Gray & Adams Attends ITT Hub 2023

Fleet Engineer 2023 Sponsored by Gray & Adams

The Gray & Adams name is synonymous with innovation so we were delighted to be a gold sponsor for the 2023 Fleet Engineer conference at the British Motor Museum.

The focus of the Fleet Engineer conference this year was on the developments in brakes, steering and suspension; addressing the fundamentals of today’s issues; looking at current and future developments (aligned to ADAS and autonomy); and exploring what these enhancements will mean to the maintenance regime for operators.

Phil Lloyd, Logistics UK’s Head of Engineering Policy, chairman of the conference comments,

“Keeping up to date with the developments of moder n vehicle technology is becoming increasingly challenging for commercial vehicle engineers – and there is more to come as technology continues to advance at a rapid rate. Logistics UK’s Fleet Engineer event is designed to provide operators and their maintenance providers with all the information they need to keep modern fleets compliant, as well as sharing insight into the future of vehicle design and autonomous driving. The event is a must-attend for anyone with responsibility for specifying commercial vehicles, ensuring roadworthiness, compliance and/or maintaining vehicles”.

For the second year running, Gray & Adams exhibited at ITT Hub at the Farnborough International Conference Centre in May. With the industry having had a long break from trade shows during the Covid-19 pandemic, it has been beneficial to reach out to industry contacts and meet familiar and new faces in person.

Gray & Adams place huge strategic importance on building strong personal relationships with customers, suppliers, and other industry stakeholders, so to be invited to exhibit at the Cold Chain Hub, hosted by TCS&D was a valued experience.

To discuss the event, we caught up with Andrew Brown, who was on stand to represent our business throughout the show. He shares,

“When reflecting on the show after our 2022 attendance, we discussed that strategically, the ITT Hub show was an important event for Gray & Adams due to the shared ethos of innovation and sustainability playing a significant role on how the industry will continue to move forward. After the 2023 show, we believe that this will continue to be the case due to attendees we had the opportunity to speak with”.

He tells us,

“The visitors to the Gray & Adams stand were key players within our customer base as well as industry stakeholders so we were delighted to catch up with them and show some of the innovations within our product range. On stand this year we were delighted to have our Gray & Adams branded double deck demonstrator with lifting floor and our latest rigid body that we have developed for our valued customer, Castell Howell Foods”

“As with last year, the road to net-zero was a topic of conversation at the event. Gray & Adams, as an industry leader is fully invested in making our industry more sustainable and we are actively looking to partner with suppliers and customers with a similar mindset to move forward on this journey. Our team is vocal on the fact that despite innovation from the industry, there has been some blockers to implementing electric vehicles fully into the cold chain sector. The feasibility of implementation is something that we are actively lobbying to change on behalf our customers, and the World. ITT Hub provides a platform for us to discuss and hear other perspectives on where businesses are in this journey and what is preventing full adoption of sustainable fuel sources.”

The one-day conference included expert insight from manufacturers, industry leaders and government, and included sessions by Traffic Commissioner Kevin Rooney, the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) and the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).

There were sessions on:

- Vehicle safety in an autonomous world

- Maintenance – a traffic commissioner’s view

- Developments in brakes, steering and suspension aligned to ADAS and autonomy

- The art of braking

- Maintaining in-service standards

- Maintaining traction

- Who’s accountable when it all goes wrong?

- Maintaining compliance – DVSA view

Ian Smith IEng, FSOE, FIRTE, FIMI, AAE, Group Engineering Manager at Gray & Adams said of the event,

“Gray and Adams welcomed the opportunity to support the Logistics UK Fleet Engineer Conference as it also provides an opportunity for us to remain aligned with and understand the real-time issues faced by our customers in road transport operations. Whilst G&A are at the forefront of including modern vehicle technology and processes in our designs and applications, it is also important to be able to keep abreast of upcoming legislative changes and concerns that may affect our products.”