Month: May 2020

Tilbury2’s new unaccompanied* freight ferry terminal opened for business this week at a vital time for the UK’s freight industry. The 500,000-unit freight-only facility will inject state-of-the-art capacity into the country’s ports sector by utilising a truck driver-free operation* at a time when infection control is uppermost in everyone’s minds.

 [*Unaccompanied freight transported into the UK without truck drivers]

After a year of construction, the country’s newest and largest unaccompanied freight roll on/roll off (ro-ro) terminal, located at the edge of London, will operate in exclusive partnership with P&O Ferries. The first ship to use the fully operational terminal was P&O’s chartered freight ferry the Norstream.

The bespoke terminal will import and export containers and trailers with vital supplies for the UK, including food, drink and medicines to and from continental Europe on P&O’s busy Tilbury-Zeebrugge freight route.

The new ro-ro terminal is part of a £250 million investment by owner, Forth Ports, which is creating a brand-new port, Tilbury2. The terminal is trusted trader Authorised Economic Operator (AEO) accredited and embraces the latest booking and border technology, such as number plate recognition, which ensures that the terminal is Brexit-ready to continue the smooth passage of goods, regardless of the eventual EU-UK settlement. The marine works for the new ro-ro terminal were completed in April and successful ship trials were carried out on 17 May.

Paul Dale, Asset & Site Director at the Port of Tilbury, said: “The switch to a river berth provides significant growth opportunities. P&O can bring in larger vessels, deliver faster vessel turnaround times and – most importantly – get containers and trailers onto an inland barge or the motorway network in under an hour. While this enhanced offering will support further growth through the Zeebrugge route and the possibility to expand into other northern European locations, it also provides a critical low carbon delivery alternative through our new rail connection.”

Employee-owned company Kite Packaging has expanded its pallet and load stability range, providing users with a wide range of solutions for their operations. Load stability is vital to ensure the safety of loads not only whilst being transported on public roads, but also whilst being moved/stored.

Kite Packaging supply a huge range of packaging products to support companies with load stability and have recently extended their range to include pallet boxes, pallet bands and PPE strapping kits, each offering a range of benefits.

Pallet boxes
Kite’s pallet box without a pallet is the ideal solution for customers who already have pallets and just require the tray, cap and sleeve pallet box. The benefits of this large pallet box is that it can either be used purely as a large box for storage, can be placed on top of an existing pallet, or used with Kite’s individual corrugated pallet runners which can be attached to the bottom, therefore making it a pallet. So, if customers need something more versatile then this is the ideal solution.

Sanstrap pallet bands (above)
Produced from 100% recyclable 40-micron Polyethylene (PE) film and 100% recyclable, Kite’s offering of Sanstrap pallet bands, a recognised name in the industry, provide great stability, keeping products secure whilst in transit or storage. Once in place these polythene Sanstrap bands quickly grip, holding everything firmly on a pallet. They arrive perforated on a roll in an easy to use portable dispenser box, simply tear off and fit around the load, ensuring one band per layer.

Polypropylene strapping kits
Kite’s strapping kits are suitable for a wide range of uses and are available in polypropylene, corded, polyester and steel strapping. Recently expanded, Kite’s polypropylene strapping kit range now includes a strapping kit with a combination tool that performs both the tensioning & sealing. It’s vital to have the correct tools for securing products, particularly for handling and transportation.

Geodis has transported 13 million masks from China to the U.S. via an Antonov AN-124, the world’s second largest aircraft. This shipment of personal protective equipment (PPE) arrived at Hartsfield – Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL) at 4 p.m. last Friday (22nd May) and is the largest delivered to the airport during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“With the help of an Antonov AN-124, Geodis has been able to make sure millions of essential workers receive the masks they need to stay safe and healthy during these unprecedented times,” said Geodis Americas President & CEO Randy Tucker. “Our team and our partners, including the Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport, that helped make this happen so quickly are supply-chain heroes. We are proud to serve on the front line in partnership with our clients to keep essential materials moving across the globe and business running at a time when the world needs us most.”

Experienced in this critical element of the global supply chain response to COVID-19, Geodis established an air bridge between China and France to transport PPE for the French Government as early as March. Involving multiple flights over the subsequent weeks, and employing two Antonov AN-124s, the consignments will consist of several hundred million masks.

Since the beginning of the current global crisis and up to now, Camso has been able to maintain its operations and has adjusted its Solideal On-Site processes to ensure an efficient and smooth tyre installation service through contactless on-site procedures for forklift tyre replacement.

With the new measures put into place, no personal contact is required for clients who need to have their forklift tyres replaced: orders are processed online or by phone, which initiates an On-Site Service scheduled at a moment when forklifts can be isolated. With no exception, SOS technicians perform the complete tyre service without contact with clients and make sure to sanitize the machines before and after their manipulations. No further on-site support is required from the client.

For clients who wish to install tyres themselves, Solideal-on-site service also made available a second option: the Assembly Delivery Service. In this case, the tyres are delivered already mounted on an exchange wheel at the customer’s location. Customers return their old assemblies and SOS technicians take care of the disassembly of the old tyre from the wheel and its disposal. In all cases the digital order processing allows a contactless and efficient service.

Making safety a priority for staff, customers and communities

Since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, Camso has been focusing its efforts on one priority: to ensure the health and safety of its employees, customers and the communities of which they are all a part. And the tyre manufacturer is proud to be supplying and servicing some of the most essential services across various industries, such as port operations, logistics, pharmaceuticals, health services, food industry, security forces, and power companies, among others. “We understand the essential nature of our customers’ activities and are committed to the success of the Material Handling industry. Servicing and supplying these sectors is key to ensure continuity of their operations and contribute to the global effort against the pandemic,” explains Torsten Müller, Service Line Executive Director at Camso.

In order to keep supporting its clients, Camso has adjusted its business processes and implemented new standards for social distancing, in addition to start relaunching production in its various plants. “Our objective is to contribute to the industry’s financial recovery as efficiently as possible without ever putting economic activity over the health and safety of the people,” concludes Müller.

What began as a simple pilot project for digital freight startup Ontruck has helped overcome the ongoing transportation challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic, says the company. A new service in full, national distribution, the first of its kind for the UK market, enables shippers to book national full truck loads for long-haul while also providing access to instant real-time quotes and driver availability.

This new offering links together core routes for distribution, connecting operations from Greater London to the North West, Manchester, and Yorkshire to provide shippers with a full end-to-end transport solution.

While adding a national product to its current regional activities was a logical next step for Ontruck, the company never imagined the significance this new offering would have for the industry. As the service launched in March, volatile market demand from the pandemic sparked a new need for the flexibility and full 360° service offered by this new national distribution.

“We always planned to roll out a resilient product for shipments of all urgency, but we never could have foreseen an extremity of this scale,” explains Samuel McGuirk, UK Country Manager. “Overnight, shippers had to rethink their business models and fortunately, our national service came as a timely solution to help them move goods such as food, beverage, and PPE throughout the country in an efficient way that guarantees security and predictability.”

With this national service, Ontruck can quickly distribute demand for long haul transport across the UK. For truck drivers and transport firms whose sectors may have stopped amid the outbreak, this service can also provide new revenue opportunities to deliver goods in more active sectors. Already, the database of carriers joining the platform has increased by 20% as new drivers continue to sign up. Ontruck’s client base has also now grown to include PepsiCo, Decathlon and Amazon to name a few.

As confinement enters into phases of gradual de-escalation, the pandemic raises new challenges for businesses. However, these challenges will also present an opportunity for innovation. “This has served as a catalyst for businesses to rethink current transport models and traditional approaches to logistics,” explains McGuirk. “Once trade recommences, there will not only be a new recognition for the roles of truck drivers but also a new focus on the need to innovate how we move goods to best protect our future supply chains.”

Freight exchange Teleroute, which is part of the Alpega Group, has launched two major improvements to its current offering: an advanced API interface and a new version of its mobile application. Both are focused on closing a transport deal and finding new business partners more efficiently.

Teleroute’s new API interface allows companies to save a significant amount of time and avoid errors by posting their loads in the freight exchange directly from their TMS (Transport Management System). At the same time, companies can find new qualified partners via the interface, in order to increase business opportunities and create a stable network of collaborators to optimize all transport operations. The new API interface is integrated with more than 50 TMS solutions and has no extra cost to Teleroute’s customers.

It is no surprise that more and more transport companies are struggling to find freight and have to run empty. In order to help their clients in this situation, Teleroute improved its mobile app and now users are able to perform multiple freight searches simultaneously, to contact the offering company in one click and offer truck capacity. Additionally, this new mobile app provides the possibility of accessing the large amount of freights and trucks offered in Wtransnet, leading freight exchange in Iberia and also part of Alpega Group.

Both actions respond to the commitment of Teleroute to continue investing in technology that really helps the transport sector, on which Fabrice Douteaud, Alpega Group marketplace COO, affirms:

“Our mission is to provide the transport sector smart tools to facilitate the collaboration and help our clients in their day to day challenges. With this goal in mind, we are working hard every day to improve the benefits we offer through our platform in order to provide greater added value.”