1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136 
UK haulage 'is badly run'
Page 22
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
• Britain's roads are being clogged by half-empty lorries, running from badly sited warehouses with poorly planned loads and delivery schedules, says Brian Templar, managing director of Federal Express Systemline.
And he warns that the post1992 Single European Market could make matters even worse, with British roads grinding to a halt.
"Commercial road traffic could be reduced dramatically if companies applied management and technological resources to run their distribution operations more efficiently," says Templar. "Constructing more roads will not solve the problem unless industry recognises that the business of movement and supply needs specific management skills and advanced computer based systems." Howev er, he claims that most companies do not have the inhouse expertise or systems to run their supply chains efficiently and cost effectively. "Warehouses and depots are often badly designed and wrongly sited and run by inadequate management systems," he alleges.
"Vehicles may be wrongly specified for the job, while poor loading, routeing and delivery schedules mean they cover far more miles than necessary.
"inefficient logistics affect everyone," Templar concludes, "with congested roads, inferior service, higher costs, increased pollution and environmental damage."