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Parcelforce roll out 1,100 eco-friendly delivery vans

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In February, Parcelforce Worldwide purchased 1,106 Mercedes-Benz Sprinter 311CDI vans. The German vehicle manufacturer was chosen after extensive competitive trials where Parcelforce’s drivers tested and provided detailed feedback on the vans’ performance.

Senior procurement manager Simon Arnott said: “They (the drivers) rated the Mercedes-Benz Sprinter first in its large panel van class. The Sprinter scored particularly high in driver’s seat. driving position, cab comfort, ride comfort, cornering, handling and driving performance.”

Parcelforce’s eco-friendly delivery van

The Sprinter 311CDI delivery vans also scored for its environment-friendliness with its ECO-Start system, which automatically stops and restarts the engine during halts in slow traffic.

This is one part of Parcelforce’s plans to cut its fleet fuel consumption by 5%.

We just saw one of these vans in front of our local Tesco’s, prompting our read-up here! A highly applauded action by Parcelforce, a step in the right direction by one of the big players.

Royal Mail privatisation proposed

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The coalition Government has put one step forward in selling its shares in the Royal Mail. A Postal Services Bill was included in the Queen’s Speech which will open access to the shares to third parties. Many ministers believe the move will raise the fund needed to reinvest in the postal business.

On the other hand, the Goverment said there was a commitment to keep the Post Office in public ownership.

The Queen said during her speech: “My Goverment will modernise the Royal Mail, in partnership with employees, and will ensure it benefits from private sector capital and disciplines.”

Since being founded in 1516, Royal Mail has always been state-owned

The Communication Workers Union (CWU) warned that it might take industrial action if necessary to fight any move to part-privatise the Royal Mail.

CWU’s Deputy general secretary Dave Ward said: “If we need to take industrial action to defeat privatisation to secure our members’ pensions and jobs, we will not hesitate to do it.”

Dummy speed camera set up to reduce speeding traffic

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Over the weekend a fake speed camera mysteriously appeared Saxby Road, in Melton, Leicestershire. It is thought that a resident who was angry at the constant speeding traffic along the road put it up to trick drivers.

Many drivers believed the fake speed camera was real

One driver said: “I thought it was the real thing and anyone coming round the bend from the traffic lights with Norman Way will catch it out the corner of their eye. I think it would be a good thing if it helped to slow some people down.”


Although a rather small road, Saxby Road is busy with lorries going to Mars Petcare, Asfordby Storage and Haulage and an industrial estate.

A local resident Gary Sparkes said: “If the lights are on green when the traffic comes through it can come down here quite fast.” (we think it was him!)

How well can you park a truck?

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Without a doubt we all know you can park a truck or a van easily enough in real life.

But how about in this game?

The best result in Shiply’s office was 31.24 seconds but we are certain you can beat that!

Enjoy and have a great weekend!

http://www.playtruckgames.net/files/file/Truck.swf

Driving to Scotland? Look out for potholes!!

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If you have travelled to Scotland recently, you may have noticed that some of the road conditions are far from perfect, especially after the harsh winter.

In cities and rural areas, thousands of potholes, many several inches deep and often up to 3ft wide are prevalent.

Scotland roads authorities are blaming the harsh winter for the growing number of potholes but drivers say the freeze only made the situation worse, after many years of poor maintenance.

Some potholes are very big and can be dangerous

For the majority of road users, especially haulage and courier drivers, the current state of the network is frustrating and it can be very dangerous if they hit the potholes.

Alison Borthwick, a car driver, has had to spend £150 for three alloy wheels after she hit deep potholes and many taxi drivers in Glasgow complain they have never had to spend so much on repairs.

Phil Flanders, of the Road Haulage Association said the bad conditions were a huge cost to their members in time, money and would have a major effect on the economy.

Not wanting to lay into Scotland only!, some of you might remember this blog post we put up a year ago about an enormous hole very close to the Shiply offices in Manchester!

Lorry driver saves asthmatic patient’s life

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For Catherine Pennington, the saying “life begins at 40” could not be more true. A few days after celebrating her 40th birthday, Catehrine’s life was saved by a lorry driver who saw her collapse by the side of the M27.

Catherine, of Verwood, ironically was on her way to a funeral in Liverpool when she began to feel breathless and had to pull over.

She said:”After that I couldn’t breath at all and my inhaler wasn’t working. I got out of the car and tried to flag traffic down for about 20 minutes, but no one stopped.”

Luckily, haulage driver Pete Street, from Fareham in Hampshire, saw her fall to her knees as she began to collapse. Pete stopped his lorry and ran back to her car.

Catherine continued: “He put me on the floor and got my tongue out of my throat, put me in the recovery position and called an ambulance.”

The ambulance crews later told her that she came within minutes of death. Besides, luck was clearly on Catherine’s side as Pete was an ex-lifeboat crewman and knew first aid.

We think this is a real heart-warming story, the roads can sometimes be such an anonymous place, and so it is good to see we still look out for one-another.

£67m tendered by Transport for London for eco haulage vehicles

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Transport for London (TfL) has allotted a total sum of £67m over the next four years to increase the number of eco friendly haulage vehicles in the capital.

The tender will be divided into four parts covering different types of electric and hybrid vehicles, including vans and trucks up to 12-tonne.

TfL also said that the tender would encompass low carbon vehicle financing options such as purchase price, leasing options, contract hire and service and maintenance.

Electric vans and trucks are expected to be more affordable with this funding

About 70% of the funding will be allocated to eco-friendly passenger vehicles, with the remaining 30% spent for low emission minibuses, light commercial vehicles and light duty trucks.

Kevin Harkin, sales director for Smith Electric Vehicles, a company specialising in manufacturing electric vehicles said: “This announcement is great news for the UK commercial electric vehicle industry. Large scale procurement can stimulate the market, grow volumes and thereby help EV manufacturers bring down the purchase costs for fleet managers.”

Delivery companies turn to trucks as planes grounded by volcanic ash

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Major delivery service operators in the UK and EU have turned to trucks to minimise their delivery delays and limit the impact of air traffic disruption.

Items such as express mail, documents and packages, normally shipped within Europe by air are currently being transported by road instead. This means there will be delays of at least one day or so.

Delivery companies like TNT are relying on trucks to limit delivery delays

It has also been reported that trucks are now being used to deliver packages on long distance routes such as Belgium to Italy and Russia.

However, international cargo will not move until restrictions are lifted as most airports are currently closed. It was estimated that the flight disruptions might have grounded about half of the daily 11,000 ton cargo volumes between Asia and Europe.

Spokesmen for TNT, UPS and FedEx all said that their companies are working hard to make sure planes are loaded and ready to leave once the flight restriction is lifted.