MAKING A CRUISE-SHIP DELIVERY
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Although telematics are now playing an important part in how PLM manages driver and vehicle performance, the company is still dependent on the input of its drivers and their interactions with customers. Our photographs show PLM driver Brian Scrivin making a delivery to one of the newest luxury cruise ships -the 32,200 tonne Seaboum Odyssey, whose four Wartsila V12, 5,760Kw (7,830hp) engines, each weighing 100 tonnes, dwarf the Volvo's humble 13 litres.
We caught up with Scrivin, whose son, Peter, is a director of PLM, at Piraeus, Greece, on a day of unseasonably torrential rain.
It is unlikely that any of the passengers on board will have noticed the Volvo artic parked by the discreet and unmarked door to the ship's stores.
The journey from the Harding Brothers depot in Avonmouth had taken almost five days and a round trip of 3,500 miles. The palletised load had been shrink-wrapped in black plastic by Harding Brothers, and Scrivin manoeuvred the pallets to the back of the box-van trailer using a pallet truck. Although the contents of the load were listed on the invoice, it was not possible to see anything because of the wrapping.
We do know, however, that it contained the widest range of goods, from boxes of Mars bars to 'suspended duty' goods such as fragrances. Scrivin works hard to ensure the load is handled carefully by the dock's lift-truck drivers in the pouring rain. A member of the ship's purser's staff opens the unmarked door in the side of the hull to allow access to the stores, and Harding Brothers' agent Maria is also on hand to check the paperwork for customs. Once the delivery is complete, Scrivin gets underway through the Athens gridlock en route to pick up a load of fresh fruit in Italy to backload to the UK.