17 May, 2024

Logistics Sector Calls for Action on new EU Import Declarations

Posted on 17 May, 202431 July, 2025 by David Priestman

Global and European trade associations representing commercial transport have issued an urgent alert to all businesses involved in the movement of goods into or via the EU, Norway, Switzerland or Northern Ireland, by sea, road or rail. The new Import Control System (ICS2) will start to be introduced from June this year.

The World Shipping Council, the International Federation of Freight Forwarders, the Global Shippers Forum, the European Community Association of Ship Brokers and Agents, the European Community Shipowners’ Associations, the European Associations for Forwarding, Transport, Logistics and Customs Services, the European Shippers Council and the International Road Transport Union have together stressed the importance of the new controls and their impact on the movement of goods into or via the European Customs Territory by sea, road and rail.

Awareness of the implementation of the new requirements is key, says the group, as is understanding how ICS2 will affect various entities in the supply chain at different times and in distinct ways.

ICS2 is an enhanced safety and security regime introduced jointly by customs authorities in the EU that requires specific details of imported goods to be provided before loading or before arrival at the EU border.

The requirements were introduced for air cargo in 2023 and will be extended to sea transport from June 2024 and for imports arriving by road or rail in 2025. The extensive new data requirements include six-digit HS codes for each item in a consignment, an “acceptable description” and detailed buyer and seller information.

The trade bodies, each representing different parties in the supply chain, have urged businesses involved in moving goods into the EU to begin their preparations for the extension of ICS2 now and to seek further information on how they will be affected. The European Commission’s website is the best place to start.

Failure to comply with ICS2 requirements will result in delays and disruptions to imports into the EU, and, potentially, in accordance with Member State practice, fines and penalties for persons liable for submitting the safety and security data to ICS2.

Cooperative efforts between the different parties involved in such shipments is crucial to keep goods moving, as symbolised by the joint call to action by the eight trade bodies.

Changes in Transportation of Goods to EU

Logistics Sector Calls for Action on new EU Import Declarations

Posted on 17 May, 202431 July, 2025 by Keith McKinley

Awareness of the implementation of the new requirements is key, says the group, as is understanding how ICS2 will affect various entities in the supply chain at different times and in distinct ways.

Cooperative efforts between the different parties involved in such shipments is crucial to keep goods moving, as symbolised by the joint call to action by the eight trade bodies.

Changes in Transportation of Goods to EU

Combilift Renews Sponsorship of Gaelic Football Team

Posted on 17 May, 202431 July, 2025 by David Priestman

Combilift, the world’s leading manufacturer of multi-directional forklifts and straddle carriers, is proud to announce the renewal of its sponsorship with the Monaghan Ladies Gaelic Football Team for another three years. This extension underscores Combilift’s commitment to supporting local sports and fostering community spirit.

Monaghan Ladies Gaelic Football has been a cornerstone of sporting excellence in the region, promoting athleticism, teamwork, and community engagement. Combilift’s renewed sponsorship will provide essential funding to support the team’s activities, including training programs, equipment, Programmed S&C Support, GPS and Sports Science, Performance Analysis, and Video Analysis. This partnership aims to enhance the development of players at all levels and strengthen the team’s presence in national and international competitions.

Martin McVicar, Managing Director and Co-Founder of Combilift expressed his enthusiasm for the renewed partnership: “We are thrilled to continue our support for the Monaghan Ladies Gaelic Football Team. Their dedication, hard work, and passion for the sport resonate with Combilift’s values. We look forward to their continued success and growth over the next three years.”

Team manager, Darren Greenan, also shared his appreciation: “The Monaghan Ladies are delighted that Combilift has chosen to renew their sponsorship partnership for the next 3 years. This financial support helps create the best possible environment for our intercounty players, boosts the team profile, and allows management the resources to prepare the teams to the higher levels expected. We strive to make intercounty football an attractive opportunity for girls in the county, and this goes a long way to helping us reach this goal.”

This announcement comes with great excitement as the Monaghan Senior Ladies take on Down this Sunday in the Ulster Intermediate Final in Clones – We hope to see you there!

Combilift announces 40 million investment in new manufacturing facility

Combilift Renews Sponsorship of Gaelic Football Team

Posted on 17 May, 202431 July, 2025 by David Priestman

This announcement comes with great excitement as the Monaghan Senior Ladies take on Down this Sunday in the Ulster Intermediate Final in Clones – We hope to see you there!

Combilift announces 40 million investment in new manufacturing facility

Milestone for Autonomous Heavy-Duty Truck Commercialization

Posted on 17 May, 202429 July, 2025 by David Priestman

Inceptio Technology, developer of autonomous driving technologies for heavy-duty trucks, announced that heavy-duty trucks powered by the Inceptio Autonomous Driving System and its Truck Navigate-on-Autopilot (T-NOA) capabilities have surpassed the significant milestone of 100 million kilometers in safe commercial operations, reinforcing Inceptio’s global leadership in the commercialization of autonomous trucks.

This achievement underscores how L3 and L2+ autonomous heavy-duty trucks have been successfully deployed across the line-haul logistics sector, including express delivery, less-than-truckload (LTL) transportation, as well as contract logistics. This also reflects the significant value that autonomous trucks offer logistics operators.

Accelerating the Adoption of Autonomous Trucks Across the Line-Haul Logistics Sector

Inceptio-powered trucks surpassed 50 million kilometers of safe commercial operations in August 2023. Building on this success, the company expanded the number of compatible truck models and surpassed the 100-million-kilometer mark by the end of April 2024.

Inceptio’s Autonomous Driving System covers 83% of China’s national highways connecting 7 major economic zones. Over the course of the 100 million kilometers, a total of 1,864 drivers safely used Inceptio-powered L3 and L2+ trucks in their daily operations.

Current customers include all the top logistics companies in China such as ZTO Express, YTO Express, STO Express, JD Logistics, and SF Express. Inceptio has also established an extensive footprint across the contract logistics segment including cold chain, automotive, beverages, and fast-moving consumer goods among many others, serving global brands like Budweiser and Nestlé. Inceptio’s autonomous driving technology caters to a diverse user base — from big logistics companies to small fleets and individual operators.

Inceptio has partnered with several leading Chinese truck manufacturers to pre-load mass produced trucks with the Inceptio Autonomous Driving System. These partnerships have expanded the number of trucks Inceptio powers and include popular models from Dongfeng, Sinotruk, Foton and Liuqi that are available in both 4×2 and 6×4 axle configurations to meet the diverse needs of the line-haul logistics sector.

Paving the Way for Greater Commercialization

Over the course of 100 million kilometers, Inceptio has demonstrated how its autonomous driving technology and its T-NOA capabilities are paving the way for greater commercial deployment across the line-haul logistics with safer, more efficient, and profitable operations.

The majority of the routes large express delivery companies in China use exceed 500 kilometers in length. Two drivers are commonly assigned to each traditional truck on these routes and take shifts driving in order to minimize fatigue and ensure safety when meeting tight shipping schedules. Inceptio’s solution makes driving much less physically and mentally exhausting as it handles more than 90% of the journey. Express delivery companies have been able to significantly reduce the number of drivers per truck and labour costs on these same routes as a result. On routes ranging from 500 to 1,200 kilometers, Inceptio has realized a direct shift from two drivers per truck to one, resulting in a significant 40% to 50% reduction in labor costs. On routes that exceed 1,200 kilometers where an autonomous truck relay model has been deployed, a traditional assignment of 6-8 drivers per three trucks has been reduced to 5. Likewise, a traditional assignment of 8-10 drivers per 4 trucks has been reduced to 6, resulting in a substantial decrease in labour costs and improved driver satisfaction.

The benefits are equally strong for contract logistic companies, both large and small. Huatai Logistics for example, a contract logistics company specializing in automotive parts transport on routes that average 1,500 kilometers, has seen its driver-to-truck ratio decrease from two to one by using Inceptio-powered trucks. Combined with a reduction of 3-5 liters in fuel consumption per 100 kilometers, total cost of ownership per kilometer decreased by 7-15%. The stellar safety record and enhanced driving comfort offered by autonomous trucks improved fleet-attendance rates significantly and increased monthly kilometers per truck by as much as 10%.

Some individual operators have also seen increases of 10-20% in monthly kilometers per truck and 2,500-5,500 RMB in monthly net income due to the fundamental improvement of safety and driving comfort offered by Inceptio-powered autonomous trucks. The fuel-saving benefits of autonomous trucks are particularly attractive for individual operators.

Leveraging Data Assets to Enhance Inceptio’s Autonomous Driving Technology

Inceptio leverages its powerful, data-driven R&D system to rapidly iterate and enhance its autonomous driving technology. This system, which incorporates accurate and efficient data capturing, automated cloud processing, advanced scenario mining, and automatic annotation, allows Inceptio to continuously refine its industry-leading T-NOA algorithm in real-time. This focus on real-world data is a key driver of Inceptio’s competitive edge in the autonomous driving technology landscape.

Julian Ma, founder and CEO of Inceptio Technology, commented, “Inceptio’s autonomous driving technology and its T-NOA capabilities are making significant progress in their commercialization, allowing us to rapidly surpass the 100-million-kilometer milestone after hitting 50 million kilometers only eight months ago. The impact our technology is having on the logistics industry is profound. The commercial deployment of Inceptio-powered autonomous trucks across the line-haul logistics sector is exciting, but what’s truly inspiring is the creativity and innovation our customers bring to the table. This user-driven approach is pushing the boundaries of how these autonomous trucks are used, opening up new ways to deploy our technology. The more data we gather, the faster we will be able to enhance our algorithms and improve our full-stack solution. We will continue working closely with our truck OEM partners to offer even greater safety, efficiency, and profitability to logistics customers.”

Heavy-duty Autonomous Trucks with Autopilot

Milestone for Autonomous Heavy-Duty Truck Commercialization

Posted on 17 May, 20247 August, 2025 by David Priestman

Accelerating the Adoption of Autonomous Trucks Across the Line-Haul Logistics Sector

Paving the Way for Greater Commercialization

Leveraging Data Assets to Enhance Inceptio’s Autonomous Driving Technology

Heavy-duty Autonomous Trucks with Autopilot

Forklift Telematics Data – Vital Statistics

Posted on 17 May, 202429 July, 2025 by David Priestman

Forklift telematics systems deliver the vital statistics data that every warehouse or distribution centre manager needs to get the most from their materials handling equipment budget. But, warns Steve Ross (pictured), Operations Manager – Connectivity and Digital Products, Toyota Material Handling UK, having plenty of data is of little or no value if users have no idea what the figures mean and how to use them.

Vital statistics

Using a combination of GPS technology, sensors and the vehicle’s electric motor or ic-engine performance information, telematics systems deliver the vital statistics that every warehouse or distribution centre manager needs to understand precisely how productive and cost-efficient their materials handling equipment (MHE) is and, arguably most importantly of all, how safely it is being operated.

For example, it is generally understood that getting the best value from any material handling budget means constantly reviewing intralogistics systems to make certain that each truck is being used safely and effectively throughout every shift. Truck-connected telematics technology will flag-up any under-used vehicles within the fleet – regardless of whether a company has several hundred units or one or two machines in operation.

The data generated by telematics to highlight trucks with lower-than- expected usage rates could prompt users take the necessary action to drive down their monthly MHE running costs. For instance, trucks might be switched to other areas of the business where they can be more productive or, in some cases, equipment may even be removed from the fleet altogether if the figures fed back by the telematics system demonstrate that usage rates consistently fall below what is forecast.

But, of course, efficient forklift fleet utilisation is about more than just knowing how often a truck is used: managers need to consider how operators are performing too. For example, how busy are they during their working day? Could they be more helpful if they were reassigned to undertake alternative tasks during their shift? Are more drivers needed to run the operation smoothly or is the opposite the case? Are drivers operating the trucks safely? By tracking individual driver activity, telematics delivers the kind of actionable data that will answer these questions and plenty more.
On-site safety is another cornerstone of cost-efficient materials handling that can be improved by the data gathered by telematics systems. With losses incurred because of accidental damage to either the goods, building or the truck itself typically representing 5-15%of a forklift’s operating expenses, if on-site safety is considered in pure monetary terms alone the benefits of operating a safe site are obvious.

Telematics systems, such as Toyota’s I_Site, can help safety conscious companies reduce the potential for accidents in several ways. These include pinpointing precisely where forklift mishaps take place. If the data indicates that a certain location within the warehouse is something of an accident ‘black spot’, management will be alerted and, if necessary, additional safety measures can be introduced to cut the likelihood of further incidents in and around the area.

Steve Ross

Some telematics systems require each operator to use their own PIN code or smart access card to operate a truck. This feature not only restricts non-qualified personnel from operating the machinery but the fact that it makes operators accountable for their actions during a shift means that they should take far more care when going about their daily routine. Naturally, this results in a safer environment and reduced product, truck or building infrastructure damage.

A significant percentage of a company’s MHE budget can be taken up by the efficiency – or otherwise – of the battery changing and recharging process but, by using data supplied by on-truck telemetry to monitor battery and charger performance, potentially costly problems can be avoided. Failure to properly oversee the critically important recharging regime could also damage the environment and will certainly result in higher than necessary operating costs.

Companies want to collect as much data about their business processes as they can get and there is almost no limit to the type of information that can be supplied by telematics-connected trucks. But if the statistics can’t be harnessed because they are presented in a way that only a professional data scientist could understand they will be of little or no value. In fact, having plenty of data can become more of a liability than an asset if users feel overwhelmed by it or have no idea how to use the figures in ways that will benefit their company. And, if that happens, the data tends to be left to gather dust!

Toyota is a market leader in telematics and introduced its I_Site MHE telematics technology more than 20 years ago. From the outset, I_Site has been designed to deliver valuable business insights, rather than simply supply users with figures and statistics. The system gives logistics professionals knowledge that they can use for the benefit of their businesses by presenting data as meaningful, helpful and actionable Information.

But by presenting a crystal-clear overview of everything users need to measure, analyse and improve their material handling operation I_Site allows logistics managers to take the sometimes-difficult decisions that are needed to keep full control of the intralogistics processes that they oversee. And by doing so, their companies will experience the true value of telematics.

Forklift Truck Manufacturer launches Smart Telematics

Accelerating the Adoption of Autonomous Trucks Across the Line-Haul Logistics Sector

Paving the Way for Greater Commercialization

Leveraging Data Assets to Enhance Inceptio’s Autonomous Driving Technology

Accelerating the Adoption of Autonomous Trucks Across the Line-Haul Logistics Sector

Paving the Way for Greater Commercialization

Leveraging Data Assets to Enhance Inceptio’s Autonomous Driving Technology

Vital statistics

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