JUNE|2019 IN THIS ISSUE > Forward-thinking fuel distributors IN POLE POSITION TO UNLOCK ELECTRIC BUS AND TRUCK POTENTIAL IN EUROPE? BEWARE SNAKE-OIL SALES PEOPLE JUMPING ON A DECARBONISATION BANDWAGON ew trucks powered by diesel engines could be banned in the UK by the year 2040 N if the government follows recommendations published EDITORIAL & DESIGN recently by the influential National Infrastructure Commission (NIC). The Freight Transport Immediate Network Ltd Association (FTA) accepts this as a “feasible 6 Wey Court, Mary Road, Guildford, Surrey GU1 4QU target for the logistics industry”, provided there is t: 01483 546500 enough government support. The Road Haulage w: inl.co.uk Association (RHA) is less convinced, describing w: cvengineer.com the NIC recommendations as “simplistic” because they fail to make clear what government has to do to make moves to diesel alternatives realistic. EDITOR But scarcely anyone now disputes one of the central points made by the NIC report as well as by many others more widely: that effective action on carbon emissions and Tim Blakemore air quality is needed urgently. For commercial vehicle operators this means greater t: 01428 605605 e: [email protected] pressure than ever before to find alternatives to diesel and petrol engines. One thing that all operators would be well-advised not to do in the face of such ADVERTISING pressure is react with undue haste. Snake-oil sales pitches invariably turn out to be even more venomous in this field than in others. Denise Blakemore Members of the Federation of Petroleum Suppliers (soon to be renamed the UK Subcriptions Manager and Ireland Fuel Distributors Association) are by no means the only ones who ought t: 01428 605605 to pay heed to the wise counsel offered by the organisation’s chief executive (page 20). e: [email protected] Make the right choice for your operation at the right time, advises Guy Pulham. Now Tony Greville might not be the right time. Business Development Director There are no quick and easy solutions. Much depends on the specific requirements t: 01483 546500 of each particular operation. It is clear, for instance, that there are far more viable e: [email protected] alternatives to diesel for light commercial vehicles (up to 3.5 tonnes gvw) than there are for heavier trucks. It is equally clear, not least from a painstaking assessment SUBSCRIPTIONS published recently by the RHA, that the move to Euro VI diesel engines is already MANAGEMENT resulting in dramatic real-world cuts in truck emissions of particulates and oxides of nitrogen. Yet still in the eyes of the public all diesel engines, regardless of their Euro Denise Blakemore t: 01428 605605 standard and including even those now happily running on ultra-eco-friendly HVO, e: [email protected] are seen as the villains of the piece. Guy Pulham is right. A lot more education on this subject is sorely needed. Annual subscription (12 editions) £20 + vat (£24) Tim Blakemore Editor PUBLISHED BY Immediate Network Ltd THE TRUCK EXPERT THE VAN EXPERT THE CAR EXPERT COMMERCIAL VEHICLE ENGINEER > JUNE 2019 3 CONTENTS 6>> POINTS OF VIEW Why fork-lift exams are not as thorough as you may think. An overtime culture putting lives at risk. Are you and your drivers prepared for this September CPC deadline? 10>> NEWS Alexander Dennis bought by Canada’s NFI Group in £320 million deal. 12>> EQUIPPING THE OPERATION Safety and delivery times to the fore at Harrogate tipper show. 12 4 JUNE 2019 > COMMERCIAL VEHICLE ENGINEER CONTENTS 16>> IN POLE POSITION FOR EUROPE’S RACE TOWARDS ZERO EMISSIONS? New BYD electric trucks and vans will go on sale in Europe within the next year. Tim Blakemore went to Hungary to find out more. 20> RENAISSANCE FOR FUEL DISTRIBUTORS IN DECARBONISATION DRIVE Members of the Federation of Petroleum Suppliers have a clearly thought out vision of the central part they can play in helping to tackle the climate-change crisis. Tim Blakemore went to the latest FPS Expo in Liverpool to find 16 out why and how. 26>> NEWS FROM THE NORTH Advice from our learned friend the Transport News Truck Advocate on O-licence application advertisements; digital tachograph download delays; and “invalid” Driver CPC training courses. 27>> PEOPLE AND JOBS Vinnie Connolly is the truck sales director at Scania (Great Britain). Andrew Jamieson leaves Scania to succeed Simon Elliott as Intercounty Truck & Van boss. Former CV Show sales and marketing manager David Crawford is now commercial vehicle consultant at ITT 10 Hub 2020. COMMERCIAL VEHICLE ENGINEER > JUNE 2019 5 POINTS OF VIEW WHY FORK-LIFT EXAMINATIONS ARE NOT AS THOROUGH AS YOU MAY THINK housands of businesses you are duty-bound to ensure that the exposed their businesses and workforces operating fork-lift entire truck is safe to use. to potential danger and they don’t even trucks may be falling The Thorough Examination Standard know it. T foul unknowingly of applied by Consolidated Fork Truck At CFTS we are encouraging managers the law on “thorough Services (CFTS, a trading company to review their paperwork to ensure that examinations”. Studies show that 93% of owned jointly by the British Industrial trucks are safe and legal, before it’s too late. managers overseeing lifting operations Truck Association and the Fork Lift Truck On our website you can find a series of believe that, as the name suggests, a Association) is exceptional in that it interactive guides showing what must be “thorough examination” always means the checks trucks against both sets of criteria. covered. Our “Half Measures” video entire fork-lift truck is checked. Yet this Whereas LOLER covers parts required explains how you can be sure you is far from reality. Sadly, most inspections for lifting, such as mast, hydraulics and are getting exactly what you known as “thorough examinations” do not forks, the other half of the equation bargained for, or live up to the name. Indeed they tend to involves safety-critical parts, such as even more, from cover the bare minimum demanded by the steering, chassis and brakes, which are the next fork-lift Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment covered by PUWER. truck thorough Regulations of 1998 (LOLER). These cover When components that are so examination. only the truck’s lifting mechanism. important have not been examined For those responsible for ensuring safe you just wouldn’t know, until it was too Geoff Martin operations, this creates a big problem. late. Worst of all, there are thousands Chairman Under the 1998 Provision and Use of of managers out there, across virtually Consolidated Fork Work Equipment Regulations (PUWER), every sector, who may have unknowingly Truck Services 6 JUNE 2019 > COMMERCIAL VEHICLE ENGINEER POINTS OF VIEW Motorists should always follow the AN OVERTIME CULTURE law and park up in a safe, legal place if making a call, using hands-free PUTTING LIVES AT RISK technology. Companies can help look after their staff on the road by making ON THE ROAD sure their culture is distraction-free, excusing them from calls if they are travelling. One anonymous company had a stark wake-up call when a high- performing young employee suffered a near-fatal crash. She fell asleep at the wheel during a 280 mile-round trip to a presentation after working through the night. The impact didn’t even wake her. This sent shockwaves through the company and cultural change began immediately. An outright ban on e-mails being sent out of hours without management authorisation was set in place, telematics were brought in to monitor employee driving behaviours, and work-life balance was established to keep staff safe and protected. If one of your employees is killed while driving for work and the police survey of British workers has investigation uncovers evidence that exposed how an overtime culture “gross breach of a relevant duty of care” A is putting drivers at risk, owing has occurred through management to poor sleep, pressure to respond quickly, failure, both the organisation and relevant stress and distraction. directors or other senior management Our research at NFU Mutual found that could be prosecuted under the Corporate more than a third (35%) of people who Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide work full- or part-time in the UK are Act 2007. Imagine the situation where expected to work outside their contracted an employee causes a crash while driving hours. It also found that 30% are for work and it is found that they were expected to respond to calls and e-mails part of their work, according to the Health making a business phone call at the time. out of hours, and sometimes slog away and Safety Executive (HSE). Recent figures If the investigation uncovered a culture late into the night (46%). from Eurostat, the European Union’s where staff are expected to make and Nearly one in ten who also drive for statistics arm, confirm that Britons work receive calls while on the road, and that work have actually fallen asleep or nearly more hours than anyone else in Europe senior management are aware of fallen asleep at the wheel as a direct result – an average of 42 hours a week. the practice, this could constitute a of work pressure (8%), and a quarter have If businesses focus on increasing “gross breach”. driven tired specifically due to out-of- productivity and reducing costs, staff could Positive workplaces mean more hours work demands. feel the need to put extra hours in to climb engaged and productive employees. Some even combine the two and work the ladder or even keep their job. This can Companies which introduce safe driving while driving - 16% admitted to being cause fatigue which is one of the biggest policies and encourage a culture where on a work call or conference call while killers on UK roads.