,” he said.

Dennison Trailers (Naas & Lancaster, UK) has vast experience of building Eco-Combis for its export markets in Scandinavia.

Brian Cunningham Transport Ltd opens new Dublin depot

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s part of Brian Cunningham Transport’s ongoing expansion plans, the Castlebar, County Mayo based company has opened a new depot in Dublin.

Brian added that the investment includes the provision of a Kalmar Container Handler capable of moving both laden and empty containers and 150 tanks.

The new facility, located at Swords North Business Park is just fi fteen minutes from Dublin Port and will offer a range of services.

“In addition to our existing road transport services, we are now in a position to provide trailer parking and container storage in our new hub, which has 24:7 security monitoring,” explained Brian Cunningham,

Managing Director.

“Th is facility will complement our current operation enabling Brian Cunningham Transport Ltd to further enhance services being offered to our clients, enabling them to significantly reduce handing and quay/ demurrage charges as well as offering improved delivery flexibility. Th is depot will also provide a useful link between our existing operations in the UK and Castlebar,” added Brian.

New Iveco Eurocargo range enters Irish market

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irst right-hand drive examples of new Eurocargo will start arriving into Ireland within weeks, following the international launch of Iveco’s latest generation medium truck in Italy.

Purpose-designed as ‘the truck the city likes’, new Eurocargo blends a striking new design, with up-dated interiors, technology and improved visibility, to deliver maximum safety, efficiency and sustainability.

Right-hand drive production has already begun at Iveco’s Brescia plant, with new Eurocargo to be offered from 7.5 to 18 tonnes GVW, accounting for nearly 11,000 possible model configurations.

New Eurocargo maintains its unrivalled FLEETTRANSPORT | OCTOBER 15

as a specialist conversion for road sweeper applications, plus the company is reintroducing a full line-up of urban artic models. These will cater for gross carriage weights (GCW) from 18 tonnes to 35 tonnes – making it Iveco’s most extensive urban artic range ever.

versatility, with a choice of day cab, crew cab, sleeper cab and high-roof sleeper cab models, seven power ratings from 160hp to 320hp, 11 transmission options including four automated, five manual and two automatic, 15 wheelbases from 2,790mm to 6,570mm, a choice of 4x2 or 4x4, plus an extensive range of final axle ratios.

In addition, new Eurocargo will be available

Another specialist conversion being offered will see the maximum gross vehicle weight (GVW) increased to 22 tonnes on select models. Iveco can achieve this by adding a single wheel lifting axle with servo-assisted hydraulic steering, making it particularly suited for distribution applications, yet without any impact upon vehicle manoeuvrability.

All 4x2 models will continue to be built for the Irish market with a ZF automated EuroTronic gearbox as standard.

NEWS II | 5

Renewable Gas – an opportunity for Ireland to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from farming

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t the National Ploughing Championships 2015, the Renewable Gas Forum (RGFI) took the opportunity to officially launch and introduce itself to potential members.

and producers, but also policymakers in relation to the development of a renewable gas sector in Ireland, with opportunities to reduce costs and emissions and to stimulate job creation,” said PJ.

The RGFI is a new industry forum representing the interests of all sectors involved in the renewable gas supply chain and market such as production, consumers, transportation and trading across the island of Ireland.

“We are open to membership, including from the farming community and agri-food businesses. Renewable gas, primarily biomethane, is a renewable, green gas and is interchangeable with compressed natural gas in the gas grid.

It offers opportunities for Ireland to reduce greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) from farming on the one hand and to reduce our dependency on imported fossil fuels especially for heating and cooling, but also transport and electricity,” he added.

The interim chair of the RGFI, PJ McCarthy thanked BOC Industrial Gases Ireland Limited and Gas Networks Ireland for hosting the Renewable Gas Forum at their respective stands.

“The aim is that the Renewable Gas Forum will be the go-to forum for industry, including both consumers

More details on RGFI’s website www.renewablegasforum.com

Introducing NextGear Capital to Ireland

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ith NextGear Capital entering the Irish market, this is another confidence boost for our economy. Part of the US based Cox Automotive Group, NextGear set its sights on coming to Ireland after a successful introduction in May 2014 with its dealer and fleet stock-funding programme. Over £250 million of funds to support 600 motor retailers was generated in its first year of operations. Cox Automotive UK subsidiaries include Manheim Auctions and Motors.co.uk.

NextGear Capital’s unique package will fund 100% of the hammer price in auction, or 100% of the trade value and allows car and light commercial vehicle dealers to source vehicles without paying for the vehicle out of their own funds. It is available to both franchised and independent used vehicle dealers who can use it to source vehicles from a number of wholesale channels, such as Wilsons Auctions and Merlin Car Auctions, who have both signed up to NextGear for its in-lane and on-line services. In the fleet business, AVIS, Europcar, Sixt, Merrion Fleet and Windsor Fleet Management have also partnered up.

"Sales of both cars and LCVs across Ireland are up this year and the economic outlook is very positive. Credit rating expert Moody's expects Ireland’s economy to grow considerably faster than the Euro area average over the near to medium term. Against this backdrop the opportunity for forward-looking motor dealers is encouraging and we are ready to support them," said David.

A sterling facility option for approved dealers for auction specialists in the UK is available and dealers can view their funded stock 24:7 wherever they might be with on-line accesses via Smartphone, Tablet or PC, according to David Mercer, Managing Director of NextGear Capital at the launch in Dublin recently. “We have been planning our entry into the Irish market for the last few months, working with a series of remarketing partners and dealers of all sizes. Now, we are ready to help dealers to benefit from the improving economy and bring the same standard of service into Ireland as we have the UK market.”

Looking at the light commercial vehicle sale forecast, David added, “Assessing new van sales, a repeat of 50% growth is not on the cards, but building upon an impressive performance in 2015, a further rise of 20% is very possible because the country is still recovering from a low base. Central to this will be a return of confidence in the SME market, notably in construction and in the provision of vans to service the growing online shopping market.” Alan Nolan, Director General, SIMI endorsed these comments in welcoming NextGear to Ireland.

Both Brian Geitner, President NextGear Capital Inc and John Wick, Chief Strategy Officer expressed their delight and confidence in coming into the Irish market. www.fleet.ie

6 | NEWS 111

Shell Rimula realizes Truck Driver Dreams!

New “Real Destinations“ campaign tells the stories of real truck drivers and fleet managers across the world pursuing their dreams hell Rimula, the heavy duty stories about how they are reaching engine oil, has launched a their Real Destinations. new campaign called Real Destinations. It celebrates the Roger Moulding, Vice President of dreams and aspirations of truck Shell Lubricants Global Marketing, drivers and fleet managers across said: “For many of our customers, the world and the hard work they trucking is the cornerstone of their put in every day to achieve them. The life: a job that sees them work long campaign is running in 17 countries hours, over long periods, often many across Europe, Asia, Africa and the kilometres away from home, but Americas. ultimately provides for their family and loved ones. The Real Destinations At the heart of the campaign are a series campaign aims to celebrate that. It’s of films in which working truckers from the pursuit of our customers’ dreams hub also includes a brand fi lm that features China, Russia and the America’s reveal their the real life of a truck driver. In the future, that drives us every day to make products personal motivations and goals, and how they select markets will also be activating a call that can get them there that little bit more are striving to reach them. The films are hosted to action on their local websites to invite quickly.” on YouTube as well as an online campaign drivers and fleet managers to engage with hub www.shell.com/realdestinations. The the brand directly by submitting their own

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Western Truck & Trailer sets up in the ‘Heart of the West’

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estern Truck & Trailer, a newly established commercial vehicle spare parts retailer located in the centre of Connaught at Claremorris, County Mayo, is up and running to service the needs of commercial vehicle owner/operators in the West of Ireland. Established by experienced aftersales expert Andrew Grennan, Western Truck & Trailer’s product range covers Truck, Bus/Coach, Trailer and Light Commercial Vehicles.

“We stock parts for all major commercial vehicle manufacturers such as Scania, Volvo Truck & Bus, DAF, Iveco, MercedesBenz, MAN Truck & Bus, Renault Trucks, Nissan, Ford, Opel/Vauxhall, Peugeot and Toyota. And we also supply a large range of trailer components covering BPW, SAF,

Western Truck & Trailer is open six days from 8.30am-6pm MondayFriday and from 8.30am-1pm on Saturdays. “We offer nationwide next delivery on all orders received before close of business and believe that the success to our business is by providing first class costumer service accompanied by quality product and competitive pricing,” said Andrew.

Meritor and Jost (Daimler Trailer Axle Systems),” explained Andrew.

On general parts and components, Western Truck & Trailer also handles all major brands of note such as Sachs, Meritor, KnorrBremse, Mann Hummel, TRW, Lemforder, Hella, Dinex, Timken and FAG.

Andrew Grennan, who hails from County Monaghan and has family roots in County Mayo, learned the trade from Eamonn McKenna, owner of Scanbitz Ltd., in Monaghan. He then spent some time in Perth, working as Parts Manager for Multispares, a large company in Western Australia. Over the years, Andrew has competed in rallying at the highest level in the World Rally Championship, which he describes as a major character builder.

Super Support for Truck Run 4 Katie

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round 600 trucks from across Ireland and the UK participated in a special weekend charity fundraiser across North Clare recently. " Tr u c k R u n 4 K a t i e " w a s s e t u p i n me mor y of of K a t ie D r e n n a n , daug hter of Eugene Dren na n (Spa Transport, Ennis) who lost her battle w ith Cystic Fibrosis. Eugene engaged w it h h is loca l t ra nspor t col leag ues FLEETTRANSPORT | OCTOBER 15

to ra ise f u nds v ia a t r uck r u n for t he local Cystic Fibrosis organization and generated a phemon i na l response.

Pic t u red i n f ront of a new Sca n ia R-series that joined the Spa Transport f leet ded icated to K at ie is Eugene Drennan receiv ing a cheque donated

by Danny Moloney, Liffey Van Lines, I nc. (New York) accompa n ied by h is fat her Da n iel, Compa ny President .

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8 | ROUNDTABLE

Irish Road Haulage issues raised with Transport Commissioner Bulc

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airead McGuinness, MEP & Vice-President of the European Parliament, has welcomed t he willingness of European Union Transport Commissioner, Violeta Bulc to address a range of issues concerning the Irish road haulage sector, not least the impact of the ongoing migrant crisis on truck drivers.

Fleet Transport received this report from the Midlands-North-West MEP. “Following a recent meeting with the Commissioner and the President of the Irish Road Haulage Association, Verona Murphy, I am confident that the many problems facing the sector will be addressed by the Commission, including safety for truck drivers, the impact of fines on the sector where migrants are found on trucks and trailers, and the need for a review of the travel and rest periods for drivers,” Ms. McGuinness said in Brussels.

“Irish haulage vehicles are currently being fined, primarily by the UK Border Force, if migrants are detected on board a vehicle, despite haulage operators implementing a Border Force compiled and approved checklist. There is a need to stop penalising those who, through no fault of their own, find themselves unwittingly carrying illegal migrants. The Commissioner indicated her concern on this issue, while at the same time wanting to ensure that those who abused the system were penalized.”

“The Irish Road Haulage Association is very concerned about the level of responsibility placed on haulage operators in such situations and the EU needs to address this issue in light of the ongoing migration crisis,” added the MEP. The Immigration and Asylum Act (UK) 1999 provides for a fine of £2000 per migrant on-board a vehicle and many hauliers feel this legislation must be revised to reflect the unprecedented circumstances facing haulage operators across Europe, as Mairead relayed to Commissioner Bulc.

FLEETTRANSPORT | OCTOBER 15

Verona Murphy, President of the Irish Road Haulage Association; Violeta Bulc, European Union Transport Commissioner and Mairead McGuinness, MEP & Vice-President of the European Parliament

The subject of Road User Levies was also raised in light of the impact of exchange rates between sterling and euro. The situation facing Irish trucks crossing into Northern Ireland and using the A5 is a major issue and it is heartening to learn that the Commission is investigating this issue.

“I welcome the fact that the Commission is investigating this issue which is costly and unfair for Irish truck drivers. The maximum permitted cost provided for in the legislation is capped at €11, however current exchange rates mean that it is costing Irish hauliers in excess of €15,” Ms. McGuinness explained.

An issue regarding the maximum permitted driving time and associated periods of rest that must be undertaken by a mobile worker was

also raised, as a particular Irish concern.

“While the permitted driving periods and periods of rest are feasible from a mainland Europe perspective, Regulation 561/2006 does not support the reality of Member States on the periphery of Europe, such as Ireland, that rely on a very limited available ferry schedule and this must be addressed in the review underway.”

“We also discussed several disparities between how European legislation is interpreted across the EU. For example, German authorities require the registration of a truck and trailer to be stated on an insurance policy, this is not possible due to insurance companies in Ireland not having such a facility available as there is no legal requirement to do so.”

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10 | COVER

Silence is golden for DAF CF Silent

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ome years back, one of the Dublin Technical Colleges researched into the ultimate silent urban delivery vehicle.

The aim was to bring various parties together such as a truck manufacturer, trailer builder, refrigeration unit and tail-lift providers to work on reducing noise levels in order that night deliveries could be made without disturbing residents in slumberland. DAF Trucks was the vehicle supplier having worked on a similar Dutch (PIEK Certification) project. Here the CF Series had a diesel-electric hybrid system with other sound deadening fittings such as slow door closing and an audio system that reduced volume automatically when the door opened. Thermo King reduced the decibels on its reefer unit while Zepro did the same thing with its tail-lift fitt ing – all combining to achieve the one goal. Alas, it never made it into series production but DAF Trucks has continued this theme on the new CF Series Silent.

Th is specific model is now on sale across Europe in reaction to an increasing number of State regulators including those in the Netherlands, the UK, France, Germany and Belgium limiting the noise level of commercial vehicles during the evening, nightt ime and early morning. The majority of these countries’ standards are levelled at a noise limit of 72 dB(A). The DAF CF Silent range meets this requirement and has been recognised for its development, most recently by Fleet Transport in honouring it with the Truck Innovation Award 2016.

“Its simplicity in method and operation caught the mind and eyes of the adjudication panel for the DAF CF Silent development.

Performing early morning and evening deliveries to town or city centres can now be done without making too much noise,” commented Jarlath Sweeney, Group Editor, Fleet Transport.

DAF Trucks developed this unique Silent solution for its vehicles equipped with the award winning 10.8 PACCAR MX-11 Euro 6 diesel engine.

Offering a lower purchase price compared to vehicles with alternative fuel systems and hybrids, the DAF Silent solution is two-fold.

Part of the noise reduction is achieved by specially designed gearbox encapsulation.

The second part is the ‘Silent’ function in the engine soft ware that is activated by the ‘Silent’ switch on the dashboard. (See photo).

If activated, the engine soft ware limits the maximum engine speed and engine torque, which results in a lower noise level. According to DAF Trucks, the silent solutions fits within FLEETTRANSPORT | OCTOBER 15

the Dutch manufacturer’s responsibility to build vehicles that are environmentally friendly and sustainable.

But the ‘Silent’ programme is not the only technical innovation included in the specification of this CF440 6x2 tractor-unit with Space Cab test driven in the West of Ireland recently. Driver comfort and safety enhancements fitted included Predictive Cruise Control (PCC) limited to the Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) system, Driver Performance Assistance, Lane Departing Warning, Truck Navigation Radio and Truck Phone to mention a few.

ACC and Downhill Speed Control assists the driver in maintaining a good average speed especially on hilly terrain, while these systems work in an efficient and effortless manner they are unable to foresee the road gradient ahead. Enter PCC, which is based on GPS technology, detailing road map information ahead and reacting accordingly.

Anticipating impending changes in the gradient, PCC may overrule the set cruise control speed, change the shift strategy of the 12-speed ZF AS-Tronic gearbox or implement Eco-Roll (which is almost like free wheeling), in order to save fuel. When the driver gets used to the technology and trusts the system, it can actually drive the truck more efficiently than the driver as it can help to reduce fuel consumption significantly.

PCC works best in three ways; 1) Reducing the vehicle’s speed just before the top of a hill; 2) Allowing the vehicle’s speed above the cruise sett ing before a new climb begins; 3) Allowing the truck to speed slightly above the downhill speed sett ing at the end of a steep descent. Of course, electronic programming of the AS-Tronic operates in tandem with the powertrain for best results. As we know, the driving style is also a very important factor in the vehicle’s fuel consumption as a smooth and efficient style can save from 3–7% of fuel, essential before reaching the cruise speeds required for PCC to come in.

Here DAF’s in-cab Driver Performance Assistant (DPA) can help

COVER | 11

the driver to develop and maintain the most efficient driving style and performance possible.

Drivers will enjoy competing with their own capabilities and that of their fellow drivers, as the dash-centred interactive programme acts as a personal coach to guide them into making the best use of the cost saving potential of the vehicle. It saves on the drivetrain’s wear and tear also. Focusing on the driver’s anticipation of what’s happening around the truck and clever use of the retarders during the run, the overall scores are calculated as percentages.

In the ECO performance overview, four elements are described from the total score, anticipation, efficient braking and average fuel.

Targets can be set and coloured green if met and red if exceeded.

Th roughout the process, the ongoing coaching praises the driver with comments like – well anticipated or well done. Vehicle tips in the menu inform the driver how fuel can be saved by smart use of available vehicle systems and correct tyre pressure or roof spoiler adjustment.

react accordingly! Modules such as driving style, fleet utilisation, safety, tachograph, control, and communication can all be availed of. Using Microlise hardware, the system can be fitted to non-DAF vehicles and works across Europe’s 27 Member States plus Norway and Switzerland.

Each of those systems were tried and proven during our test run.

Together they make the driving experience more enjoyable, taking the chore out of the daily routine. The smoothness of the powertrain linked to the PCC, ACC and engine brake is top class. For example, with ECO, PCC and ACC on we travelled at 83 kp/h at 1,175 rpm in 12th gear – no issues there then.

Since fi rst launched, the CF Series has come a long way, enriched by the installation of a number of electronic systems as described above plus the silent option which enhances the truck’s capability and operation even further.

Spec Check

As discovered during the 200km test drive along the N60 and N5 around Mayo, Sligo and Roscommon, the MX Engine Brake can now be controlled by the column stalk in 3 steps – Stage 1 braking power comes in at 40%; S2 = 70%; S3 = 100% retardation power. On the centre display, the driver is alerted to the fact that the MX Engine Brake is engaged even though the acceleration over rules it.

Other helpful additions are the hands-free Truck Phone with steering wheel switch control, through Bluetooth. The driver’s SIM card is slotted in the dashboard. Then there is the Truck Navigator Radio, which combines a broad range of audio, navigation and communication functions in a single compact unit, all integrated into the dashboard. USV and AUX connections are available too. The screen display has multifunctions such as facilitating the rear view camera and truck parameters where the truck and trailer specifications can be inserted and encapsulated with the navigation system.

To top that and for the back office to get the absolute best out of the truck, DAF Telematics on–board records everything with the data downloadable for the transport manager to analyse and Text & Photos: Jarlath Sweeney - editor@fleet.ie

Make/Model

DAF CF 440 6x2 tractor (Silent)

Cab

SpaceCab – Twin Bunk

Engine

PACCAR MX-11 Euro 6

Power

435hp @ 1,450 – 1,700 rpm

Torque

2,100 Nm @ 1,000 – 1,450rpm

Transmission 12-Speed AS-Tronic (ZF) Brakes

Discs + ES53 Tyres: 315/70R22-5 MX Engine Brake

Suspension

Front: Parabolic Springs Rear: Air

Fuel Tanks

Diesel 430L

Wheelbase

3.9m

Fitt ings

LED Lights, Truck Navigation Radio, Truck Phone, Predictive Cruise Control, Driver Performance Assistance Lane, Departure Warning, Adaptive Cruise Control

AdBlue 45L

www.fleet.ie

12 | NEW FLEET

O’Toole Transport invests in new trucks and trailers

Mackins Top Truck & Trailer!

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rian Mackin’s Volvo FH500 6x2 tractor-unit and Muldoon Bulk Blower trailer took the Mondello Truck Show by storm, taking the Top Truck 2015 award. His company, Mackin’s Animal Feeds (Newry) recently took delivery of the new Muldoon Tamden axle positive rear steer trailer, fi nished to very high specification, as is the Volvo FH purchased from Dennison Commercials (Ballyclare).

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015 Irish Haulier of the Year, O’Toole Transport has invested in upgrading its fleet with the purchase of two Scania R450 Topline tractor-units along with twelve new Chereau trailers.

The trailer order consists of a mixture of double-deck and twin-temperature controlled units. The truck deal with McElvaney Motors, main Scania dealers

in Dublin, follows the supply of 4 new Scania R580 6x2 Topline tractors from last spring.

Mondello Truck Show 2015 – New Fleet Special

Flynn Transport Ltd (Dublin) New Scania R620 V8 6x2 tractor-unit Delaney Commercials, Naas

Delahunt Haulage Ltd (Kildare) New Scania R450 6x2 Topline Delaney Commercials, Naas

BM Transport Ltd (Monaghan) New Scania R580 V8 6x2 Topline McElvaney Commercials, Monaghan New Volvo FH.500 tractor-unit McDonnell Commercials, Monaghan

Dungarvan Transport (Waterford) New MercedesBenz Actros 2548 6x2 StreamSpace Surehaul Commercials, Wexford

Hendrick European (Dublin) New Renault T 460 Tractor Setanta Vehicle Sales, Dublin

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FLEETTRANSPORT | OCTOBER 15

Change smoothly now!

Make the change from Eurovignette to toll box from 1 April 2016 with DKV. A new toll box for trucks with a maximum permissible weight of more than 3.5 t will replace the Eurovignette in Belgium from 1 April 2016.

Your toll specialist DKV will ensure changing to the toll box and toll invoicing could not be easier. With excellent service and the best terms.

For further information go to www.dkv-euroservice.com

Registra tion begins: 1.10.201 5!

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14 | TEST

Renault Trucks Range D -

‘Diamond Day in Dublin’

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ost sectors of our industry are far removed from the international transport world of glamorous highspec tractors, delivering throughout Europe to destinations with exotic sounding place names. For the most part the industry is made up of hard working drivers, driving ordinary trucks, delivering rather mundane products to everyday places.

In this demanding sector there is little glamour.

All the customer wants is to receive their goods on time, undamaged, and hassle free. To achieve this we need a truck and a driver, both must be hardworking, flexible, reliable, and robust. The best way to manage this practice is to eliminate all frivolity and simply stick to the business. For the truck part of this equation, Renault Trucks may have the answer with its

FLEETTRANSPORT | OCTOBER 15

latest ‘Range D’ model.

Following the Renault Truck product revamp, its critically acclaimed Range T tractor is the reigning International Truck of the Year, and also triumphed with successive Fleet Transport Irish Truck of Year titles. The Range C & K model line-ups has found remarkable success in the eight-wheeler segment. Now Range D arrives to meet the needs of operators in the distribution world, and aims to do it in a very no nonsense fashion.

Our 6x2 Range D Wide curtainsider came with a fi xed third axle and was rated for 26 tonnes GVW. For this test we were loaded out to a respectable 22 tonne gross. The cab is based on the previous Midlum model, so while the styling is not ground breaking, it is pleasant and functional. Planted squarely in the

front is the new grille, which helps to set the Range D somewhat apart from its predecessors.

Nevertheless the Range D Wide cab with the high roof sleeper is spacious by any standards, and especially for a distribution unit.

Interestingly, the truck is only available in one trim level, and this arguably brave decision

by Renault Trucks is, we feel, a good move.

Everyone knows where they stand, you get everything you need, and you are not paying for things you don’t want. In a fleet situation all drivers get the same truck, which solves any issues about seniority or special treatment when all the units have the same spec. In addition, the standard spec is very high for a distribution unit, especially with the high roof. While the interior may be beginning to show its age a little, there is a sense here that it is not such an important factor.

TEST | 15 The interior is familiar, and comfortable, it offers good visibility and is finished in durable materials, and the sleeper cab is well appointed for the occasional night out. The bunk is comfortable and spacious for any driver to get a restful night sleep, though in general, drivers at this type of work don’t spend every night of the week on the bunk. While the engine tunnel does intrude, this can be overlooked as it features on equivalent models from other manufacturers. Nevertheless, the high roof of the Range D sleeper allows even tall drivers ample headroom on the passenger side to stand up. Likewise, storage is more than adequate especially for the occasional night.

Once set up, we headed off on our drive. From the first press of the accelerator it becomes clear the 8 litre 320 hp is well suited to the task, and moves the 22 tonne gross in an easy untroubled fashion. This is helped by some updates to the transmission software, which Renault Trucks claims, “has been optimised for distribution” and operates in a smoother manner than before.

However it is noticeably noisier as it changes, especially between the high and low ranges, although this is strangely comforting rather than unsettling. Once moving, the 12-speed Optidriver is quiet, smooth, and works well with the six-cylinder DTi 8 engine.

The common rail DTi 8 feels suitably strong and overpowered when operating at these weights. If working on the old standard of 10 hp per tonne, the D 320 is well covered, and has a bit extra to play with.

The DTi 8 in this application develops 1200Nm from 1050 rpm and holds it to 1600 rpm, which means the truck can easily manage the stop start nature of the urban distribution work.

Having the extra few horsepower makes for a smoother drive as the transmission is not always ‘hunting’ for the correct gear to match the ever changing road speed. This was particularly evident as we worked our way along the Quays in Dublin City centre traffic, and driving around the industrial and residential areas on the outskirts of the capital.

Equally on the motorway section of our drive the Range D sits at 1536 rpm at 90 kp/h and just a shade over 1300 rpm at 80 kp/h. At these speeds the truck not only moves well it gives the driver a sense that they are making good progress.

When we first checked the specification, and noticed that all tyres were 315/80, and the rear axle was fi xed, we expected the 6x2 Range D Text & Photos: Paul White - paul@fleet.ie

with 22 tonne gross to feel closer to an eightwheeler, rather than a four-wheeler. This expectation turned out to be unfounded, as the Range D was surprisingly light to work with, and highly manoeuvrable. In this configuration it has a kerb-to-kerb turning circle of 10.2 m, and an overall radius of 10.9 m - important considerations for its target market.

Three axle distribution trucks have never had as big a following in Ireland as in other European countries. Arguably because of the European tendency to stick a drawbar at the back, which makes them more flexible, an idea that has never caught on here.

It was a peculiar, and pleasant change to get behind the wheel of an ‘ordinary’ truck for the day. Too often we are presented with the latest technological wizardry from manufacturers. While the wizardry has its place - and an important one at that, so does the ordinary everyday distribution unit that simply works.

However, a lot can depend on the attitude of the driver and their approach to the work. Once the driver understands that there is nothing they can do about the traffic, and realises its best to drive in a calm fashion in a comfortable truck, then Range D is the truck to do it in.

Many companies which operate in this sector have little interest in the trucks they own.

They just need the trucks to work and do the job. Equally it can often be the case that the drivers they employ are on contract or agency and again have little interest in what they drive.

In these cases Renault Trucks Range D is the truck that will exceed the demands. However if you are interested in what you drive and expect it to do more than just the daily deliveries, then Renault Trucks Range D will do that too with a high level of comfort and uncomplicated, untroubled competence.

Spec Check Make/ Model Chassis Type Engine Rated Power

Renault Trucks - Range D 26 Wide - 320 6x2 (Lift Axle) Sleeper Cab 7.7 Litre, in-line six cylinder – Common Rail 315hp (335 kW) @ 2,100 rpm

Rated Torque

1,200 Nm @ 1,050 – 1,600 rpm

Euro Rating Transmission

Euro 6 – SCR, DPF Optidriver (AT2412E) + 12-Speed Automated

Drive Axle Ratio Brakes Safety Retardation Devices

3.36:1 - Single Reduction (P13170) (No Diff Lock) Ventilated Discs - ABS, EBS, ASR, ESC, Emergency Brake Assist (AFU), Hill Holder Optibrake – 170 kW (228hp) @ 2,800 rpm

Suspension (F) / (R)

Leaf Springs & Stabiliser Bar / Air Suspension

Dimensions L/W/H -WB Permissible Weights Kgs

10310 / 2499 / 3717 – 5250 (mm) 26000 Gross / Kerb 7747 / Payload 18253

Tyres on Alcoa Wheels

Steer Axle: Continental HSR2 - 315/80 R22.5 Drive Axle: Continental HDR2+ (M&S) - 315/80 R22.5 Rearmost Axle: HSR2 – 315/80 R22.5

Fuel/AdBlue Tank Capacity

315 litres / 32 litres www.fleet.ie

16 | FLEETING SHOTS

All-time longest and heaviest TATRA has been produced!

C

zech Republic brand d TATRA trucks has completed eted production and shipment of its all time longest and heaviest vehicle.

The vehicle will be used for exploratory drillin in difficult terrain. Gross drilling veh vehicle weight of the completed v vehicle is approximately 84 tonnes.

Th is is a chassis for special drilling rig, installed on the vehicle by German manufacturerr ogy.

STREICHER Drilling Technology.

TomTom’s new compact truck specific SatNav

G

et the most out of driving time, through truck-specific routing and world-class TomTom Traffic information – now in a compact version.

real-time traffic information.

The compact TomTom Trucker 5000 portable navigation device line-up is specifically designed for operators who drive large vehicles for a living. With a 5” screen size, it ensures that drivers are on the right road because it includes customised routes for the user’s specific vehicle type, size, weight, cargo and speed.

Th rough award-winning TomTom Traffic and advanced routing technology, drivers get a realistic ETA based on vehicle profi le and

The TomTom Trucker informs drivers about traffic and speed cameras on their route – the information is displayed in the route bar on the device – making users aware of the position of speed cameras, but also where the tail end of a traffic jam begins.

To avoid unnecessary surprises, the TomTom Trucker comes with Lifetime Truck Maps at no extra cost. Users can always drive with the latest truck maps – updated four times per year. Other features include Advance Lane Guidance, which clearly shows which lane to take at junctions, and Speak & Go, which allows the driver to control the device with their voice.

SRI and Kultevat begin research into Russian dandelions

W

ith the ongoing aim of producing environmentally ful products, friendly and more powerful itomo tyre manufacturer Sumitomo nto Rubber Industries (SRI) has entered into h a joint research project with US biotech company Kultevat to investigate the potential of utilising Russian dandelions as an alternative source of natural rubber, which may one day replace the conventional source of natural rubber, the rubber tree. dily, As the global tyre demand rises steadily, SRI has the objective of reducing the usage of fossil resources such as oil and coal, which account for

approximately 60 percent of a conventional tyre. The increased use of sustainable natural resources plays an important role.

Cu Currently, around 90 percent of the w world’s demand for natural rubber is produced in Asia. As SRI looks to expand its worldwide tyre manufacturing network, it is seeking a more eco-friendly supply due to the se serious environmental consequences of the transportation of rubber. In order to achiev this, SRI is examining the potential achieve of Russian dandelions as a new, alternative source of high-performance products on a global scale.

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FLEETTRANSPORT | OCTOBER 15

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18 | TECHNOLOGY

Cummins Darlington enters sixth decade with further engine development efficiencies power and torque for its bus and truck engines.

Since opening in 1965, with an investment of £8.5 million and 400 employed, over 1.5 million engines have been built in the Cummins Darlington factory for more than 200 customers in 40 countries around the world. Initially, the Small Vee V6 (5.7 litre) and V8 (8.3 litre) engines were assembled which had a power rating from 100 to 210hp. A year later, a Components plant was established next door.

F

rom it s awa rd w i n n i ng a r c h i t e c t u r a l l y d e s i g ne d production facility in Darlington, Cummins with 50 years of engine development behind it, is as always looking forward to the next decade with advanced technologies to increase efficiencies.

Already in hand for introduction in time for 2017, EU legislation is the third phase (C) of Euro 6 engine exhaust emission controls, dovetailed with a new Smart Efficiency programme to include increased

Up until and including 1986, over 350,000 Small Vee engines were manufactured when production switched to the new B Series 3.9 and 5.9 litre diesels. Th is was a significant move away from Cummins’ traditional business of a portfolio of heavy-duty truck engines and played a major part in the growth of the company globally. The product line was extended in 1989 to cater for the 8.3 litre C Series with the fully electronic commonrail ISBe coming on-stream in 2000.

Alongside engine assembly, the Technical Centre at the Darlington site has played a key role in research and development and testing reduced emission engines to the near zero levels of Euro 6, while the

components premises houses Cummins Emission Solutions which produces various exhaust aftertreatment systems for today’s powertrains.

Headquartered in Columbus, Indiana (USA), Cummins employs around 54,600 people worldwide and last year earned $1.65 billion on sales of $19.2 billion through a network of 600 company and independent distribution locations and 7,200 dealers.

More power, more torque from Cummins Phase 3 (C) Euro 6 Engines

C

ummins is ahead of the posse in developing Phase 3 (C) engines for the Euro 6 On Board Diagnostics (OBD) requirements due for full implementation in 2017. The key changes to the regulations affect new vehicle type approvals from 31 December 2015 and all vehicles from 31 December 2016. They reduce the NOx emissions from 1500 mg/kWh to 1200 mg/kWh, introduce a Particulate Matter (PM) emissions threshold at 25 mg/kWh, and lower the level of sub-standard AdBlue quality at which it is detected at from 0.9 g/kWh to 0.46 g/kWh. The latter means that any foul play with the original source of the AdBlue will be discovered leading to a reduction in power or complete engine cut-off.

FLEETTRANSPORT | OCTOBER 15

TECHNOLOGY | 19

At a presentation in Darlington at the Cummins factory, Claudio Barcena, Cummins Regional Engine Sales Leader, said: “Euro 6 has been the most technically challenging emissions step to date, and we have achieved it successfully. We haven’t stopped there though. As we prepare for OBD C, we are redefi ning efficiency and working with customers to adopt our breadth of technologies in the most efficient way to deliver the lowest total cost of operation.”

Improved performance and efficiency is on the radar with its truck and bus engines for 2017. Low-end torque from 900 rpm will ensure better acceleration across the engines’ new range. Th at goes for both versions of the ISB. For example, the 4.5 litre 4-cylinder moves to a new peak torque of 850 Nm from 760 Nm, while the 6.7 litre 6-cylinder engine will offer max torque from 1200 Nm from 1100 Nm. “The new torque curves enable revised gearing, transmission shift programmes and axle ratios to run the engine at lower speed, saving fuel. Power also increases all ISB6.7 ratings including a new top level of 320 hp/239 kW,” added Claudio, who hails from Mexico and has just completed one year in the job.

Due for production in Darlington by Quarter 4, 2016, maintaining efficiencies across

varied truck applications with differing load, weight and space requirements is more challenging at Euro 6, according to Claudio. “Euro 6 has changed the landscape for engine installation and operation, and the previous rules don’t apply. Our objective for 2017 has not just been to meet the legislated requirements, but to redefi ne efficiency by providing improved performance and fuel economy with no changes to displacement or hardware. We will continue to learn alongside our customers and drive improvements which sustain the ISB’s position as market leader.”

Dovetailing its 2017 Euro 6 OBD C developments, Cummins is going a few steps further to lower the total cost of ownership for its customers and operators. “We are working on a number of customer focused improvements to deliver more value with improved efficiency,” explained Claudio.

Now that Europe 6 engine exhaust emission has reached near zero levels of PM and NOx after 20 years of constant R&D, the focus is now moving towards reducing greenhouse gas/CO2 emissions, relating to the amount of fuel burned. Cummins is coming up with a selection of solutions that will drive more efficient vehicle utilisation, starting with developing smaller and lighter components

Text & Photos: Jarlath Sweeney - editor@fleet.ie

and also working with original equipment manufacturers in a more harmonised way.

Using the theme ‘SmartEfficency’, Cummins, over the next year, will announce key product line improvements such as optimised calibrations, stop-start capability, product tailoring with improved power and torque, and mild-hybrid technologies. “So, emissions regulation dates are no longer driving our product plan. We now see this as a continuum with our products continuing to evolve and constantly improving in line with customer demands for lower total cost of operation,” continued Claudio.

He mentioned that the first step on a SmartEfficiency road will concentrate on tailoring engine calibrations, treating each application on its own merits. Cummins engineers have used their technical knowledge of the driveline system to extract the most out of the engine and related components. During recent bus tests working with OEM customers, revised calibrations have resulted in fuel efficiency savings of between 5 and 7%. These initiatives are timed to fall into place with the EU’s planned programme called VECTRO that aims to regulate CO2 emissions from heavy commercial vehicles based on their operational applications. www.fleet.ie

20 | REPORT I

Bio-Gas – A viable Renewable Energy

O

n Thursday 27 August a European Open Day Workshop was hosted by The Mayo Energy Agency at the Regional Training Centre in Castlebar, with the purpose of bringing the discussion of Bio-Gas production to a local/regional level. Chairperson for the briefi ng was Michael Hegarty, General Manager of the Irish Bio Energy Association of Ireland (IRBEA).

Belfast.

As it stands Ireland has very few Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) filling stations, with the rest of Europe showing positive development in infrastructure. Italy is way ahead of the field having nearly 1000 CNG stations One of the key speakers on the day was countrywide. Germany, the Netherlands Christian Jenne (pictured below), who is and Sweden have also invested in stations. a PHD Researcher from the University of To put CNG into context comparatively with Duisburg-Essen, Germany, which is part other fuels with price being the determining of the programme ATBEST Marie Curie factor, it becomes easily the cheapest when ITN. Christian is involved in tackling key this is converted to KiloWatt-hour with a challenges in the Bio-Gas supply chain, 38.8% saving over petrol. Refueling with improving its competitiveness, and increasing CNG has a three bank system Low, Medium the sustainability of the Bio-Gas industry. and High, increasing the pressure on each It is funded by the European Union and stage to a max pressure of 250 Bar which will the Programme has four main partners in give a maximum driving range. One of the Ireland, Gas Networks Ireland, University pitfalls of this is that refuelling can take 2 to 3 College Cork, Teagasc and Queens University times longer than liquid refuelling but as it is considerably cheaper, Some Come, Some Go... Goods Vehicles equipped with it perhaps is worth the Groeneveld’s Heavy Duty Automatic Chassis Greaser wait. Mechanically Always on the move for Best Profitability there are minimal problems reported with the use of CNG, namely being hard to start in extreme cold d opie c s weather and a slight e tim e d e m l reduction in power. l o S ua

r Eq Neve

Cork - Roy Dublin - James Belfast - Mark Mob (087) 2575116 Mob (087) 2597102 Mob (0791) 2631524 Your Efficiency Is Our Challenge FLEETTRANSPORT | OCTOBER 15

Ch r ist ia n’s key research is in the logistics of CNG and the main topic of his

presentation was to show how viable it is as a form of transport fuel and as an alternative to fossil fuels. He used the very successful example of CNG buses in operation in Malmo, Sweden where 950 units are in operation using solely Bio-Gas from an AD plant in the city. “Ireland has huge potential in the Bio-Gas industry and logistical hurdles can be overcome by installing a pipeline to a centralized sharing point, with building CNG stations, and developing transportable fi lling stations,” he said. “There are huge opportunities in relation to jobs, meeting the 2020 renewable energy targets, solving waste issues and extended business models for farmers,” he added.

Challenges facing Bio-Gas production in Ireland are lack of incentive for grid injection or transport. In recent years more attention has been given to wind energy and less on Bio-Gas. Furthermore Agriculture and Waste policy does not corroborate Bio-Gas production.

Gas Networks Ireland will host a similar workshop in Cork in the coming weeks, with the overall idea being to bring some conclusions to Brussels on 14 October, where ideas can be discussed with policy-makers and politicians. Other key speakers included Noel Gavigan (IRBEA), Ian Brannigan from the Western Development Commission (WDC) and Patrick Moran, Executive Engineer from Tipperary County Council.

Text: Leonard Allison - contributor@fleet.ie

REVIEW I - PART I | 21

All revved up at Mondello Truck Show 2015

M

ondello Truck Show 2015 in association with Calor Gas was another resounding success, despite many other big events taking place around the country on the same weekend (5/6 September).

Hundreds of trucks fi lled the paddock and the ‘loop’ of the race track as hauliers and truck drivers parked their gleaming workhorses alongside each other to compete for the various prizes up for grabs in a number of categories.

Many were looking to take away the biggest prize of all – Top Truck 2015 and this year it went to Brian Mackin, Mackin Animal Feeds (Newry) with his Louth registered Volvo FM.500 6x2 tractor-unit with Muldoon bulk trailer. Other main prize-winners included Kenneth Ledwith with his black Iveco Stralis selected as the Mondello Park Truck Show Special Award marking the 40th Anniversary of the Italian brand. Attendees voted Brendan Wood’s Scania R620 as the Fleet Transport’s Visitor’s Choice Favourite Truck, liking his tribute to Johnny Cash in the eye-catching livery.

"We are very pleased with the success of this year’s show as it continues to build momentum year-on-year since its return after a long absence. We were delighted too to welcome Calor Gas on board as our event sponsor with a presence, in association with Mercury Fuel Systems Ltd., to showcase its latest developments with its Calor LPG/Diesel dual-fuel system," commented Roddy Greene, General Manager, Mondello Park.

Zellwood Transport pulled off a unique double in winning two Best Livery awards in two competitions within two days! Having secured the Fleet Transport Award on the Thursday night (3 September), the Dublin company’s DAF XF with Krone trailer also won the Livery of the Year (Truck & Trailer) at the Mondello Show.

Among the numerous highlights of the two-day event were the Track Action activities such as the Racing Trucks, Drift ing Cars, Stop & Go competition and Ireland’s Fastest Courier contest while the trade element had truck and van manufacturer exhibits. For merchandise buyers, there were a host of busy vendors on site. The climax of the weekend culminated in the trucks heading out onto the track to participate in Ireland’s Largest Convoy.

Winners of the various action activities included E. Fox Engineering, which reigns as Ireland’s Fastest Courier, while in the Truck races, Graham Powell (Renault Premium) took the honours in the first race followed by David Jenkins and Ben Horne, both driving MAN TGS. Race 2 saw Jenkins’ #MANinBlack fi rst across the chequered flag with Ben Horne and Simon Reid (MAN TGS) chasing hard. Dave Norris, who won an award for his Best Customised Mercedes-Benz Actros emerged victorious in the road trucks Stop & Go competition with Simon Reid showing everyone the back of his racing red MAN tractor-unit in the racing truck’s class.

Top Truck 2015 – Mackin Volvo FH.500

Trade - Iveco; Emerald Truck & Van www.fleet.ie

22 | REVIEW I - PART I

Prize Winner - Top Truck 2015 – Brian Mackin with representatives from Calor Gas

Top Truck 2015 - Mackin Animal Feeds – Volvo FH.500 6x2

Best 2015 Reg - Carlin Volvo FM.500 6x2 (Right)

Best 2014 Reg - H.Crilly – Volvo FH.500 6x2

Best Rigid - Flanagan Haulage – Volvo FM.13 8x4

Best Recovery: Gc Recovery Mitsubishi Canter Best Fleet – Gallen (Scania) FLEETTRANSPORT | OCTOBER 15

Livery of the Year - Truck & Trailer – Zellwood DAF XF

Best Tractor-Unit – Warde Groupage Scania R520 V8 6x2

SPECIAL

EDITION

AWARDS

2016

SUPPLEMENT

2016

Macroom Haulage MASTERS! Irish Haulier of the Year 2016 National Haulier of the Year 2016

Renault Range T - retains Irish Truck of the Year Title

Awards 2016 with special thanks to our Sponsors

Fleet Transport Magazine D’Alton Street, Claremorris, Co. Mayo, Ireland. F12 E7P2 Tel: +353 (0)94 9372819/ 9372826 Email: enquiries@fleet.ie www.fleet.ie

www.fleet.ie | 3

Contents Autumn 2015 4 Winners

2016 Fleet Transport Awards Supplement, D’Alton Street, Claremorris, County Mayo, Ireland.

Tel: +353 (0)94 9372819 Fax: +353 (0)94 9373571 Email: enquiries@fleet.ie Subscription Hotline: 094 93 72827 Editor: Jarlath Sweeney

Photography: Jarlath Sweeney, Cathal Doyle, Paul White, Paul Sherwood, Sean Sweeney Award Co-ordinators & Sponsorship: Orla Sweeney - orla@fleet.ie Denise Owens - awards@fleet.ie Design: Eamonn Wynne Printed in Ireland

Contributors: Cathal Doyle, Paul White Disclaimer: Fleet Transport Awards Supplement management can accept no responsibility for the accuracy of contributed articles or statements appearing in this magazine and any views or opinions expressed are not necessarily those of Fleet Transport management, save where otherwise indicated.

No responsibility for loss or distress occasioned to any person acting or refraining from acting as a result of the material in this publication can be accepted by the authors, contributors, Editors or publishers.

The Editor reserves the right to make publishing decisions on any advertisements or editorial article submitted to the magazine and to refuse publication or to edit any editorial material as seems appropriate to him. Professional legal advice should always be sought in relation to any specific matter.

• Victory on the double for Macroom Haulage Ltd • Peter O’Neill Ireland’s Best Truck Driver • Renault Range T retains ITOY Crown 6 Winners Podium Profile on Macroom Haulage Ltd

Caught on Camera at the Fleet Transport Awards 20 Report Energy Future Forum LIVE! 22 Pictorial II Exhibitors Display – Outdoor Arena

7 Awards I Trucks & Truck & Trailer Innovation 8 Awards II Category Winners pictorial – Hauliers & Green Commercial 18 Pictorial I

FLEET TRANSPORT AWARDS 2015 - TEAM SHOTS

Orla Sweeney, Marty Whelan and Denise Owens

Jarlath Sweeney, Group Editor, Fleet Publications

Pat McDonagh, M.D. Supermac's - Guest Speaker

Marty Whelan compère for the night Fleet Team www.fleet.ie

4 | AWARDS - NEWS I

Macroom sweeps Fleet Transport Irish Haulier of the Year Award ……. again

Paddy Murphy, Macroom Haulage receiving the Fleet Transport Irish Haulier of the Year Award 2016 from John Lynch, Rosslare Europort (Sponsor) along with members of the Murphy family and Jarlath Sweeney, Group Editor, Fleet Transport.

T

hree years after securing its first National title, Macroom Haulage (Cork) was announced as overall winner of the Irish Haulier of the Year Award 2016 at the 9th annual Fleet Transport Awards Gala Dinner at the Citywest Hotel, Dublin on Thursday evening, 3 September.

Paddy Murphy, Managing Director of the County Cork based transport firm graciously received the top prize in the

Irish Road Transport industry from John Lynch, General Manager, Rosslare Europort, award sponsors. Honouring best practice in Ireland’s road transport operations and services sectors, in all 16 categories awards were presented on the night with over 875 representatives from the road transport industry attending the Gala Dinner hosted

by RTE TV & Radio personality, Marty Whelan. Guest speaker was Pat McDonagh, M.D. Supermac’s with musical entertainment provided by the Kilkenny’s.

Macroom Haulage Ltd is Ireland’s largest bulk carrier and a key business partner with Calor Gas and is also a leading supplier of equestrian bedding products to the bloodstock industry. The Macroom, County Cork business is owned and managed by two generations of the Murphy family working together under the company motto – “Drive to Deliver.”

Peter O’Neill is Ireland’s Best Truck Driver!

P

eter O’Neill, an employee of Musgrave Retail Partners, demonstrated consistent excellence across all tests up to and including the Grand Final to become Ireland’s Best Truck Driver 2015.

The second running of the annual competition organised by Fleet Transport in association with Enprova consisted of three rounds that included a theoretical module, eco-driving and manoeuvring tests, together with a load-securing element overseen by the Health & Safety Authority. Mercedes-Benz Commercial Vehicles provided the award winning Actros 1845 tractor-unit with Dennison trailer for the driving sections, backed up by driver and vehicle performance data provided

by Daimler’s FleetBoard telematics. Mark Dodd from Advancedrive (Sligo) put together the whole programme, co-ordinated by Fleet’s Anne-Marie Grant.

Leading up to the Grand Final, ten finalists were selected from hundreds of applications to partake in the manoeuvring test and FLEETTRANSPORTAWARDS | Autumn 2015

load security element, with equipment for the latter provided by Gills Driving School (Mayo).

After a close fought contest, Peter O’Neill from Bandon, County Cork came out on top to secure the prestigious title ahead of Adrian Brady from Wexford who finished runner up for the second year in a row, while Paul Byrne, Rathcoole, County Dublin finished in third place.

Peter has been employed as a driver with Musgrave Retail Partners Ireland (MRPI) Tramore Road, Cork for the past 18 years and covers the southern half of Ireland, delivering chilled foods to all SuperValu and Centra stores as well as back loads from producers. He drives a DAF CF Series tractor-unit with a refrigerated trailer.

Peter was well supported on the day with representatives from his family present to cheer him on at the spectator viewing area at the carpark of the Citywest Hotel, Dublin. The presentation of the Vincent Sweeney Memorial Trophy was made at the 9th annual Fleet Transport Awards Gala Dinner at the Citywest later that evening.

AWARDS - NEWS II | 5

Renault Range T retains Irish Truck of the Year Crown

N

ational awards continue to loadup for Renault Trucks for its revolutionary truck, the Range T after retaining its Irish Truck of the Year title for 2016 at the annual Fleet Transport Awards in association with Mike Murphy Insurance.

The announcement and presentations of the award were made at the Fleet Transport Awards Gala Dinner held at the Citywest Hotel, Dublin on Thursday evening 3 September, attended by 875 representatives from the road transport industry and hosted by RTE TV and Radio personality, Marty Whelan.

Up against all the leading brands in the heavy duty truck sector, the Range T came out on top in its category to win Ireland’s Best Fleet Truck of the Year 2016 Award before going head-to-head with the Volvo FMX, which won the Irish Construction Truck of the Year Award earlier. Podium places went to the Volvo FM and Scania R-Series.

Marty Whelan, M.C., Mike Murphy, Mike Murphy Insurance; Nigel Butler, Renault Trucks; Harry Nash, Setanta Vehicle Sales and Jarlath Sweeney, Group Editor, Fleet Publications.

In the Construction class, the Volvo FMX was ahead of two distinct versions from the Renault Construction trucks, namely the range C and Range K for that top step. All versions presented for the two-day trial both on and off-road were 8x4 configuration with tipper bodies.

the Year Crown. “We like its space age design both inside and out and know that drivers have really taken to the new flagship from the French brand particularly for its spaciousness and comfort. This second award from Ireland follows the International Truck of the Year Award presented to the Range T last year.”

In congratulating Renault Trucks, Irish representatives, Setanta Vehicle Sales’ Harry Nash, Fleet Transport’s Jarlath Sweeney praised the Range T on behalf of the expert judging panel on retaining its Irish Truck of

Also that evening, the Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV Business was awarded Green Commercial of the Year 2016 in the Electric/ Hybrid category with the Iveco Daily Natural Power taking the Natural Gas class prize. Iveco

secured another award in this programme, sponsored by ESB ecars with its innovative HI-SCR Euro 6 diesel engine selected as Irish Green Engine of the Year 2016.

The DAF CF Silent merited the 2016 Truck Innovation Award sponsored by CC Lubricants while SDC Trailers with its Fastliner Buckleness Curtainsider took the honours in the Trailer Innovation Award in association with the AllIreland Warehousing Association (AIWA).

On receiving the award from Derek Byrne from Enprova, Peter said; “Driving has always been a IRELAND’S BEST TRUCK DRIVER AWARD passion of mine and I am 2015 lucky enough to be in a position where I love my job and enjoy being on the road. It is a great honour to have won the Vincent Sweeney Memorial Trophy. It is great to receive recognition and validation for something I genuinely love doing. I would like to thank Fleet Transport, sponsors of the event Enprova, MRPI, family and friends for their support and celebrating with me on my win. I would encourage all drivers out there to take part in Fleet Transport Awards and Ireland’s Best Driver competition.”

TRANSPORT

Pictured left are Dermot Byrne, Enprova; Peter O’Neill, Musgrave Retail Partners and Jarlath Sweeney, Group Editor, Fleet Publications. www.fleet.ie

6 | AWARDS - WINNERS' PODIUM

Macroom Haulage Ltd – Fleet Transport Irish Haulier of the Year 2016 (in association with Rosslare Europort)

T

he success of Macroom Haulage Ltd lies in its ability to refocus its business strategy on long term viable customer needs, together with reinvestment in the business to maintain and increase competitiveness.

Macroom Haulage Ltd is a family owned and run company with two generations of the Murphy family working in the business.

It is Ireland’s largest bulk load carrier, has a range of controls, technology and expertise to rival its largest European competitors but is deeply rooted in its local community.

Macroom Haulage has won the Fleet Transport National Haulier of the Year title three times and overall Irish Haulier of the Year twice, an achievement never replicated by any other transport company.

The business success in the Fleet Transport Awards showcases development on the ground with the business successfully tendering for major national contracts, substantially increasing its presence in the equestrian products supply sector and also creating a solid fuel supply business with a large land bank of renewable energy products grown.

Paddy Murphy, Managing Director stated his business has grown and strengthened financially and operationally during a period when tough business decisions had to be made in restructuring and refocusing his company. He mentioned that having a clear strategic plan, together with financial data to monitor it is crucial, but you need the support of customers and staff to make it happen.

Paddy and his wife Bridie are proud that their two eldest sons Ciaran and Olan have developed as key Managers and Directors within the business, while their third son John is presently a third level student. Having commenced with one light commercial over thirty years ago to now being Ireland’s premier bulk distribution company, Paddy stated the knowledge and experience he has built up dealing with customers, staff, technology and banks are all key factors in what has made his company successful.

FLEETTRANSPORTAWARDS | Autumn 2015

With external expertise to benchmark vehicle performance across the full range of heavy commercial vehicles on the market, Paddy has a one make policy for his fleet, namely DAF XFs. Paddy stated that the Euro 6 XFs are exceptionally good on fuel, backup is excellent and his relationship with his vehicle supplier is another important element in his business success. “We recruit, train, monitor and incentivise our drivers to obtain the best performance from vehicles.

We operate compliantly but still maximise productivity with drivers and transport planners working together knowing that customer targets must be met,” explained Paddy.

Paddy also stated that while fuel costs have decreased all other costs are increasing so pressure for rate reduction by competitors will only create problems in the longer term.

“The age profi le of drivers is increasing as the barriers to entry increase and this will put upward pressure on wages. Our drivers are highly trained, work hard, have pride in their vehicles and stay with the company long term and this is an important element of our customer care. We see the lack of competition driving up the cost of insurance, and while we invest in fleet management telematics systems data systems this trend of cost increase cannot be ignored.”

AWARDS I - TRUCK OF THE YEAR | 7

Fleet Transport Irish Truck of the Year 2016 Best Irish Fleet Truck of the Year 2016 Winner: Renault Trucks Range T Marty Whelan, M.C., Mike Murphy, Mike Murphy Insurance (Sponsor); Nigel Butler, Renault Trucks; Harry Nash, Setanta Vehicle Sales and Jarlath Sweeney, Group Editor, Fleet Publications.

Irish Construction Truck of the Year 2016 Winner: Volvo FMX Marty Whelan, M.C.; Joe Roddy, Volvo Trucks; Mike Murphy (Sponsor), Mike Murphy Insurance and Jarlath Sweeney, Group Editor, Fleet Publications.

Trailer Innovation 2016 Award Winner: SDC Trailers

Truck Innovation 2016 Award Winners: DAF CF Silent

Peter Ward, All-Ireland Warehousing Association (Sponsor); Gavin Diamond, SDC Trailers and Jarlath Sweeney, Group Editor, Fleet Publications.

Andrew Clarke, CC Lubricants (Sponsor); Gay Farnan, DAF Distributors Ireland and Jarlath Sweeney, Group Editor, Fleet Publications. www.fleet.ie

8 | AWARDS II

Fleet Transport Awards 2016 Category Winners Macroom Haulage wins Fleet Transport National Haulier of the Year Award 2016 in association with Volvo Trucks Sponsored by Volvo Trucks Winner: Macroom Haulage - Cork

Marty Whelan, M.C.; Joe Roddy, Volvo Trucks; Paddy and Bridie Murphy, Macroom Haulage and Jarlath Sweeney, Group Editor, Fleet Publications.

Fleet Transport Awards 2016 - Category Winners National Haulier of the Year – Sponsored by Volvo Trucks Winner: Macroom Haulage International Haulier of the Year – Sponsored by ThermoKing Winner: McCulla Ireland Limited (Antrim & Dublin) Own Account Transport Operator of the Year – Sponsored by Mercedes-Benz Winner: Gannon Eco (Westmeath) Owner Driver Haulier of the Year – Sponsored by MAN Truck & Bus Winner: McHugh Express (Sligo) Regional Transport Operator of the Year – Sponsored by FUSO Winner: Martin Ryan & Sons Ltd (Limerick) Fleet/Transport Manager of the Year – Sponsored by Iveco Winner: Brian Beatt ie (McCulla Ireland Ltd) FLEETTRANSPORTAWARDS | Autumn 2015

Women in Transport – Sponsored by AIB Commercial Finance Ltd Winner: Jennifer Tierney (Tierney International, Offaly) Safety Award – Sponsored by the Health & Safety Authority Winner: Medicall Ambulance Ltd (Dublin)

Best Livery Award – Sponsored by Renault Trucks Winner: Zellwood Limited (Dublin) Environment Award – Sponsored Gas Networks Ireland Winner: Dixon International Logistics (Dublin)

Best Van Fleet Award – Sponsored by Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles Winner: Sligo Haulage & Distribution Ltd (Sligo)

Customer Service Excellence – Sponsored by FIAT Professional Winner: Sommers Commercials (Wexford) Highly Commended: Thomas H. Kean Ltd (Mayo)

Technician of the Year – Sponsored by Argent Equipment Ireland Ltd Winner: Gerard Cruise – DAF Distributors Ireland Ltd (Dublin)

Excellence in Warehousing & Product Handling – Sponsored by Cold Move Winner: National Vehicle Distribution (Wexford & Dublin)

Innovation Award – Sponsored by Easytrip Winner: McBurney Transport (Armagh & Dublin)

Services to the Transport Industry – Sponsored by Close Brothers Commercial Finance Winner: Eoin Gavin (Clare)

AWARDS II | 9

INTERNATIONAL HAULIER OF THE YEAR 2016 Sponsored by Thermo King Winner: McCulla Ireland Ltd (Antrim & Dublin)

Marty Whelan, M.C.; Mary Hanley, Thermo King; Carol Thompson, McCulla Ireland Ltd and Jarlath Sweeney, Group Editor, Fleet Publications.

FLEET/TRANSPORT MANAGER OF THE YEAR 2016 Sponsored by IVECO Winner: Brian Beattie (McCulla Ireland Ltd)

Orla Sweeney, Fleet Publications; Pierre Lahutte, Brand President, Iveco; Brian Beattie, McCulla Ireland Ltd and Denise Owens, Fleet Publications.

www.fleet.ie

10 | AWARDS II

OWN ACCOUNT TRANSPORT OPERATOR OF THE YEAR 2016 Sponsored by Mercedes-Benz Commercial Vehicles Winner: Gannon Eco (Westmeath)

Marty Whelan, M.C., Fergus Conheady, Mercedes-Benz Commercial Vehicles; Brendan Kenny and Shane Kenny, Gannon Eco and Jarlath Sweeney, Group Editor, Fleet Publications.

OWNER/DRIVER HAULIER OF THE YEAR 2016 Sponsored by MAN Truck & Bus Winner: McHugh Express (Sligo)

Marty Whelan, M.C., Dara Sullivan, MAN Importers Ireland; Brendan McHugh, McHugh Express and Jarlath Sweeney, Group Editor, Fleet Publications.

FLEETTRANSPORTAWARDS | Autumn 2015

AWARDS II | 11

WOMEN IN TRANSPORT AWARD 2016 Sponsored by AIB Commercial Finance Ltd Winner: Jennifer Tierney (Tierney International - Offaly)

Marty Whelan, M.C.; Orla Sweeney, Fleet Publications; Jennifer Tierney, Tierney International; Deirdre Moore, AIB Commercial Finance and Denise Owens, Fleet Publications.

REGIONAL TRANSPORT OPERATOR OF THE YEAR 2016 Sponsored by FUSO Winner: Martin Ryan & Sons Ltd (Limerick)

Marty Whelan, M.C., Martin Ryan, Martin Ryan & Sons Ltd., Gerard Rice, FUSO; Declan Ryan and Brendan Ryan, Martin Ryan & Sons and Jarlath Sweeney, Group Editor, Fleet Publications. www.fleet.ie

12 | AWARDS II

BEST VAN FLEET AWARD 2016 Sponsored by Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles Winner: Sligo Haulage & Distribution Ltd (Sligo)

Marty Whelan, M.C., Alan Bateson, Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles; Gareth Mullen, Stephen Mullen, Keith Mullen, Sligo Haulage & Distribution Ltd. and Jarlath Sweeney, Group Editor, Fleet Publications.

INNOVATION AWARD 2016 Sponsored by easytrip Winner: McBurney Transport (Armagh & Dublin)

Marty Whelan, M.C.; Colin Delaney, Easytrip; Garrett Stears, McBurney Transport and Jarlath Sweeney, Group Editor, Fleet Publications.

FLEETTRANSPORTAWARDS | Autumn 2015

AWARDS II | 13

TECHNICAN OF THE YEAR 2016 Sponsored by Argent Equipment Ireland Ltd Winner: Gerard Cruise (DAF Distributors Ireland Ltd - Dublin)

Orla Sweeney, Fleet Publications; Jim McGrath, Argent Equipment Ireland Ltd,; Gerard Cruise, DAF Distributors Ireland Ltd. and Denise Owens, Fleet Publications.

BEST LIVERY AWARD 2016 Sponsored by Renault Trucks Winner: Zellwood Limited (Dublin)

Marty Whelan, Sharon Concarr, Setanta Vehicle Importers Ltd; William Flanagan, Zellwood and Jarlath Sweeney, Group Editor, Fleet Publications.

www.fleet.ie

14 | AWARDS II

SAFETY AWARD 2016 Sponsored by Health & Safety Authority (HSA) Winner: Medicall Ambulance Ltd (Dublin)

Marty Whelan, M.C.; Andrew Lyle, Medicall Ambulance Ltd.; Deirdre Sinnott, Health & Safety Authority and Jarlath Sweeney, Group Editor, Fleet Publications.

ENVIRONMENT AWARD 2016 Sponsored by Gas Networks Ireland Winner: Dixon International Logistics (Dublin)

Marty Whelan, M.C.; Glen Morgan, Dixon International Logisitics; Dan Fitzpatrick, Gas Networks Ireland and Jarlath Sweeney, Group Editor, Fleet Publications.

FLEETTRANSPORTAWARDS | Autumn 2015

AWARDS II | 15

CUSTOMER SERVICE EXCELLENCE AWARD 2016 Sponsored by FIAT Professional Winner: Somers Commercials (Wexford)

Marty Whelan, M.C.; Conor Twomey, FIAT Professional; James Somers & Bernadette Behan, Somers Commercials and Jarlath Sweeney, Group Editor, Fleet Publications.

CUSTOMER SERVICE EXCELLENCE AWARD 2016 - HIGHLY COMMENDED Sponsored by FIAT Professional Winner: Thomas H. Kean Ltd (Mayo)

Marty Whelan, M.C., Alan Kelly, Thomas H Kean Ltd.; Conor Twomey, FIAT Professional; James Kean, Thomas H. Kean Ltd. and Jarlath Sweeney, Group Editor, Fleet Publications. www.fleet.ie

16 | AWARDS II

EXCELLENCE IN WAREHOUSING & PRODUCT HANDLING AWARD 2016 Sponsored by Cold Move Winner: National Vehicle Distribution (NVD) (Wexford & Dublin)

Marty Whelan, M.C., Helen O’Neill, Cold Move; John Boland, National Vehicle Distribution and Jarlath Sweeney, Group Editor, Fleet Publications.

SERVICES TO THE INDUSTRY AWARD 2016 Sponsored by Close Brothers Commercial Finance Winner: Eoin Gavin (Clare)

Orla Sweeney, Fleet Publications; Adrian Madden, Close Brothers Commercial Finance; Eoin Gavin, recipient of Award and Denise Owens, Fleet Publications.

FLEETTRANSPORTAWARDS | Autumn 2015

AWARDS II | 17

Fleet Transport Green Commercial of the Year 2016 Awards in association with ESB ecars

Irish Green Commercial of the Year 2016 – Natural Gas Winner: Iveco Daily Natural Power

Marty Whelan, M.C.; Conor O’Brien, ESB ecars; Pierre Lahutte, Brand President, Iveco and Jarlath Sweeney, Group Editor, Fleet Publications.

Irish Green Commercial Irish Green Engine of the Year 2016 – Electric/Hybrid of the Year 2016 Winner: Mitsubishi Outlander Winner: Iveco Stralis HI-SCR PHEV Business

Electric/Hybrid - Marty Whelan, M.C.; Conor O’Brien ESB ecars; Gerard Rice, Mitsubishi Motors and Jarlath Sweeney, Group Editor, Fleet Publications.

Marty Whelan, M.C.; Conor O’Brien ESB ecars; Pierre Lahutte, Brand President, Iveco and Jarlath Sweeney, Group Editor, Fleet Publications. www.fleet.ie

18 | PICTORIAL I

O li ve O’H Oli ’H H ara arra r , B renn ddan ann T Tee rrry ry – B ry Ba b yca Bab c re r I ernnati Int a ona onall

Ge Cruis Ger u e, Jea Je n Butltler – DAF AFF Dis Distri t butors Irela Irela laand nd Ltd Ltd Lt tdd..

Ver Ve V er e onaa Murph rphy, y, Pre P sid ident dent ntt, Iri nt, ris ris i hR h Road Ha Haula ula ulage l ge g Ass ssoci soci oc at a ion ati aand an ndd JJaarlath rla laath t Sweeene eney, y, Grou Gro roouupp E Eddiitor Edi t , F lee leeett Pub Publ ubblic ica catio tioons. n s. ns

Lorr na Mou L Mouulld, ldd JJunee Rya Ryyyan, R n, D Dei eiird rrdr ddrre Moo oood ody – 3M Sa Saffett y & Gr Graph rap aphics ic

Johannna Par arsonss , Jou Jour ournal nallist s , JJohn ohhn Ly ohn Lynch nnchh , Ross R oss osslar os l e Euro lar rroopor t and and Ver Verona naa Mur phhy hy Prresidennt, IRH IRHA A

Briaan Bri Br an Cu Cunnnin ningha g m, Mic gh gha Micche hel hel elle Cun Cunnningham, Ger Gerry r y Culllen len – Brian Brian Cu Cunnin Cun ningh gha ham ha m Tra T raansp nssp sport ort..

Ola laan Mu Murp urpphhy, hyy, Brr idi iddi die Murp Mur urp r phy rp hy an and Paaddy and dddd Mu Murph rphhy – Ma M croom om Hau Haulag lage. lag e. e.

N iic k Wats tson, on, James Ja m es Ke K Kelly e llly, Patr atrici ici c a Waallt l t on, n Ann ddree w C llar a kee – C hev hevroo n//CC /C CC CC L ric Lub icant antss ant FLEETTRANSPORTAWARDS | Autumn 2015

Fiio Fio F i naa Mu iona Murphy Mur r phy p , Derm Derm e rmot er r mott Feeney rm eeney ne , Jaack cckkiiee M Mur ur phy phy, hy, Mike Mu M rph phhy andd E Ellaaine Ela innnee Mu Murph r phy rp – Mik ike ke M Muurp rph pphy Insu I su surannce.

PICTORIAL I | 19

JJas Jason a onn Mal M lon lon,, Aoif oif oi ifee Doy oy e, oyl e Kat K a hlleeen Mel Melvi viil ille, l H le Heelen leenn O le O’’N ’Nei Neiill and andd SStteph epp en Gi G llen Gil en Colldmo m ve mo

Ala A llan Kell K ellly, y M Mar ar y K Kell elly, y Pat P riciaa K Kea eaan andd JJam aames e s Kea K ea Ke ean,, Th Thoomas m H. H K Keaann & Kean Son So on s with on th Ma M rty ttyy W Whela el n.

Dei De D ei eirdre rdr rd ddrre Sinn inn ott tt,, Heeal eaal alth lthh & SSaf affe aafe afety f tyy A Auu hhor Aut orr ity ity;; Mo Moy oyaggghh oya Mur M Mu uurdoc ddoocck, dock, k , CEO CEO,, R ooa oad ad ad Sa Safeet y Aut ut ori uth or tyy and a Ka an Kattthl hl hlee een Cal Ca C aalllan alla lanan, la anan, an Ro Road add SSaf af afet ety ty A Autho hoority riitt y. rit

Brenda Br Bre ndaan K enn nd ennny, y Ta Tan T a yaa Fee e han haan , Mon ooni n kkaa Le L e zczyyns Les nska, a, Jeean P Pett ett itt , Shan Shanne Gann annnon on – Gann annnnnon on Eco Ecco E

W illie ie Ke K arn arney, ey, An Andy dy Donlan annd Turloug urlloug ugh Kina ugh K in ina nnaannee - Ther ermod moddia ial all

Caoim Caoim mhe Dela mh D l neyy an andd Nial N alll Stob obbie i – Iris Irishh E xp x orterss xpo A ssoci Ass oci ciat ationn

Brian Cle Brian Cleary ary,, Lau Lauura McGill, ll, De Deird irdre ree Cl Cle C l ary ry andd Chr hrri s Sowe hri ow r – Suuper perior ior Gr Group oup.

B eerr H Haa yes, yes ess , B r id ie Murphyy, D eir e dre d ree M Moo ore, o rre , E iil ore ile llee eenn Deea ea syy

JJoy ooyyc yccee JJooorrdan ann , Seam am muss O O’G ’G G rad rady, y, Maryy Hanley nleyy an and nndd Sa San anndr nddr d a Jord or an an - Thermo K ing

www.fleet.ie

20 | REPORT

Energy Futures Forum LIVE! a big succ

A

n opportunity to experience alternatives to fossil fuel powered commercia l vehicles first hand was the main att raction of the Fleet Transport Energy Futures Forum LIVE! event on 3 September. Held at Citywest Hotel in Dublin prior to the Fleet Transport Awards that evening, the Ride & Drive experience offered fleet buyers, company owners and other key decision makers the opportunity to learn about and test-drive a broad range of alternative fuel vehicles ranging from electric to gas and hybrid power.

Welcoming guests to the Energy Futures Forum LIVE!, Fleet Transport’s Cathal Doyle noted the great strides made by the industry in recent years to produce ever greener and cleaner trucks and vans. “The low emissions emitted by Euro 6 vehicles are at a level that would not have seemed possible ten or fifteen years ago,” he said. “Nonetheless there is no cause for complacency, and the batt le to produce ever cleaner and quieter trucks, vans and cars continues apace. That’s where alternative fuel vehicles are going to play an ever increasing role.”

FLEETTRANSPORTAWARDS | Autumn 2015

Brian Motherway, CEO, SEAI

Martin Flach, Iveco Ltd, Product Director

With vehicles ranging from full size trucks right down to passenger cars there was something for everyone at the Energy Futures Forum LIVE!. From when the event opened at 12 noon, a steady stream of visitors engaged with representatives from the assembled exhibitors, before climbing aboard for a test drive of the assorted vehicles.

exactly the same with the gas vehicles, the trucks and vans that we see out here. I think we are on the cusp of something really on exciting where the technology is now.”

Officially opening the Energy Futures Forum LIVE!, Dr. Brian Motherway, CEO of the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) welcomed the new technology on display. “We have to change the way we do energy here in Ireland. We can’t keep using fossil fuel, we can’t keep spending the amount of money we do on fossil fuels, and particularly here in Ireland we can’t keep depending on other people to get our energy. In Ireland 90% of our energy comes from elsewhere, and a third of that goes to the transport sector. That’s costing us all as a society,” he said, adding “It’s very exciting to see what is going on in the transport sector and all the technologies that are here. Sales have really taken off in the electric sector, and I think we’re going to see

Among those providing vehicles at the Ride & Drive event was Ozone Cars in association with Autogas and FLOGAS. The Dublin company specialises in supplying environmentally friendly, fuel efficient vehicles. Ozone & Autogas Ireland presented an ultra cost-effective LPG dual-fuelled Dacia van in addition to two Scania R420’s successfully converted to a FLOGAS LPG DieselBlend offering up to 50:50 ratio of Diesel to LPG. Also available for test drives were a brace of Toyota Priuses (or Prii to be strictly correct).

“We were delighted to display and present the latest energy saving and emissions reduction technologies including LPG and Hydrogen now available in HGV, vans and fleet cars at the Fleet Transport Energy Futures Forum LIVE!,” said Ian McDonnell of Ozone Cars.

“For example, our LPG DieselBlend as seen

REPORT | 21

ccess at Fleet Transport Awards 2016

on the Scania R420’s has the advantage of being a significantly cleaner, lower emission fuel burn coupled with up to 25% reduction in fuel cost, without range anxiety.”

Other heavy duty trucks powered by gas were demonstrated by Viriginia Transport who showcased a Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) Volvo FH, while Macroom Haulage, who later that evening claimed the prestigious Irish Haulier of the Year 2016 title at the Fleet Transport Awards, had a DAF XF 460 running on a diesel / LPG mix converted by Mercury Fuel Systems Ltd and Calor Gas. Moving down a truck category size, FUSO’s Eco-Canter offers the benefits of a Diesel/ Electric Hybrid in the 7.5t category – you can expect fuel savings of up to 23% – as well as lower CO2 emissions when compared to a conventional diesel Canter.

For those looking for cleaner and green vans, Iveco had the new CNG powered Daily Natural Power, with Mercedes-Benz demonstrating the similarly powered Sprinter NGT. In the compact van category, Nissan’s eNV200 and the Renault’s Kangoo ZE attracted much interest from those looking for all-electric power.

The SUV / Crossover sector wasn’t left out either, thanks to Mitsubishi’s acclaimed Outlander PHEV Plug-in-Hybrid Electric.

Even passenger car customers were catered for thanks to the all-electric Volkswagen Golf E and Renault Zoe, while Volvo Cars’ V60 is the first Diesel Hybrid car to go on sale here.

Text: Cathal Doyle - cathal@fleet.ie

Photos: Paul Sherwood

www.fleet.ie

22 | PICTORIAL II

Fleet Transport Awards 2016 Exhibitors Display – Outdoor Arena

Line-up of contenders for Irish Truck of the Year 2016

Iveco - Emerald Truck & Van

Ford Transit celebrates 50 years

Martin Flach; Iveco, Dr. Brian Motherway; SEAI and Dan Fitzpatrick; Gas Networks Ireland

McElvaneys Motors displayed its range of Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles

Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles

Krone Trailers - Displayed new curtainsider supplied to BM Transport (Monaghan)

Eoin Gavin’s new Dennison Eco-Combi trailer

FLEETTRANSPORTAWARDS | Autumn 2015

PICTORIAL II | 23

Mercedes-Benz Commercial Vehicles Ireland

TATA Race Truck promoting Mondello Truck Show 2015

FIAT Professional - New Doblo Cargo range

McElvaney Motors displayed new Scania R-series

TSS demonstrated new DAF LF & Carrier refr igeration

Ashbourne Truck Centre & Faymonville Trailers

Harris Group - Hino & Isuzu Trucks

TC Trailers - new Kassbohrer agents

Close Brothers Commercial Finance and Iveco Exhibition Trailers

Gill Group provided the load security equipment for Ireland’s Best Truck Driver Competition Final www.fleet.ie

TRANSPORT www.ямВeet.ie

Awards 2016

REVIEW I - PART II | 23

Best Combination - Tractor Unit & Trailer – Ryan Haulage

Best Senior Working Truck +10 Years – K Mackin Transport - Scania 143 450 (Right)

Best Customised - DN Mobile – Mercedes-Benz Actros 1863 V8

Livery of the Year - Truck – Angretia - Scania R620 152 CN 250 (Middle)

Mondello Park Special Award - Iveco Stralis – M+N Ledwith

Fleet Transport Visitor's Choice Favourite Truck - B Woods – Scania R620 4x2

Best Vintage Truck - Pre 90 – Leyland Comet

Best Trailer - Tony O'Malley Plant (Nooteboom) www.fleet.ie

24 | REVIEW I - PART II

Lots of interest in Diesel/LPG Dual Fuel Vehicles at the Mondello Truck Show

M

ain event sponsor Calor Gas, in association with its equipment partners Mercury Fuel Systems Ltd were delighted to be involved with the Mondello Truck Show this year. Representatives from both companies were available throughout the weekend demonstrating the dual fuel technology with converted Calor and Mercury trucks on display.

Together they were extremely pleased with the response to their Euro 5 and Euro 6 trucks which were operating on Diesel/LPG Dual Fuel. Interest in the Quicksilver conversions was high and the technical sales team fielded a range of questions from a very knowledgeable public.

A subject of particular interest was vehicle warranty. Tony Dent, Mercury Fuel Systems Ltd. commented, “We understand that the operators, OEMs and dealers are our partners and that the manufacturer’s warranty is more than a piece of paper! It’s a cornerstone of our business.” He went on to explain, “ And because of the technical excellence of the Quicksilver Dual Fuel System, Mercury can give the best Powertrain warranty in the business, a warranty that delivers complete protection to the operator, dealer and OEM.”

Mercury and Calor remain appropriately cautious when making statements about critical areas such as gas substitution rates and makes no apologies for passing on at the show that the reasons for limiting their substitution rates to 30% is for safety. These include hydrocarbons rising above acceptable levels, engine internal temperatures exceeding recommended levels, capacity for carrying diesel compromised, and high knock and possible engine damage a possibility.

T R A DE

They can confidently claim savings of up to 14% fuel cost savings and around 6% emissions savings based on their 60 million kilometres

Alaister Hewitt; Automotive Gas Systems & Tony Dent, Mercury Fuel Systems

of detailed data and a further 10 million of casual data supplied by their customers.

Business was of course mixed with pleasure, and both Calor and Mercury vehicles took an active part in the lead up laps for the truck racing and also the fi nale ‘Ireland’s Longest Convoy’.

Ashbourne Truck Centre

Dennison Trailers

Ford

Gem Oil's Tom Coughlan & Helen Mulligan

Trade Stand overview

Volvo FH.500 6x2 Matt Black

FLEETTRANSPORT | OCTOBER 15

Text: Jarlath Sweeney Photos: Jarlath Sweeney, Paul White & Keith Gallagher

FUEL PRICES (WEEK 40) / SAFETY MATTERS | 25 Country

Currency

95 Lead Free

98 Lead Free

Diesel

Country

Currency

95 Lead Free

98 Lead Free

Diesel

Albania

ALL

180.00

-

178.00

Lithuania

EUR

1.155

1.203

1.053

Andorra

EUR

1.090

1.150

0.890

Luxemburg

EUR

1.141

1.218

0.973

Austria

EUR

1.160

1.301

1.073

Macedonia

MKD

62.50

64.50

50.00

Belarus

EUR

0.604

-

0.624

Moldova

MDL

18.17

18.87

15.77

Belgium

EUR

1.373

1.448

1.163

Montenegro

EUR

1.180

1.210

1.090

Bosnia-Herzegovina

BAM

2.15

2.25

2.10

Netherlands

EUR

1.599

1.674

1.271

Bulgaria

BGN

2.10

2.35

2.12

Norway

NOK

14.57

-

13.12

Croatia

HRK

9.03

-

8.47

Poland

PLN

4.54

4.89

4.28

Czech Republic

CZK

30.56

-

29.03

Portugal

EUR

1.404

1.538

1.171

Denmark

DKK

10.39

-

8.79

Romania

RON

5.09

5.80

5.08

Estonia

EUR

1.059

1.099

1.024

Russia

RUB

37.37

-

35.51

Finland

EUR

1.430

1.497

1.232

Serbia

RSD

137.70

-

139.40

France

EUR

1.345

1.385

1.133

Slovakia

EUR

1.258

-

1.094

Georgia

GEL

1.99

2.09

1.94

Slovenia

EUR

1.241

1.295

1.146

Germany

EUR

1.311

-

1.109

Spain

EUR

1.172

1.306

1.080

Greece

EUR

1.396

1.584

1.097

Sweden

SEK

12.69

13.19

12.40

Hungary

HUF

383.00

-

370.00

Switzerland

CHF

1.500

1.545

1.520

Ireland

EUR

1.329

-

1.199

Turkey

TRY

4.53

4.55

3.94

Italy

EUR

1.570

-

1.433

Ukraine

UAH

19.90

23.00

17.90

Kosovo

EUR

1.01

-

0.99

UK

GBP

1.107

1.199

1.103

Latvia

EUR

1.086

1.141

0.989

USA

USD

-

-

0.659

Safety Matters . . . Safety Matters . . .

HSA alerts employers to dangers of vehicles reversing and slow speed manoeuvres in the workplace

I

n Ireland nearly a quarter of all deaths involving vehicles at work occur during reversing and slow speed manoeuvres.

Many other reversing accidents do not result in injury but cause costly damage to vehicles, equipment and premises. Most of these accidents can be avoided by taking simple precautions, such as those below.

What can Employers do to reduce the Risk?

• Identify what vehicle manoeuvres are necessary and avoid the need to reverse where possible. Th is will form part of your workplace transport risk assessment.

• Eliminate reversing where possible, by providing one way traffic systems, vehicle turning points, and drive through loading and unloading systems, or engineering systems such as vehicle turntables.

• Good design and layout of the workplace can eliminate reversing but this is not always feasible in older workplaces.

Reorganise traffic routes and loading and unloading procedures or increase the space for storing materials where possible, to avoid reversing.

If reversing cannot be eliminated, plan out the reversing area. Good all round vision is essential if reversing is to be carried out. Consult with staff, drivers and visiting drivers when planning the reversing area. Take account of any previous reversing incidents.

People who do not need to be in reversing areas should be kept well clear.

The following steps might help to reduce the risk of reversing accidents. The following are examples, but it is unlikely that any single measure will be enough to ensure safety: •

•

Site layouts can be designed (or modified) to increase visibility for drivers and pedestrians, for example: - By increasing the area allowed for reversing.

- By installing fi xed mirrors in smaller areas.

Reducing the dangers caused by ‘blind-spots’: - Most vehicles already have external side-mounted and rear-view mirrors fitted. These need to be kept clean and in good repair.

- Refractive lenses fitted to rear windows or closedcircuit television systems can be used to help drivers to see behind the vehicle. If drivers cannot see behind the vehicle, they should leave their cab and check behind the vehicle before reversing.

For further information and free learning resources, regarding Work Related Vehicle Safety matters, including reversing activities in the workplace. Please follow the links below. htt p://www. vehiclesatwork.ie http://www.hsalearning.ie or by contacting the Workplace Contact Unit at Lo-Call: 1890 289 389 (Between 9am and 5pm, Monday to Friday).

www.fleet.ie

26 | TIMES PAST

CIE – 70 YEARS OLD Road transport was now organised into three divisions: Road Freight, Provincial Buses and Dublin City Services. Here it should be remembered that some Dublin passenger services were not operated by CIE in 1945: the Great Northern Railway (GNR) had bus routes in north Dublin, as well as the Hill of Howth Tramway. GNR services did not become part of the CIE system until 1958.

CIE Bedford-Scammell

I

t is hard to believe that seventy years have passed since the establishment, in January 1945, of Córas Iompair Éireann (CIE).

Today, few people can recall the event or what led up to it.

The Republic of Ireland – at that time known officially as Éire – was probably the poorest country in Europe in the 1940s. An already dire social and economic environment grew steadily worse during the Second World War and transport was among the worst impacted. At that time, the two biggest transport companies south of a line between Dublin and Sligo were the Great Southern Railways (GSR) and the Dublin United Transport Company (DUTC).

In addition to its loss-making railway network, the GSR had major and very successful road transport operations. Its road freight fleet covered its entire operating area, in some instances replacing branch railway lines. But wartime shortages of vehicles, spares and fuel stymied fleet development and as with other operators, cannibalisation was practised, involving the dismantling of

some vehicles to keep others going. GSR bus operations, both inter-urban and local routes, with many long distance and several more local routes, also ran city services in Cork and Limerick. A curious result of unavoidable route cutbacks was a surplus of buses which enabled the GSR to hire a large number of vehicles to the Northern Ireland Road Transport Board, which experienced a serious vehicle shortage in 1941.

The DUTC, which had changed its name from Dublin United Tramways in 1941 to reflect the changeover to buses, had a profitable bus network as well as what remained of the once mighty tramway network – and which would finally disappear in 1949. As with the buses, the tram fleet contained a number of donor vehicles – kept simply to provide spares for the cars that were still working.

In a small State with a diminishing population of less than three million people, the Government thought it was a good idea to have one national transport company.

So legislation was passed to set up CIE, which took over the GSR and DUTC. GSR Ford Tri-axle Lorry

FLEETTRANSPORT | OCTOBER 15

As the war ended later in 1945, CIE moved to acquire new vehicles and to reinstate and expand all its services. The Road Freight fleet badly needed many new vehicles to expand services and replace a host of very old lorries, some dating from the early 1930s. Th ree large classes of lorry were created. Many Bedfords, exact number not established, were purchased, as were 200 AEC Matadors and 200 Leyland Comets. These vehicles entered service over three years.

Bodywork for all CIE vehicles was concentrated at the former DUTC Works at Spa Road, Inchicore. Th is was set up, in 1882, as a tram works by William Martin Murphy, who would not import anything that could be made in Ireland. Spa Road built trams up to 1936, buses from 1925 and now entered a new phase, building both buses and freight vehicles until 1978.

In 1946 AEC, most of whose vehicles had cabs built by outside fi rms, supplied most of CIE’s Matadors as chassis and scutt les, the cabs being built at Spa Road. The Comets, of semi forward control layout, came as chassis complete with the distinctive Briggs cab used by Leyland at that time. Again, the bodywork was built at Spa Road, as was that for most of the Bedfords. These lorries all gave good service, some of the Matadors working for about twenty years.

Virtually all the provincial buses ran on petrol, as did twenty double-deckers in Cork – the mind boggles at the thought of how much these vehicles drank on the hills of Cork. These buses were quickly replaced as the first postwar Leyland and AEC doubledeckers left Spa Road and enabled services to be improved. But at least as important in economical terms was the replacement of large petrol powered single-deckers all over the provincial network. These buses, four cylinder Lions and six cylinder Tigers, several of them built as recently as 1940,

TIMES PAST | 27 were in good condition and fit for further years of service. As it turned out, the last ones were not withdrawn until 1953. But the Tigers that replaced them were already

obsolescent, underfloor-engined buses being available from 1949 onwards. The GNR had such vehicles in 1952 and CIE followed suit two years later.

GSR Queen Mary Coach in CIE colours

An important aspect of CIE’s operations and one almost forgotten today is coach tours. Before the war, the GSR offered tours of various durations with very att ractive vehicles. The GSR Omnibus Department, which was the railway-associated Irish Omnibus Company until completely absorbed in 1934, had excellent coaches.

The GSR continued this work, building small batches of new and better coaches at regular intervals. Th is culminated in 193637 with four very luxurious and distinctive vehicles known as the Queen Mary type – in deference to the then great new transAtlantic liner. Following the suspension of touring on the outbreak of war, all the GSR coaches worked as buses but were briefly recalled to tour duty in the late 1940s. Some new Tigers were also adapted as interim coaches but it was not until the mid-fi ft ies that worthy replacements were built at Spa Road. These were the famous River class Leyland Royal Tigers, arguably the foundation of Ireland’s modern touring industry.

The foregoing are just a few random memories of the early days of CIE, which fascinated a teenager with an interest in transport and vehicles of every type. CIE continued as a major operator until 1987, when it was reconstituted, its three subsidiaries – Irish Rail, Dublin Bus and Bus Éireann - becoming the operating arms of the company. And, looking at modern buses (and lorries), I sometimes think history repeats itself in strange ways. Dublin Bus has a livery marking out the city’s character, and the distinctive red and white carried by Bus Éireann buses is powerfully redolent of the IOC and GSR.

IOC (later GSR) Leyland Titan - Petrol Bill

One of the six vehicles depicted here survives – answers on a postcard!

The National Transport Museum Heritage Depot, Howth Demense, Howth, Dublin 13.

U12 Text & Photos: Michael Corcoran - contributor@fleet.ie

Opening Times: Saturdays, Sundays and Bank Holidays, 2.00 - 5.00pm www.fleet.ie

28 | HEALTH MATTERS

A Silent Killer

I

n its early stages colon cancer is a silent disease, which is awkward and expensive to diagnose, but early stage detection is the key to successful treatment. This cancer is difficult to diagnose especially in long distance drivers.

People with an unusual lifestyle and diet do not get alarmed when they develop symptoms that might alert other people - such as constipation, blood on the toilet paper or black stools - indicating bleeding high up in the bowel – a sinister sign.

Generally truck drivers are not willing to seek medical care mainly because it is not easily accessible to them. They are usually far from home during doctors’ working hours. It is difficult to drive up to the doctor’s surgery in the town (in a truck) and wait to be seen. If a bowel examination is arranged, the driver will have to take some days off work as the preparation for this examination would be impossible to do while driving.

Signs may be missed because the driver - using truck stop bathrooms - may not find them optimal places for checking stool changes – and irregular meals composed of fast food will rationalize many symptoms such as constipation or a change in bowel habit.

Cancer of the colon together with cancer of the rectum is the third most common cancer worldwide. The incidence of this cancer increases with age – the average age at first diagnosis being 60 to 65 years, by which time the disease will have spread in 20% of patients.

Risks of getting colon cancer - some things can be changed – some things cannot.

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HEALTH MATTERS | 29 •

Fixed risks: A family history of colorectal cancer, increasing age, chronic inflammatory bowel disease, bowel polyps, and a personal history of breast cancer.

•

Modifiable risks: Low dietary fibre intake, obesity, diabetes mellitus, physical inactivity, red meat consumption, smoking and alcohol excess, sugar consumption. All of these factors can be altered.

There is a decreased risk of colon cancer in people with increased dietary fibre, who take aspirin and exercise, who eat vegetables, and drink milk.

If two first degree relatives are affected the risk is one in six.

A one in six risk is quite high – only five people between you and the ‘Big C’.

When a diagnosis of bowel cancer is made, about 80% of patients will have surgical removal of the tumour, and this will be followed up with a colonoscopy six months later to make sure all is well. Regular blood tests will monitor a possible return of the cancer. A scan will be done regularly and all these tests will be repeated for up to five years after first treatment.

There is a National Bowel Screening Programme available which offers free bowel screening to everyone between the ages of 60 and 69 years, which uses a simple home test that looks for blood in the bowel

motion – this is a useful test which, although it does not diagnose cancer, indicates that the patient will need more tests.

If more tests are needed a colonoscopy will be offered to the person, an examination using a camera on the end of a thin flexible tube, which can be used to visualise the lining of the bowel and to take a small sample of the parts of the bowel lining that do not look normal to the doctor.

Th is screening programme is excellent, but even without it nobody should ignore the early warning signs. Late stage treatment is fraught as the disease is liable to have spread and this involves more tests and more surgery.

Text: Dr. Betty Maguire - contributor@fleet.ie

Volvo Trucks. Driving Progress

30 | REVIEW II

TCS&D (Tempera Storage & Distrib

T TransDek

he annual TCS&D Show which this year consisted of up to 100 exhibitors at the Peterborough Showgrounds Arena attracted the key players in temperature controlled logistics and from the Materials Handling sector. A welcome new feature was a drive experience offered by Mercedes-Benz, Ford & Slater DAF. Throughout the two day event a number of conference sessions were held from the top speakers in the industry, while on the first night, awards were presented to recognise companies that demonstrate best practice in the temperature controlled storage and distribution industry. Fleet Transport was there once again to report back on the highlights.

TransDek Latest products from TransDek UK showcased its new DUET wedge double deck trailer with twin sliding doors which was supplied to Thomas Ridley Foodservice. This justifiably won the prestigious Innovation award on the night.

Montracon

Montracon Irish & UK trailer and refrigerator supplier Montracon had this example on display with the livery of Moran Logistics. This 10.4 Tandem axle, which eases manoeuvrability when access is restricted, is one of 85 supplied to the company.

Chiltern Logistics

Chiltern Logistics This Scania R500 with Gray & Adams reefer unit was one of the most impressive static displays on the entrance to the Peterborough Arena. It got some deserved attention for its livery and detailing. Later that night Chiltern picked up the 'Coldstore Operator of the Year' award.

Lumikko Lumikko was on hand to display and introduce its new L4 refrigeration unit which will come available from April 2016. This combined compressor and electric motor eliminates the need for a separate motor, so size and weight of the unit is reduced.

Lumikko

Gah Gah showcased its new flexi-temp revolutionary system in which two insulated compartments can be heated or cooled in chorus, making flexibility simplistic. This is desirable for companies in pharmaceutical or food industries.

Gah

Schmitz Cargobull

FLEETTRANSPORT | OCTOBER 15

rature Controlled ribution)

REVIEW II | 31

Schmitz Cargobull The German trailer giant was there in numbers to promote its 6th generation, S.KO box bodies, with improved insulation and lower operating costs. Cargobull AG also claimed ‘Refrigerated Trailer of the Year’ at the Awards dinner.

Arcticstore

Thermo-King Positive environmental impact was the order of the day with ThermoKing educating on the R-452A refrigerant and also displaying its stunning SLXe Whisper pro, which has sold over 1000 units in Europe and this helped it scoop ‘OEM of the Year’ award.

Mercedes-Benz Commercial Vehicles Mercedes-Benz Commercial Vehicles offered demo passenger ride vehicles in the form of a FUSO Canter Eco-Hybrid, an Atego with sleeper cab and an Actros BigSpace tractor with fridge trailer to give prospective customers the chance to experience its products.

Aisle Master

Paneltex Somers Winner of the 'Refrigerated Panel Van of the Year' award for the third time in succession, the leading UK manufacturer has achieved unprecedented success in the industry. It has collected the same award since the inaugural programme in 2013 and this is down to “Outstanding build quality and attention to detail,” commented the judges.

Aisle Master Aisle Master promoted its VNA articulated range with this specimen to further show its dominance in the market. Manoeuvrability, visibility and stability are its core principles and with this comes 50% freed up space in a warehouse.

Arcticstore Arcticstore was on hand to exhibit its newest and most efficient portable technology with this immaculate polar white 20ft cold store unit in the outdoor arena. It boasts features such as anti-slip aluminium floor, 220v LED florescent internal lights, and person trapped alarm.

Paneltex Somers

Thermo-King

Mercedes-Benz

Text & Photos: Leonard Allison - contributor@fleet.ie

www.fleet.ie

32 | REPORT II

COMTRANS 2015 – MOSCOW Russia remains an important commercial vehicle market despite present difficulties

M Kamaz Concept

Kamaz Concept interior

Donfeng

Iveco FLEETTRANSPORT | OCTOBER 15

o s c o w, D r. K ay Lindemann, Managing D i re c t or of t he German Association of the Automotive Industry (VDA) delivered the following statement at the Association’s press conference at the Comtrans commercial vehicle exhibition in Moscow: “More than 20 German companies – including suppliers and manufacturers of commercial vehicles, trailers and bodies – are exhibiting at Comtrans in 2015.

For the 2015 running of the event many European companies attended despite the difficult conditions relating to foreign relations and ongoing with the economy.

This was ref lected by the decline in the total number of exhibitors. Despite the current tense political situation and difficult economic conditions, the companies present from the Commercial Vehicle industry still fundamentally view Russia as remaining an important market in which to do business. The manufacturers of commercial vehicles, trailers and bodies, and the suppliers, see the unchanged huge potential of the Russian market. They want to maintain the business links forged in the past.

At the same time, they are hoping for a swift diplomatic solution to the political crisis.

At this time, positive economic reports about Russia are unfortunately thin on the ground. The Russian commercial vehicle market is in crisis. For example, the Russian market for heavy commercial vehicles over 6 tonnes grew rapidly in the years after the crisis of 2008 and 2009. In 2012 it came to 134,000 units – its highest volume ever. However, since then the market has contracted markedly. In 2013 new registrations fell by 22 percent to 105,000, and in 2014 sales lost another 23 percent, falling to 81,000. In the current year it is expected to see demand down again by roughly one quarter to around 61,000 new vehicles. Th is means that within three years the market has lost more than half its volume. Unfortunately a turnaround in Russia is not yet on the horizon.

MAN Truck & Bus

Renault Trucks

Scania

Volvo Trucks Text: Rob Van Dieten - rob@fleet.ie

Rigid Bodies also available Granco Ltd • 60 Tandragee Road • Newry • N. Ireland • BT35 6QF T: 00 44 28 308 21115 • E: info@grancotrucks.com • www.grancotrucks.com

Ashbourne Truck Centre, Ballymadun, Ashbourne, Co. Meath, Ireland Tel: 00353 18350573 Josef: 0035387 255 66 77 Sarah J: 0035386 255 66 77 Web: www.ashbournetruckcentre.com

New Faymonville trailers available, built to customers speciÄcations, 4-axle step frame available on short delivery times.

New MAX 4-axle step frame extendable, in stock for immediate delivery, option for hydraulic or aluminium ramps, two rear steer axles.

New Schmitz Cargobull tippers in stock, both lengths available, choice of colours, immediate delivery.

New MAX Flat trailers, Äxed and extendable version available, only 6 tonnes empty, option for steer axles.

Large selection of second hand trailers also in stock, ready for work, DoE’d and serviced.

34 | FINANCE

Profit Cash Wealth

T

he three fundamental aims of your business should be to maximise profit, convert this profit into cash, and move that cash tax efficiently to you personally with the least amount of tax paid by either the company or you. It’s a simple summary of why you are in business, but let's look at each link in the chain to see where real improvements can be made.

while profit with an acceptable amount of risk means that expansion is covered in part by subcontracting periphery work and retaining the core fleet at maximum efficiency. Prudent investment in technology, and the remuneration of all staff in line with productivity means a business can offset labour cost increases with reduced staff numbers and greater efficiency from staff remaining.

Transport companies should now be operating profitably. Our main cost - diesel has decreased, certain sectors are seeing increases in volume and while we have or will have cost increases in labour and insurance, the overall picture for a well managed transport fi rm should be positive. Now that profit is realistically an option, business owners must remember to maximise this.

They must keep their businesses lean and they themselves must maintain the shoulder to the wheel. When companies had to cut costs they became far more productive and competitive.

The second crucial element of your business is to convert profit into liquidity. Having a profitable business that has invested all liquidity into medium and long term assets such as plant and equipment or buildings will not benefit you in maximising your personal wealth. We realise from the last eight years that cash is king, and liquid funds that allow you to operate your business without continuously dealing with banks can and do eliminate half of the pressures associated with running your business. Having the ability to tightly control debtors, obtain best prices from suppliers but still have adequate credit terms and the correct type of finance and repayment period for medium and long term assets are all crucial factors in having funds available in your business. A fi nancial strategy and cash flow forecast are mandatory requirements to ensure adequate cash is to hand.

Bosses who used their businesses as time to recover between “freebe” golf junkets or dealer trips now have their fi nger on the pulse. Waste is eliminated and concentration on customer care is vitally important. How the market is changing and how their customers are doing financially are all crucial to maximising profit. Lean businesses are now benchmarking against best in sector, FLEETTRANSPORT | OCTOBER 15

step in the process. Working with your accountant your plan should be to minimise or eliminate tax in a compliant manner in the maximisation of your wealth. Transfer of funds to pension, the maximisation of retirement relief, the absorption of expenses incurred by you in carrying out your business activities, these are all areas you can benefit dramatically from by using a financial expert. A word of caution, if schemes are suggested purely on the basis of tax savings without proper business content (example, foreign property investment) steer clear, there are many options to minimise tax and maximise your wealth from the business without recourse to schemes you know litt le about.

Wealth maximisation may be the investment by the business in assets that give you personal satisfaction but still have a business usage. Wealth maximisation must also be put in context to the personal sacrifices with regard to your time and health in accumulating such assets. Passing on your profitable business in a tax efficient manner to the next generation while you retain a comfortable standard of living may be your ultimate aim.

Converting your profit and cash into actual wealth that you personally have is the fi nal Text: Donal Dempsey - donal@fleet.ie

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36 | OPINION

Surveys and Opinions Collide

R

ecently a National newspaper published the results of a survey about young drivers and how future laws should govern them. This has become a dangerous feature in recent times, random people asked for opinions about subjects they have no expertise on. Surveys and studies continue to be commissioned, the results fi nd their way into the public domain, people form opinions and before you know it, it becomes law. I have no argument with this process as long as the people in the industry are consulted and that opinions that lead to new regulations are from people who know what they are talking about. I want to go back to the study published, “Study fi nds support for hike in Young Driver Age” is the heading on the piece.

Key fi ndings of the survey were:• • • •

30% want the legal age to drive raised; 36% want to increase the number of lessons for learner drivers; 8% would ban young drivers from using motorways; and 20% would ban young drivers from driving at night.

For me the real insight to this survey came when I discovered that the people surveyed were random members of the public, 350 in total commissioned by the Carphone Warehouse. Surveys like this are damaging, because people’s opinions start to be used as fact. Road safety and driving, for those of us that do it as a profession should not have policy and regulation decided in the same way as people give their opinion on the taste of sausages in the supermarket.

It is unlikely that airline pilots would tolerate ill informed opinions from the general public or leisure flyers being given any kind

View from the Operators Desk by Sean Murtagh - sean n@fleeet.ie

Surveys and studies continue to be commissioned, the results find their way into the public domain, people form opinions and before you know it, it becomes law. of airtime if it intruded on the regulations of their fl ight crews. I think they would consider comments from the general public should be confi ned to in-fl ight service and time keeping.

At the moment there is some discussion in Europe about a review of tachograph regulations and driving time in general.

Drivers need to be at the centre of any discussions and reviews that take place.

Civil servants and well-intentioned officials travelling comfortably over and back to Brussels are not really in a position to comment honestly or regulate by themselves.

We have seen the rumpus that happens when anybody tries to make a change to the working conditions of teachers or nurses.

Within hours, a media campaign is in place with a very clear message, “get your hands away, we will decide what happens within our profession.”

If you need an example of this, look at the HazChem sector. Drivers right up to their retirement are forced to sit an exam in order to continue working. Imagine if you told a teacher or nurse they had to sit an exam every few years and failure would lead to the dole queue.

In recent times, both the IRHA and the FTAI have been very vocal and effective in the media. In particular the IRHA was able to give good personal and practical account of how the situation in Calais with migrants affected its members and drivers.

Action is needed now so that surveys and comments made in supermarket aisles never become an influence for policy makers on road safety.

Tyrellstown Big, Lusk, Co. Dublin.

Stas & Kassbohrer Trailer Dealers for the 32 Counties Web: www.tctrailers.com E-mail: sales@tctrailers.com Mobile: Tom 086 9890445 Brian 087 8373110 FLEETTRANSPORT | OCTOBER 15

COMMENT | 37

At last, the overweight container From where I'm sitting issue is being tackled - Howard Knott

I

n the almost ten years since being involved in the sharp end of the Shipping business, one of the things that I have not missed is the phone call advising that there had been an accident involving some cargo that we were carrying.

Fortunately, over a thirty year period, these calls were rare and, even more fortunately, none of the incidents involved anyone being hurt.

being accurate, but if the weight is found to be mis-declared, then the container will not be shipped.

More interesting, in this emerging world of the internet, would be the follow through back to the shipper of the goods who would have knowingly mis-declared the weight. Surely that would place him in legal jeopardy? It will be interesting to see how this plays out.

In a couple of cases the issue was to do with securing the load. In one incident 20 tonnes or so of wet salted hides slid off a 20ft . flat rack on a roundabout in Dublin Port. In another a large cable reel emerged through the front of a tilt trailer as it came off a ferry. In both cases the driver that had hauled the load to the Port had taken off the securing straps when dropping the unit at the Port and had failed to tell anyone. It is amazing that it is only within the last year or two that international standards for load securing have been developed and have been promoted by the Health & Safety Authority.

The other accidents involved heavily laden containers en route to the Port on fairly narrow roads with container and trailer ending up in the ditch. The cargo was well stowed and secured, the weight was correctly stated, but I suspect that the 9’6”height of the container was a factor in each case.

Th is weight question has been a matter of concern for many years for each and every freight mode, and with that concern has come the issue of who is responsible for ensuring that the cargo unit to loaded is in compliance with the applicable regulations and that the cargo weight is accurately declared. How often has it happened that the truck being overweight was a contributory factor in a road accident?

Or, as was shown to be the case in the MSC NAPOLI shipwreck that the gross weight of a significant proportion of containers on board had been mis-declared affecting the stability of the vessel?

Up to now the problem has proved to be too difficult to sort out.

A simple case of the difficulty arises where a haulier goes into an Irish Port and collects a container that may have come from Asia and with a docket giving the declared weight, but he soon fi nds that that figure is untrue. Who is responsible?

At last a solution may be in sight. The International Maritime Organisation (IMO) has amended its Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) convention so as to ensure that all container weights are declared accurately. The new regulations will come fully into effect on 1 July 2016 and this leaves all of those who ship using Lift-on/Lift-off containers very litt le time to get their systems into place.

Under the new regulations the shipper of the goods or his formally nominated agent will be required to weigh the packed container or its contents. The weighing equipment that is used must meet national certification and calibration requirements. The important thing here is that the new rules demand that the weight verification must be ‘signed’: a specific person must be named and identified as having verified the accuracy of the weight calculation on behalf of the shipper. A carrier may rely on this signed weight verification as Text: Howard Knott - howard@fleet.ie

www.fleet.ie

38 | SHIPPING & FREIGHT

CLdN further ups its game

B

elgian based CLdN RoRo S.A. has added further capacity to its Dublin – Zeebrugge Con-Ro service. A third vessel is now sailing exZeebrugge for Dublin on Thursday evening and arriving early on Saturday before sailing again for Zeebrugge that afternoon.

CLdN is now offering sailings to the Belgian port for unaccompanied trailers and containers on Thursday, Saturday and Sunday with the Saturday sailing scheduled to reach Zeebrugge at 07.00 on Monday.

CLdN already operates three Dublin – Rotterdam services with Tuesday, Friday and Sunday departures. The Tuesday service is operated by the Lo-Lo container vessel ARX. At Rotterdam and Zeebrugge the Irish services link with the CLdN vessels

metres capacity, double that of the average CLdN vessel and four times that of most vessels plying Irish Sea routes. The design of the new vessels will allow for them to interchange between Short Sea To-Ro services and deep sea services requiring endurance and a flexible and high stowage factor.

operating to Gothenburg, Esbjerg and the Iberian Port of Leixoes, thus giving through services for unaccompanied trailer traffic.

The vessels do have limited capacity for accompanying drivers.

The current CLdN fleet consists of 24 vessels and the company has now announced an expansion plan that will add a further twelve vessels. Two of these will have 8000 lane

The Port re-development work at Dublin, due to commence in October, will enable the Port to accommodate vessels of the size of the 8000 lane metres, new orders.

In response to the delays arising from the Calais disputes during the summer months a number of shippers switched cargo from landbridge Ro-Ro to CLdN and other services running into Benelux Ports. As the DFDS and other Cross-Channel services return to normal it is not clear if this switch will be maintained.

More consolidation and new services

S

hort sea Lo-Lo shipping lines and door to door freight operators ECS and Containerships are continuing to integrate their services.

Both lines focus very strongly on the use of 45ft. pallet-wide containers and the greatest benefits of the merging of activity lie in the establishment of a common equipment pool. In the case of Irish traffic, the ECS business has been based on imports from Northwest and Central Europe while the main Containerships focus has been on export traffic to the Baltic region. It is expected that the combined operation will involve a reduction in the empty positioning of containers for these services.

on behalf of a number of Deep Sea lines and is represented in Ireland by Johnston Stevens Agencies. Tschudi focuses on the Baltic and northern European regions with a network of shipping and door to door services.

Tschudi is represented in Ireland

by International Warehousing and Transport (I W T).

Container feeder specialist Unifeeder w i l l ta ke over t he busi ness of t he Nor we g i a n ba s e d Ts c hud i L i ne .

Unifeeder operates a comprehensive network of container feeder ser vices throughout western European waters

Suardiaz Lines plan to re-open the three times week ly Ro-Ro ser vice linking Nantes to Gijon in northern Spain. Suardiaz had been a partner of LD Lines in a similar ser vice that was closed in September 2014. The new ser vice will carr y freight vehicles only.

Greenore Port handles largest bulk vessel

F

ollowing the completion of extensive port development work by new owners, the Doyle Shipping Group, the Greenore Port has welcomed its largest steel cargo ever, the 39,000 tonne MV Smart Tina.

FLEETTRANSPORT | OCTOBER 15

Text: Howard Knott - howard@fleet.ie

TIP Trailer Services Operations Assistant Required (Based at our Dublin Branch) The ideal candidate will: • Have a customer/team centric mindset with a positive, professional and ‘can do’ attitude.

• Be able to establish, develop and nurture great business relationships.

• Understand customer requirements and respond promptly and efÀciently to exceed expectations.

• Budget management skills – can challenge costs and identify cost control opportunities • Have a minimum of 2 years relevant experience gained in an administrative role • Be computer literate with good knowledge of MS OfÀce applications • Possess sound communication skills, articulate, clear and concise both in written and verbal communications.

• Work as part of a team and have the initiative to work autonomously when necessary.

• Be able to prioritise and organize tasks efÀciently and effectively • Have an analytical mindset to determine relevance of information and identify critical data • Have a good telephone manner • Be resilient with the ability to work well under pressure

TIP Trailer Services employs staff at more than 70 locations and at more than 50 maintenance facilities throughout 16 European countries.

Are you focused on 100%

If you are interested in joining our team please email your CV and covering letter to:

satisÀed customers? If so,

Alan Rock, Branch Operations Manager at alan.rock@tipeurope.com or alternatively, post to Alan at the address below:

opportunity for

Competitive package / beneÀts offered for this position

TIP has a great you in our branch team.

TIP Trailer Services Ireland Ltd., Airport Business Park, Swords Road, Cloghran, Dublin, Ireland

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40 | LEGAL

WAKE UP! Fatigue is a Killer Any employer, whether of commercial drivers or not, has a duty to be aware of the fact that fatigue can lead to accidents in the workplace, and a competent risk assessment should have identified activities which could become dangerous if the employee involved is tired. Clearly driving is an activity that will become dangerous if the employee concerned is fatigued. Any employer whose business involves the employment of drivers must be able to show that steps have been taken to make employees aware of the risks resulting from fatigue because, in the event of a serious or fatal accident in which fatigue has been shown to be a factor, the prosecuting authority may well look to see if the employer created, or knew of, circumstances which may have contributed to the fatigue of the driver.

E

very driver, whether of a commercial vehicle or a private car, recognises the fact that it is dangerous to drive when tired. Th is is by no means a new message and is one which affects every country.

Awareness of the problem was recognised by the introduction of the ‘Drivers’ Hours’ legislation which was, and is, intended to ensure that drivers of commercial vehicles would not be fatigued whilst they were driving their vehicle. Private motorists are simply expected to be aware of their own fatigue levels, encouraged in Ireland by an explicit television advertising campaign promoted by the Road Safety Authority (RSA).

To put the problem into perspective, the RSA, on its website, records that fatigue is a contributing factor in 1 in 5 of driver deaths, and extends that observation by observing that where tiredness is a contributing factor in an accident a fatality is three times more likely to occur.

In the context of the motoring public, whether driving ‘professionally’ or not, the majority would no doubt claim to be well aware of the dangers that might arise from driving whilst tired. Problems arise because the decision as to what amounts to being tired is a subjective decision and, if being tired is perceived to be a weakness, many will not be prepared to make that admission. At the end of an evening the standard question is, “Are you sure you will be alright to drive?,” and how often is anyone heard to say, “No, you are right, I’ll just rest fi rst.”

In the fi nal analysis, of course, it is the driver who has the primary responsibility to ensure that he or she does not drive when tiredness is likely to make driving dangerous. The RSA is particularly concerned about the impact of tired drivers and recommends all drivers to recognise the fi rst signs of tiredness as they drive and to stop and park in a safe place, to drink two cups of strong coffee, and then to nap for not less than fi fteen minutes before continuing.

(Tests have shown that it takes some fi fteen minutes for the caffeine to work into the system and, for that reason, it makes sense to have a drink of coffee before the rest.)

Any employer whose business involves the employment of drivers, whether of commercial vehicles, delivery vehicles, or private cars should promote the advice given by the RSA displaying any posters that are available. All drivers should be told that they must not drive if they feel that it would be unsafe to continue.

For the transport manager of a haulage company the balance between safety, and potential abuse by the drivers, is not necessarily easy.

Drivers must be encouraged to feel able to refuse to drive if they feel that their ability to drive safely is affected by fatigue, on the other hand fatigue should not be accepted as an excuse to avoid an unwelcome job. Probably the employer should always ask for a detailed explanation of the circumstances in which the problem arose. In a company in which there is a traffic office, the staff must be trained to be aware of the dangers of overworking a driver.

Does anyone want to be responsible for another’s death?

Drivers of commercial vehicles, of course, have their hours of driving strictly limited by law but those ‘legal hours’ should never be seen as an assurance that a driver will not be fatigued. There are many factors that may contribute to an individual’s ability to continue without rest, and when drivers get together the ability to continue driving can become a matter of personal pride.

FLEETTRANSPORT | OCTOBER 15

Text: Jonathan Lawton - jonathan@fleet.ie

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42 | SOAPBOX

The RSA – Friend or Foe?

T

he Road Safety Authority (RSA) is developing a new corporate strategy to take it to 2020. Whilst this is in light of new responsibilities that it has taken on over the course of its previous strategy, its core function remains to save lives on our roads. In pursuing development of this strategy it has written to stakeholders seeking their views, including the Irish Road Haulage Association (IRHA).

That in itself is perhaps the most significant part of the development of a strategy, writing to seek stakeholder’s views. I don’t ever remember being consulted in the past, and consultation was obviously not a feature of Transport Minister Donohoe's recent policy document.

It would be very welcome if a new Strategic Statement made reference to a partnership approach, with more consultation before enactment on issues such as those well known to the RSA. It would not be unreasonable to say that much of the IRHA’s interaction with the RSA has been adversarial in nature and not without due cause in my view. At ground level for a haulier the relationship is most felt when a haulage business is visited

FLEETTRANSPORT | OCTOBER 15

by RSA personnel. With the best will in the world none of us welcome the visit of a “Cigire”. Going back to our schooldays, it is ingrained that the “Cigire” is there to fi nd fault and perhaps that is the most difficult part of the RSA’s remit other than when they stop one of our trucks at the side of the road. In my dealings with RSA personnel most are professional and some very pleasant, however some especially at ground level, could be seen as bullying and wielding power they have not had before?

Hauliers by nature are “self starters” working very flexible hours in all weathers and many deeply resent the right of others such as the RSA which they would see as not quite appreciating how hard the haulier has to work to earn a living. That said whilst we all work hard it is only in more recent years that the rules governing how we run our vehicles have started to be enforced. Enforcement in Ireland has always been elastic and those that took a liberal approach to driver’s hours and maintenance seemed always to get richer quicker than the law-abiding haulier. Many good names long forgotten and the Beet Haulier’s folded due to the activities of the “Cowboy Haulier”.

It would be nice to credit the demise of the “Cowboy Haulier”, of which many of the Own Account sector display the characteristics, to the arrival of the RSA, however there is a long way to go before that happy day. This is where I would fault the RSA, safe roadways are the sum of many parts yet it seems the RSA can/ will only speak out on certain issues. Are they afraid to offend other agencies of the state?

Unlicensed Own Account, heavily laden, high-powered agricultural tractors driven by boys on our motorways, unprecedented levels of Cabotage by out of State haulier’s of which many have very litt le respect for any of the laws governing safe use of trucks. That is not hearsay, read the reports of jail sentences of ten years and millions in fines being imposed by the British Courts on some of these out of State hauliers yet they run rampant on the roads of the Republic of Ireland.

The Licenced Haulage industry is one that benefits most from safer roads and it is in our interest that the RSA succeeds in its remit.

Despite reservations, I believe the Professional Licenced Haulier has far more reason to regard the RSA as a Friend rather than a Foe.

Text: Jerry Kiersey - jerry@fleet.ie

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Close Brothers Commercial Finance and Close Brothers Asset Finance are registered business names of Close Brothers Limited, a UK private limited company (and its Irish branch of the same name having registration number 907899) and subsidiary of Close Brothers Group plc. Close Brothers Limited, trading as Close Brothers Commercial Finance, Close Brothers Asset Finance, Close Brothers Motor Finance and Close Brothers Premium Finance Ireland, is authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and Prudential Regulation Authority in the United Kingdom and is regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland for conduct of business rules. Registered Address: 10 Crown Place, London, EC2A 4FT. Registered at Companies House, Number 00195626. Directors: M. Morgan (UK), P. Prebensen (UK), R. Golden (UK), A. Sainsbury (UK), S. Hodges (UK), S. Bishop (UK), F. Pennal (UK), M. Hook (UK) and J. Howell (UK). Close Brothers Commercial Finance is also a registered business name of Close Invoice Finance Limited, a UK private limited company (and its Irish branch of the same name having registered number 908024).

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