7 July, 2022

GBA Services orders IVECO fleet

Posted on 7 July, 2022 by Keith McKinley

UK and European logistics provider GBA Services is spearheading its ambitious growth plans by taking delivery of 10 new 480-horsepower diesel IVECO S-WAY (AS440S48TX/P) 6×2 with mid-lift axles.

This is the first time the IVECO brand has joined the 200-strong fleet with the S-WAYs part of a fleet refresh involving 50 new trucks being put on the road and 40 trucks being de-fleeted in the last few months.

GBA Services places the driver at the heart of every vehicle added to the fleet so the specification of each S-WAY is very high. Drivers benefit from a large fridge with cool box, sunroof, leather steering wheel, leather heated and air-conditioned driver’s seat, a leather heated, air conditioned, swivelling passenger seat, external sun visor, air horns, automatic climate control, night heater and night time safety lock plus a 7’’ Infotainment system with Tom Tom Sat Nav.

Externally Alcoa Diamant alloy wheels have been specified alongside LED Headlamps with cornering and bending fog lights, LED rear lights, an electric cab tilt and additional under cab storage. The bigger high roof AS sleeper cab accommodates two large bunks while a cab air kit with corner fins helps maximise the IVECO S-WAY’s impressive aerodynamics.

“We are currently expanding and renewing the fleet as the business grows and when the IVECO S-WAYs became available they fitted in perfectly with what we needed. The IVECO brand is a new addition to our fleet and the drivers were really keen to get behind the wheel of the new S-WAY. Feedback from them has been extremely positive. Opting for the bigger AS cab has also meant more living space for the driver when they are away from home,” explained Mike Brown, GBA’s head of fleet and compliance.

The IVECO S-WAYs have been put to work on a contract with a national retailer which involves trunking double deck trailers between distribution centres in Amesbury, Wiltshire, and Sheffield. Typically, the trucks are running at between 40-44 tonnes and so far, the 480hp Cursor 11 diesel engine mated to the 12-speed automatic HI-TRONIX gearbox is returning 10mpg.

The trucks were purchased outright from IVECO dealer Walton Summit in Preston with a two-year warranty and are set to cover around 160,000km annually. Walton Summit completed the S-WAY’s high spec by fitting a full-size catwalk, rear of cab ‘A’ Frame, wheel nut markers, Anderson connectors, Haz Chem plates, an anti-syphon device, an additional rear work light and Direct Vision camera kits.

Like many logistics providers GBA is looking to improve its environmental credentials and Mike and his fleet team have signed up to reducing emissions by 50% by 2024.

“We are very mindful of reducing our carbon footprint and are looking at a number of different options including the IVECO CNG proposition. We are doing the numbers on gas versus diesel and as the fuel network improves it is becoming more of a viable option,” said Brown.

“It is very pleasing when a new operator onboards IVECO product for the first time and even more satisfying when the fleet manager receives positive praise from drivers. The IVECO S-WAY continues to set new standards of driver comfort and we are pleased that it has seamlessly fitted into GBA’s fast-growing fleet,” said Gareth Lumsdaine, IVECO’s Medium & Heavy Business Line Director.

Road freight prices break records as fuel costs soar

Posted on 7 July, 202229 July, 2025 by David Priestman

The latest TEG price index data reveals road transport businesses passing soaring operating costs onto customers – as June’s average price-per-mile for haulage and courier vehicles reaches 18% more than three years ago, and its highest level so far in 2022.

The average price-per-mile for haulage and courier vehicles has jumped from 103.1 points in June 2019 to 122.0 points in June 2022, according to the TEG Price Index – a rise of 18% over the three-year period.

In the last year alone, the TEG index shows a year-on-year price-per-mile increase of 4.3 points.

This surge in what hauliers and couriers are charging comes against a backdrop of record-high fuel prices in the UK: 167p for petrol and 180p for diesel.

With fuel prices and inflation continuing to soar, road freight businesses are facing an ever-tightening squeeze on their profit margins, leaving them with little choice but to increase the price of their services.

The year-on-year index figure has climbed consistently every month since the start of 2021. This reflects the cost pressures building in the road freight industry over the last 18 months, including the driver shortage, rising salaries and a hike in companies’ national insurance payments. In the face of these issues, the sector will have to show more of its customary resilience.

Freight profit squeeze means higher consumer prices

According to the Road Haulage Association, fuel represents over a third of a truck’s operating costs, and profit margins are between 1% and 2%. So every penny counts, with increases in fuel prices having a massive impact on businesses’ bottom lines.

The industry has called for an essential user rebate, which would cut fuel costs for hauliers and, ultimately, help reduce costs for the end consumer.

The need for relief from runaway inflation is becoming increasingly urgent. For 60% of the UK public, total bills are higher than income, according to researchers at the National Institute of Economic and Social Research.

Lyall Cresswell, CEO at Transport Exchange Group and new platform Integra, says: “From operational costs to ongoing driver shortages, we hear about industry issues every day from our members. However, they’re coping admirably with the pressures and the constantly shifting landscape.

“With consumer confidence at a record low, we may well see a slowdown in demand for road freight, as fewer people shop online. But this might actually give the industry a little breathing room, softening the impact of driver shortages and supply chain bottlenecks.

“Nobody really knows what the future has in store, but we’re obviously very keen to see an essential user rebate. There’s no question that hauliers and couriers are essential users and such a move would provide some respite for the industry – and consumers.”

Kirsten Tisdale, Director of Logistics Consultants Aricia Limited and Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Logistics & Transport, says: “The TEG Road Transport Price Index continues to give insight into the UK freight market. The ever-tightening squeeze on the profits of the road transport sector and the impact on customers can also be seen in the latest Business Insights survey by the Office for National Statistics, where 1 in 8 of the responses for Transport & Storage companies indicated that they were having to seek financial support (up from zero in the previous survey where this question was asked), aggravated by the trend for increased stockpiling.”

Prologis starts spec life science development in Cambridge

Posted on 7 July, 202231 July, 2025 by David Priestman

Work has started on the first wholly speculative development of new multi-let laboratory and office space at Cambridge Biomedical Campus, which is specifically targeting a range of growing biotech and life science businesses.

Situated on the southern edge of the campus, the new 103,000 sq ft five-storey building at 1000 Discovery Drive will form part of the very definition of an expanding ecosystem of clinical, academic, and commercial excellence.

Since announcing plans to develop the building in October last year, Prologis UK has received numerous expressions of interest in the new development from biotech and life science businesses, providing flexibility to meet start-up, spin-out and scale-up options for healthcare research facilities.

Andrew Blevins, Head of Life Sciences at Prologis UK, said: “Opportunities to lease life sciences property of this calibre that allows established and up and coming research-led businesses to, quite literally, brush shoulders with big pharma, leading academics, research scientists and experts in clinical medicine, is unprecedented in this country. We already have a strong pipeline of customer interest and are expecting more to come.”

Designed with flexibility in mind, the new building will provide laboratory and office space in a variety of sizes and specifications, ranging from open plan to laboratory and office space equipped.

The opportunity to be part of an established, vibrant, life science ecosystem is likely to be the main draw for organisations choosing to locate at Cambridge Biomedical Centre. As well as being co-located with the University of Cambridge School of Clinical Medicine, the campus is home to world leading hospitals such as Addenbrookes and Royal Papworth as well as facilities for Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust.

Prospective tenants will be based with the nation’s leading scientific minds in reach, as the campus also includes other leaders in healthcare innovation and discovery such as the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, colloquially known as the “Nobel Prize factory”, Cancer Research UK’s Cambridge Institute and the corporate and research headquarters for AstraZeneca and Abcam.

The new building will deliver important amenities for the wider campus and community, including a café and open-source community centre, where businesses, visitors and scientists can come together to share ideas, collaborate or simply meet. Set within the wider context of the surrounding community, the aim is to create a building that is socially inviting and explorable.

The welcoming design also forms part of the emerging Cambridge Biomedical Campus’ 2050 Vision, which is focused on improving connectivity with the surrounding community in Cambridge and encouraging local people to visit the site and enjoy its green spaces.

Kristin-Anne Rutter, Executive Director of Cambridge University Health Partners adds: “In Cambridge, our mission is simple – to improve lives by bringing together the academic and foundational institutions, the NHS and industry to improve health through breakthrough discoveries that are rapidly tested and scaled to deliver benefit to the world. To facilitate this we need to create the spaces where people can serendipitously meet and purposively come together to collaborate to develop ideas particularly around the prevention and early diagnosis of diseases and how we tackle global health inequality. 1000 Discovery Drive will be an important part of this process on the Cambridge Biomedical Campus. It will offer future tenants not just the best facilities but encourage people to talk, listen and work together in a place which is already home to over 20,000 people dedicated to making a difference.”

Such is the level of interest in the new building that Prologis has already begun the design for multiple follow-on buildings for both speculative and pre-let development.

Andrew Blevins, Head of Life Sciences at Prologis UK, added: “There is intrinsic value in creating a space where the brightest academic, business, and clinical minds converge to build an ecosystem, sharing not only space and infrastructure but new ideas and intellect. The value of this has already been demonstrated by the successful expansion of the campus to date, but there is much more to come.”

To further support the development within the region, Prologis UK has committed £1.65 million to support public arts and community activities at Cambridge Biomedical Campus, one of the largest investments of its kind in the Cambridge area to date. Most recently, the campus hosted an open-air artwork by Luke Jarrom, In Memoriam, constructed out of 120 flags made from NHS bed sheets.

Freight profit squeeze means higher consumer prices

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