2 Sisters Food Group Invests £45m in Supply Chain
2 Sisters Food Group has announced plans to invest £45m to make its Scunthorpe facility more efficient. Improving efficiencies The chicken processing plant opened in 1988 and was strategically located in the midst of farms, feed mills and hatcheries to cut down on transport. The 74,000 sq m site will now be upgraded to improve […]
Can Drones Be Taken Seriously in the Supply Chain?
Before drones can be commercialised, we will need concrete legislation that outlines parameters of how they can be used. Drones have the potential to revolutionise supply chain and logistics, a notion not lost on retail behemoths Amazon and Walmart, which have been trialing warehouse and home delivery projects for well over a year. More recently […]
Work Set to Begin On New Rail Interchange
The project will include an onside rail freight terminal suitable for 750m freight trains and it will have direct connection into the National Freight Network and will be a three to three and a half year programme in various phases. Work is due to start in the autumn on the massive East Midlands Gateway project […]
FL Technics Signs Deal with Express Air Cargo
FL Technics, a global aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul services provider, has signed a new deal with Express Air Cargo to provide redelivery checks on two of the carrier’s 737-300s. Both aircraft have already arrived in the FL Technics maintenance centre in Vilnius, Lithuania. At the moment they are subjected to a variety of inspections, […]
IAG Cargo Transports Equipment for The Who
IAG Cargo has recently moved equipment for The Who during their North American tour. It was responsible for transporting key equipment for 65 of the band’s performances – carrying in total 36 tonnes for the tour. “Organising a national tour is no mean feat,” said Roy Lamb, production manager for The Who. “A vast amount […]
Port Salford Sails Ahead With Logistics HQ Plans
Port Salford, the emerging freight terminal currently under construction on the banks of the Manchester Ship Canal, is set to secure another occupier after plans were lodged for a global logistics group to build a new regional headquarters at the Peel-owned site. Peel has submitted a full planning application to Salford City Council to build a […]
Shipping Needs to be Ready for EU Emissions Rules
Shipping companies must be prepared to begin monitoring and reporting vessel greenhouse gas emissions for ships of more than 500gt loading or unloading at European ports. Owners will need plans for monitoring, and will need to submit verified emissions reports to the European Union for the whole voyage. This is part of the EU’s monitoring, […]
Shipping Giant Maersk to Cut 400 Fleet Jobs
Hundreds of British maritime jobs could be at risk as part of plans by shipping giant Maersk to cut costs in the face of sluggish global demand. Maersk Supply Service, the shipping giant’s division servicing the oil and gas sector, announced on Thursday it would cut 20 vessels from its fleet of 56 over the […]
IAG Cargo Adds New Services Through DHL Partnership
IAG Cargo has announced it will begin offering two new European freighter services through its shared capacity agreement with DHL. One of the services will fly between Madrid and Amsterdam and the other will add a stop in Paris CDG to an existing London Luton-Frankfurt flight that IAG offers through its DHL partnership. The British […]
Gov to Get Tough on Tax Avoidance Supply Chain
The government has confirmed today it will seek to clamp down on accountants, tax planners and advisers who help their clients to bend the rules and avoid tax. It has outlined its plans in a new consultation document issued by Revenue & Customs, which states that enablers of tax avoidance could be fined up to […]
FedEx Sorting Facility Opened at Perth Airport
FedEx Express has opened a new state-of-the-art parcel and freight sorting facility at Perth Airport in western Australia. Located near the airport’s cargo terminal, the new site will provide the carrier with improved highway entry points, helping to increase the rate at which freight is retrieved and distributed. The Perth Airport hub now covers an […]
American Airlines has Record Day from London Heathrow
American Airlines Cargo shipped more than 575,000 pounds (260,000 kilograms) of freight and mail from London Heathrow (LHR) in a single day, setting a new daily record for the station. The previous busiest day for the London Cargo team was in October 2015 when they shipped 565,857 pounds (256,668 kilograms) from the facility. This was […]
Telematics Tech on the Rise Among UK Business Fleets
The number of businesses using telematics in their fleet vehicles has almost doubled over the last year. That’s according to a report by the RAC, that found that around two thirds of businesses (65%) are now using telematics in company vehicles, compared to just 38% last year. All sectors of the fleet market have seen […]
DHL Locks Up Security Contract For 4 Years
DHL’s Global Forwarding air and ocean freight arm has renewed its contract with security hardware specialist Southco for four more years. DHL Global Forwarding has provided Southco with logistics services for the Americas, Europe and Asia Pacific since 2009, providing air, ocean, domestic and customs brokerage services on various trade lanes, on an exclusive basis. […]
E-Commerce Drives Growth in Logistics Industry Jobs
Delivery and logistics companies created thousands of jobs this year to deal with the ongoing growth in the e-commerce market, according to The Wall Street Journal. In a world where consumers want their orders faster and faster, and more people are ordering online rather than shopping on the high street, the logistics industry has been […]
BIFA Backs call for End to Shipping Line Surcharges
BIFA, The British International Freight Association, is backing the recent call by shippers for an end to surcharges imposed by shipping lines. The trade association for UK freight forwarding and logistics companies welcomes the resolution passed by the Global Shippers’ Forum. BIFA Director General, Robert Keen said in a statement on the association’s website “Forwarders […]
Low Emission Bus Scheme Awards £30million Grant
A delayed announcement of a £30million award from the low Emission Bus Scheme for clean bus technology has been made by Transport Minister Andrew Jones. This confirmed support for a total of 13 bids for 326 new buses, and the infrastructure to support them. The announcement was intended to be made in January, but was […]
New SABRE Rocket Engine Could Revolutionise Air Travel
UK Engineers at Reaction Engines Ltd are busy developing a revolutionary rocket engine, which may one day allow passengers to jet from London to Sydney in just four hours. The science-fiction-like engine, named SABRE, uses advanced heat-exchange technology, and could potentially one day power commercial aircraft to up to 5 times the speed of sound. […]
Driver Retention Remains Key Issue for Transport Firms
A new survey of SMEs by Close Brothers Business Barometer has found that driver retention is the biggest challenge facing transport operators today. They found that businesses have experienced a 20% driver turnover on average in the last year. 15% said that this turnover was due to a desire for a better work-life balance for […]
Amazon Unveil First Branded Cargo Aircraft
Amazon have unveiled their first ever branded cargo airplane at the 2016 Seafair Air Show in Seattle. The Boeing 767-300, which will be operated by Amazon’s air cargo providers Atlas Air, is the first of 40 similar cargo aircraft leased by Amazon. It has been named Amazon One. “Creating an air transport network is expanding […]
Government Spends 6 Times Per Person in London
New analysis has revealed that the Department for Transport will be spending £1869 per person in London over the next four years of Conservative government – compared to just £280 per person in the North of England. In particular, the new Crossrail ‘Elizabeth’ tube line will cost around £4.6 billion in the next 4 years, […]
120 New Trucks for NHS Supply Chain
120 DAF Trucks have been delivered to NHS Supply Chain as part of a programme to replace their entire fleet. The new vehicles include 49 LF 14-tonne rigids, 50 CF 18-tonners, 16 CF 400 drawbar units, and five CF 460 FTG six by two tractors. They are also taking delivery of 19 new Gray and […]
Real Opportunities for a Truly Inclusive Supply Chain
Ahead of their global conference on supplier inclusivity and diversity, Procurement Leaders invites MSDUK founder Mayank Shah shares lessons from 10 years of helping businesses make supply chains more inclusive. An inclusive approach to sourcing brings innovation, positive disruptive new products and services, can mitigate risks within your supply chain, drives competitive advantage and removes […]
Priority Freight Adds New German Airfreight Department
Priority Freight has set up a new, dedicated emergency airfreight department at its office in Willich, Germany in order to enhance operations in central Europe. The department is located less than 25km from Düsseldorf International Airport and will offer the time critical logistics firm’s latest IT system. Priority Freight group managing director Neal Williams said: […]
International Profits Boost for UPS
Operating profit rose 11 per cent at UPS’s International Package business in the second quarter, but this was partially offset by a slip in profits at the Supply Chain and Freight business. Supply Chain and Freight revenue increased by more than 13 per cent, to $2.5 billion, mainly due to the acquisition of Coyote Logistics […]
Shipping Wakes Up to the New Digital Age
Big data will become the ‘oil of 21st century’ for the maritime industry. This emphasises the widening spread of data flows from ships to shore, brought about by the new era of shipping digitisation. The Internet of Things is expected to change the way shipping companies operate, if data can be accurately processed. Once considered […]
Mercedes Unveils New 26 Tonne Electric Truck
Mercedes have unveiled their Urban eTruck, which they claim is a first for vehicles of this weight. It has a range of 200km (125 miles), and a load capacity comparable with that of diesel. The design is based on a heavy-duty, three-axle, short-radius Mercedes-Benz distribution truck. The key to the success of the electric truck […]
Current Attempts are Insufficient to Tackle Driver Shortage
A new report by the Transport Committee has said that current efforts to resolve driver shortages will not be enough to prevent the “looming skills crisis”. According to the report, “years on underinvestment” by the industry around road transport have lead to a shortage of around 45,000 drivers. The currently workforce in the industry – […]
DHL to Invest in US Cross-Border E-Commerce Market
Deutsche Post DHL Group has announced its plans to invest US$137m over the next four years in developing its presence in the US domestic and cross-border e-commerce market. The planned expenditure will be used for constructing eight new distribution centers, as well as enhancing two existing facilities in Los Angeles, California, and Columbus, Ohio, which […]
Prime Minister to Prioritise Logistics Post-Brexit
FTA boss David Wells has urged new PM Theresa May to prioritise the Logistics industry as the UK discusses the terms of Brexit with the EU, asking that she ensures that goods can move freely between the UK and the rest of the world. In a letter Wells penned to Ms May, Wells argued that […]
HS3 Trains Should Stop in Bradford & York
HS3 is the latest high-speed train route set to shave around 20 minutes off the trans-Pennine journey from Manchester to Leeds. West Yorkshire Combined Authority have issued a report which calls for additional stops to be included in the plans, including one in Bradford city centre. The proposal has been welcomed by the city’s business […]
London City Airport Given Green Light for £344m Expansion
Ministers have granted permission for London City Airport to undertake a £344m expansion, including an extended terminal, more space for planes to taxi to and from the runway, and new aircraft stands to allow bigger and more modern airplanes to use the airport. The airport currently serves around 4 million passengers a year, but it […]
Order Placed for Largest Ever LNG-Fuelled Bulk Carrier
Hyundai Mipo Dockyard (HMD) has signed a contract to build a 50 000 DWT bulk carrier with ILSHIN Logistics. This will be the largest bulk carrier ever ordered to use LNG as fuel. The project is a collaboration between steelmaker POSCO and ILSHIN Logistics to develop a new generation of ships for greener shipping. The […]
The Co-op Renews its Logistics Contract with Wincanton
Wincanton, the supply chain solutions business, will continue to service a number of the Co-op’s distribution centres after it signed a deal to extend its relationship with the retailer for a further five years. The deal will see up to 1,000 Co-op stores serviced by Wincanton, equating to somewhere in the region of 130,000 journeys […]
Freight Declines Drive Drop in Norfolk Southern Profit
Norfolk Southern Corp (NSC), the No. 4 U.S. railroad, on Wednesday reported a lower quarterly net profit due to a 7 percent drop in freight volumes, but the results just exceeded market expectations because of cost cutting and efficiency measures. The decline in freight at the Norfolk, Virginia-based company was led by a precipitous 25 […]
Streamlining Logistics in a Post-Brexit Britain
The UK’s decision to leave the EU has triggered a sense of uncertainty across the business spectrum, not least in the procurement and supply chain sectors. With the possibility of a Brexit now realised, the impetus on procurement leaders to drive internal efficiencies and streamline the cost base is now higher than ever. Despite the […]