Sharp ■ Informed ■ Challenging
18.10.21
NEWS INSIDE Not your scapegoat
PM plays skills blame game p3
Voice of experience
TPN names new ops director p4
DHL’s big ambition
3PL to train up 1,000 drivers p8
OPERATORS INSIDE Abbey Logistics............................................. p3 Bartrum Group .............................................p10 Booker Retail Partners .................................. p4 Connect Plus Services..................................p30 DHL Supply Chain.......................................... p8 Downes Transport ......................................... p4 Europa Worldwide......................................... p6 Great Bear Distribution.................................. p8 Hermes......................................................... p6 Hoyer Logistics.............................................. p3 Suckling Transport ........................................ p3 TPN .............................................................. p4 Walker Logistics........................................... p8 Wren Kitchens .............................................p28 Yodel............................................................. p3
EV DEAL: Volvo Trucks has received an order for 100 Volvo FM Electric trucks from shipping and logistics giant DFDS. The deal is said to be the largest to date for Volvo electric trucks, and one of the largest ever for heavy electric trucks worldwide. First deliveries to DFDS will start in the fourth quarter of 2022 and continue throughout 2023. The trucks will be used for short- and long-haul transport in Europe, although Volvo declined to say how many would be coming to the UK. The FM Electric can haul 44 tonnes and has a range of up to 300km. The first vehicle was handed over to DFDS by Volvo Trucks president Roger Alm (pictured above right with DFDS executive vice-president and head of logistics division Niklas Andersson) in August.
Pallet networks call for two-year break from Driver CPC requirements to reverse driver exodus
APN: suspend the Driver CPC By Chris Tindall
Pallet networks want to see the Driver CPC suspended for two years with a promise it will be reformed or abolished, in order to attract back a “mass exodus” of professional drivers. The Association of Pallet Networks (APN) also said allowing standard driving licence-holders to drive 7.5-tonne vehicles once again would help haulage operators recruit young candidates. APN chairman Paul Sanders said he “absolutely” agreed with Pallet-Track’s chief executive Caroline Green that a moratorium on the Driver CPC was a quick way of getting lapsed drivers back into the industry. Green told MT last month that it was already too late to save peak Christmas trading, but that suspending the Driver CPC could solve driver shortage problems in time for Easter 2022. “When we speak to experienced drivers that have gone through
some of the training for the CPC, they say the quality has been inconsistent,” Sanders said. “They really don’t think it’s been adding value to the cost and the time to have to do it. That has driven drivers to move away from the industry. There was a mass exodus when it first came into play. “A temporary holiday would definitely be an advantage. It would have to be a couple of years and an agreement that it’s reformed
or abolished,” he continued. Sanders added that putting the 7.5-tonne vehicle driving entitlement back onto car licences was also a good way of getting young people back into the industry. “For decades we saw it was an excellent training ground for young drivers,” he said. “7.5-tonnes is not a van, it’s a truck. “They learned the job and then operators invested in them and put them through further licences.
It was proven to be successful.” The government’s response to the driver crisis – introducing a temporary visa scheme – has been widely criticised by the industry; Sanders described it as “too little, too late” and Harinder Singh, MD of BJS Distribution Storage and Courier, called it a token gesture. “No one is going to come here for three months,” Singh said. “Immigration, movement of people – it only happens if people can improve their financial situation. “You are not going to leave your family unless it will make you all better off. “All we’re doing is costing the haulage family a bigger problem – you’ll end up having to pay a lot more money for the drivers temporarily. The long-term solution has to be immigration from countries struggling financially – not Europe, unless we are giving them longterm visas.” ■ For more industry reaction, see our Vox Pop on page 6.
News extra p12 Tip-Ex/Tank-Ex p14 Freight in the City p16 Viewpoint p20 Skills shortages p22 Hydrogen p26 MT Awards winners p28-35
