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The truck of milk and honey

Posted on by Anthony Marriage

All manner of substances and animals have spilled from trucks and vans on roads, whether its pigs, paint or horses. However, the worst has just happened in Idaho, USA, when a truck crashed on a motorway and released 14 million bees into the wild.

The bees swarmed to create a massive black cloud and a slick of honey spilled onto the road, taking a day to remove. The loss of bees equates to a loss of around $400,000 as each bee is said to be worth 3 cents.

Fire Chief Kenny Strandberg worried about another problem, “I am worried about the bears coming down now — the grizzly bears,” he said.

 

Biggest fraud in US postal history

Posted on by Anthony Marriage

$16 million, that’s the amount of money which Neal Lim, a businessman in Houston, USA was requested to pay in what prosecutors called the biggest postage fraud in history.

US Postage Stamp Millions of stamps have been printed under Lim’s fraud scheme

Mr. Lim, 50, was convicted in February of using counterfeit postage meter machines during the last 4 years to defraud the Post Office. Lim owned one of the biggest mail sorting businesses in Houston: Gulf Coast Presort and the Mail Processing Center.

Prosecutors said: “Profits from Lim’s scheme represent the largest counterfeit postage loss in the history of the U.S. Postal Service and the greatest breach of security features of postage meter machines.”

Haulage firms to consider mergers?

Posted on by Anthony Marriage

The financial specialist Grant Thornton and Barclay’s Corporate have conducted research that indicates that small to mid size logistic firms should consider mergers in an increasingly competitive, international sector.

Corporate finance director at Grant Thornton Philip Bird said some companies will have little choice but to secure investment from abroad. A considerable 52 percent of the top 50 British haulage companies have been shown to be under foreign ownership already

“Many medium-sized logistics firms need to consider mergers or acquisitions to avoid being squeezed out by major operators offering economies of scale or niche players offering tailor-made solutions,” he remarked.

“The ability to increase margins and invest in vehicles suggests that operators have understood the importance of maintaining a firm grip on their cost base as well as there being a degree of buoyancy in core markets, which also helps to explain the growing interest in M&A within the sector.”

Fuel efficiency is being held in higher regard by the transport industry from the top players to the smaller logistics firms. Whilst the transport industry has had no option but to adapt to the changing climate, those who work within it feel the Government should do more. 82 percent believe the Government are not doing enough and should help the transport industry with a cap or reduction in fuel duty.

Postal strike action averted

Posted on by Anthony Marriage

The Communication Workers Union was ready to invoke industrial action in the form of a workers strike, which was announced on May 24th. The proposed strike was a reaction to the announcement of mail centre closings in the capital. The CWU threatened a strike of over 3,500 staff members, demanding better job security.

The decision to close mail centres was not one made lightly; the Royal Mail stated that they consulted with trade unions on the matter for 9 months. The 2 week long negotiations between the CWU and Royal Mail has created a guarantee of no forced redundancies whilst changes are made.

Dave Ward, the union’s deputy general secretary, described the two-week negotiations as difficult but said staff in London now had “real choice over their futures”.

“It will mean two out of the seven mail centres within Greater London closing in the summer of 2012, but crucially this will now be done in a way that puts people first,” said Mr Ward.

Royal Mail’s regional operations director for London, Gerry O’Rourke, said: “The union’s support for our plans means that both Royal Mail and the CWU can concentrate on working closely with everyone affected to ensure that colleagues get the very best support and advice through what we know is a difficult and sensitive period.”

The negotiations have brought the likely scenario of around 580 employees leaving with redundancy packages. 670 employees have expressed an interest in taking voluntary redundancy packages.

Back to the future

Posted on by Anthony Marriage

They say one man’s rubbish is another man’s treasure and school bus driver Peter McCraig has apparently struck gold by dusting off a Sinclair C5 to drive to work. The Sinclair C5 was touted as the next step in British motoring way back in 1985 but failed to capture the public imagination. The retro design was an acquired taste shall we say in its heyday but this hasn’t stopped Mr McCraig from busting out the vehicle for his daily commute. After petrol prices hit £1.30 in April, Mr McCraig bought the C5 on eBay for a mere £185. Although its top speed is a relaxed 15mph, the combination of battery and pedal power will save him around £1,300 in petrol a year.

“I have saved around £15 to £25 a week on petrol but I’m also getting myself fit as it’s pedal-powered,’ he said. “It only takes me around 12 minutes to get to work and in the car it would take around ten to 15. The only problem with the C5 is that, being so low down, it can get quite hairy when lorries overtake but I haven’t had any incidents yet.”

He added, “It’s also done wonders for my tan.”

News on the grapevine says Sinclair is back for round two with an updated design; the prototype is called the X-1 and will apparently be out in July. Maybe you’ll see one on a road near you!