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Twelve months in road transport
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From wrangling over the LRUC to the Burns Inquiry findings, Dominic Perry takes a look back at the highs and lows of 2005.
January CM started 2005 in a manner that would become all too familiar as the year progressed: reporting on a transport company that had gone into financial crisis. In this case, it was Guyhirn,Cambs-based Ken Thomas which had been forced to call in the accountants less than a year after its takeover by Worksop, Nottsbased Seafield Logistics (itself no stranger to financial troubles). Business turnaround specialist KSA was called in,a Creditors Voluntary Arrangement was put into place and the company pulled back from the brink.
There was also a furore as beleaguered crossChannel operator Eurotunnel announced a new pricing structure that effectively priced occasional users out of the market. Long-time users were left fuming and threatening a boycott. but Eurotunnel said it was necessary to turn around the ailing business. In the end an accident at Calais offered it the chink of daylight it needed.
The Freight Transport Association launched a review, conducted by accountancy firm PricewaterhouseCoopers, into the government's Lorry Road User Charging Project the start of six months of bitter wrangling.
February
Swedish truck manufacturer Volvo was in the dock in France as the trial over the catastrophic fire in the Mont Blanc Tunnel in 1999 finally got underway. Charged alongside Volvo were the operators of the tunnel, its safety chief and the Belgian driver of the truck in which the fire started. Prosecutors blamed the cause of the fire on an oil leak in a Volvo F12 -but Volvo was cleared of any offence.
Also in court this month were the men behind North-East operator William Martin Oliver, but the outcome was very different: Stuart Oliver and William Oliver were both jailed for falsifying tacho records.
Another month, another financial crisis: this time at trailer firm Crane Fruehauf.The Dereham, Norfolk-based company plunged into administration with the loss of 345 jobs, blaming the ultra-competitive trailer market. Its tipping division was subsequently rescued by Wordsworth Holdings.
CM carried out an investigation into the M6 toll road in the West Midlands and found that its popularity with haulage operators was about the same as the government's. Our study showed that on average just 79 trucks per hour were using the road hardly massive volumes of traffic. Despite this,MEL continued its policy of not releasing its own figures, claiming they would be -commercially sensitive".
March
Autocare, the new owners of troubled car transport specialist Richard Lawson Auto Logi sties, promised the business would go from strength to strength under its new management. However, the 200-truck haulier hit the rocks again later in the year.
Another issue to raise its head for the first time of many was the launch of digital tachographs. The planned introduction in August 2005. was unexpectedly postponed until November at the earliest because of "procedural difficulties" in the European Parliament. This one ran and ran there's still confusion about the actual introduction date.
Palletline also made an embarrassing blunder after unintentionally saying one of its rivals was in financial difficulties. Court action could still follow.
Speaking of which, ferry operators Sea France and P&O were both priming their lawyers and pointing them in the direction of the Port of Calais following months of berthing problems there.
And on the LRUC front, the Transport Select Committee attacked the government's plans, calling them -potentially very expensive and over-sophisticated". %pril
[be annual shiny truck festival that is the CV ;how went off with its usual fanfare. New trucks rom MAN and Renault debuted along with he brand new LDV Maxus on which the 3irmingham firm's future undoubtedly rests. Retailers estimated they could save around :3.3m a year if delivery curfews to their stores vere relaxed, according to a survey from the Iritish Retail Consortium. Delivery curfews vere already under review, with one operator an FTA case study claiming it could remove 5 trucks from the road if curfews were relaxed 1y just two hours at 70 of its stores.
Car maker MG Rover disappeared in a puff .f exhaust smoke,leaving hauliers out of pocket. 'articularly hard hit was Worcestershire firm 'aylors of Martley — left L200,000 short by the ollapse — and our old friends Autologic.
There were rumblings of discontent among perators as the cost of fuel went up and the Vorking Time Directive came into force. A .tries of scattered protests took place, setting le tone for demonstrations later in the year.
Nay trange times in the Republic of Ireland as )rmer Transport Minister Jim McDaid was rrested for drink-driving.The interesting thing .om our point of view was a truck driver's role apprehending him. Patrick Walsh blocked le road in front of McDaid's car after he had itnessed the tipsy former minister driving the Tong way down a dual carriageway. Speaking fter the event, Walsh said he thought the car river looked familiar.
There was a storm in a teacup in the Eastern raffle Area after haulage giant Eddie Stobart as stripped of its 290-vehicle licence and told must apply for anew one after administrative competence left it unable to prove its finances the existence of a transport manager.
me
etter known for taking on the might of retail ant Tesco, Wild Logistics managed to lose any Tnpathy it had gained by making its drivers :dundant after it ran into financial difficulties id left them owed months of unpaid wages. Supermarket firm Morrisons had a difficult Timer when the first of a number of industrial sputes flared up. This one centred on drivers its Bellshill, Lanarkshire depot run by Chrism Salvesen; they were angered by plans for .ekend working. This dispute and the ones at followed were sparked by the supermara's acquisition of Safeway and its attempt to tegrate the two supply chains. Operators heading into London heard the first inklings of plans for a Low Emission Zone spanning the entire area within the M25.Trucks were being targeted, the FTA suggested, because they were an easy revenue earner.
The death knell sounded for Foden as parent company Paccar announced it was considering "retiring" the classic marque.
July
Top of the news agenda was the shock announcement from Transport Secretary Alistair Darling that the government was to scrap its plans for the LRUC. He confirmed studies had shown the project was feasible but reported that instead of pressing ahead with the procurement process the government would be putting this experience towards a wider charging scheme in 10 or 15 years' time.
No reason was ever given for the policy switch and the industry reacted with fury at what it saw as double-dealing.
Particularly hard hit were the two trade associations which had been led along by the government and had given the project tacit approval in return for what they thought it would deliver. The FTA had previously suppressed publication of its own internal report on the LRUC, fearing that its damning conclusions would give the government the excuse it needed to can it.
The project's cancellation prompted the associations to rethink their strategy...
August ... which led to them setting up the Burns Freight Taxes Inquiry. This was envisaged as a wide-ranging fact-finding mission to uncover figures which would highlight the plight of the industry to the government and get the word across that road haulage is a special case which deserves special treatment. Chairman Robbie Burns also promised that the inquiry would assess the industry's appetite for a fight.
Morrisons, DHL, Salvesen and car-delivery firm Ansa Logistics were all left with industrial woes as a summer of discontent smouldered away. Ansa in particular was hit by a bitter strike after it announced redundancies among its 370-strong workforce.
September This month brought with it widespread threats of fuel protests (again) which largely failed to live up to the hype (again). The odd protest convoy and handfuls of protestors at oil refineries (only one turned up at Grangemouth) left the government anything hut quaking in its boots. The reasons for the lack of widespread action were many; they doubtless included the usual apathy, fears of police heavy-handedness and threats of VOS A involvement. But for whatever reason, the protests were ultimately a damp squib.
However, following sustained pressure north of the border, hauliers in Scotland won a promise from the Scottish Parliament that it would launch an investigation into the future of the haulage industry in the country Exel had a good month as it entered into talks with German postal giant Deutsche Post with a view to a possible takeover. It would make DP the biggest logistics firm in the world.American rival UPS began to watch with interest...
October Food distribution firm 3663 was left with egg on its face after CM revealed that staff at its Banbury depot had been accidentally overpaid for months. The mistake came as part of a new pay rate caused by the introduction of the Working Time Directive. However, the GM B union praised the company for its fair handling of the situation as it tried to sort out the mess, Meanwhile, Eddie Stobart had a good month. As well as reporting a turnaround in its fortunes and a £1.8m pre-tax profit, it signed a deal with Tesco to run the transport operation from the retailer's Crick depot.
November
The High Court ding-dong between MAN and DaimlerChrysler subsidiary Freightliner reached a climax with the court ruling in favour of the German firm (no, the other one). In fact, Freightliner could be forced to pay as much as £300m to MAN after the court ruled it was liable for fraud committed by ERF's former financial director.This occurred when ERF was still owned by Canadian truck builder Western Star, which was later bought by Freightliner then sold to MAN.
Robbie Burns also published his eagerly anticipated report into the industry. It told us nothing we didn't know already, but did highlight the difficult situation the UK's transport industry is currently in. The report was presented to the government in the hope of extracting tax breaks...
December
...Which it did. Well, sort of. In his pre-Budget report, Chancellor Gordon Brown promised the road haulage industry that he would set up a new working party to examine its plight and the effects of foreign competition.
He also froze fuel duty and promised to introduce 20 new weigh-in-motion sensors near the UK's ports in the hope of clamping down on rule-breaking foreigners.
The problems of parking in London could finally be nearing some sort of resolution with the news that a new Code of Practice is to be launched in the new year.
And the year closed with a final kick in the teeth for the industry from the government as it refused trials for extra-long 25.25m trucks.
Still, there's always 2006. •