Bid for BR containers
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by Juliet Parish • Russell Davies has teamed up with competitor P&O Distribution to bid for British Rail's loss-making container arm Freightliner, a move that could result in more work for subcontracted owner-drivers.
The bid is one of about 20 currently under consideration for the domestic and deep-sea container operation. The BR Board will announce its decision by the end of the year.
The two container distribution specialists are talking to several other hauliers who are interested in forming a consortium. The new, as yet un-named, trading company will consider purchasing wagons and any of the 13 railfreight terminals Freightliner currently uses, if BR decides they are up for sale.
"We want to retain as much of the network as is financially viable," says Russell Davies operations dir ector Don Skill ing.
If Russell Davies is successful it could be looking for more owner-drivers to take on regional deliveries, he says. Owner-drivers currently handle around 15% of its container road deliveries.
Skilling will not give details of how the joint company would turn the lass-making operation into profit, but says it would look closely at potential business which is so far untapped.
Freightliner, part of BR's nonbulk arm Railfreight Distribution, carries more than 400,000 deep-sea containers a year, an activity worth £.60m and about 45,000 containers on its UK operations which contributes around £10.5m to turnover. It uses vehicles from RfD's fleet of 200 tractor units.
Railfreight Distribution blames the high infrastructure costs for Freightliner's losses, which it says account for a "very significant part" of Railfreight Distribution's £90m loss last year on a £172m turnover.
Railfreight will retain its automotive business and European intermodal work until the Channel Tunnel is fully operational.
And its UK Contract Services, which distributes trainloads of goods such as china clay and chemicals, will be transferred to British Rail's bulk arm Trainload Freight next April for privatisation.