Road and truck transport – Page 8
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ArticleA look back down the road
This time last year, the trucking industry and its customers were just settling into compliance with a mandate from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) that required electronic logging devices (ELDs) on commercial vehicles with a gross weight of over 10,000 pounds (4,500kg). In the months preceding the initial ...
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ArticleBrazil needs investment and talent to flip the recession
While the automotive sector in Brazil waits for political reform under its new president-elect Jair Bolsonaro, including investment in transport and infrastructure, logistics providers need to be creative in overcoming the existing poor state of the roads and ports. That is if the country is to exploit returning growth, including ...
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ArticleFCA to set up parts centre at Rivalta
Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) is to turn the historic Fiat plant at Rivalta, near Turin, into a parts distribution centre (PDC) serving Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA), among other markets. The new PDC in Italy will support customers at more than 5,000 locations, significantly improving delivery time to ...
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ArticleEconomic nationalism to force a lane-change
Typically, the world experiences waves of economic nationalism every three decades but these are often limited to one region each time. Today we’re experiencing a global wave of economic disruption across multiple regions simultaneously. In reaction, automotive manufacturers are having to increase the flexibility and agility of their supply chains ...
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ArticleTesting times
The start of September this year marked the point at which all new car registrations in the EU had to comply with the new CO2 emissions test – the Worldwide Harmonised Light Vehicle Test Procedure (WLTP). This laboratory test is designed to introduce more realistic and stricter criteria when assessing ...
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ArticleEU workers are key: don't close the UK's door
According to the Department for Transport’s official statistics, more goods were imported by road into the UK than exported last year, with 10,000 lorries making their way through Dover Strait per day alone. Up to 86% of cargo exported from the UK went to the Irish Republic (23%), France (22%), ...
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ArticleTaking the ‘E’ out of ETA
Traditionally, OEMs and vehicle-carriers have never been able to be 100% accurate about vehicle delivery times in the information they provide to dealerships, and dealers have often disregarded the information as a result. As one of the participants in a Q&A session at a recent Finished Vehicle Logistics conference observed: ...
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ArticleA crisis in human capital
As the automotive logistics sector continues to automate and let technology take the lead, there are some important human factors to resolve if such plans are to succeed – as delegates at this year’s Automotive Logistics Global conference in Detroit found out While the US car market may be ...
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ArticlePSA trials driverless tractor for inbound at Sochaux
Groupe PSA is trialling an autonomous tow tractor at its Sochaux car plant in eastern France. The aim, of what the company describes as a world first in the manufacturing sector, is to improve operational flexibility in getting parts to the assembly line.Following successful trials conducted in May, a connected ...
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ArticleToyota runs roadtrains to Buenos Aires port
The port of Buenos Aires in Argentina has received its first ever roadtrain delivery of containers from the Toyota plant at Zárate.The delivery was part of a trial intended to demonstrate the benefits of such roadtrains, and involved a single tractive unit hauling two semi-trailers on a shared axle train. ...
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ArticleAnderson replaces McCann as CEO at United Road
Marc Anderson (pictured) is taking over as CEO of US finished vehicle haulier, United Road Services. He replaces Kathleen McCann, who will move to the role of executive chairman in January.Anderson, who joined the company as chief operating officer in 2014 from Inland Industrial Services, added the role of president ...
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ArticleNVD adopts Inform system for moves in Ireland
National Vehicle Distribution (NVD) is using a system developed by German IT specialist Inform to manage finished vehicle distribution and yard management in Ireland.The SynchroTess system can track the approximately 400,000 vehicles NVD handles every year through each stage of storage, preparation and delivery.Michael Howlin, head of IT at the ...
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ArticleAcumen expands enclosed fleet
UK-based Acumen Automotive Logistics is investing almost £800,000 ($1.03m) in four enclosed semi-trailers to meet rising demand for covered vehicle transport.Three new Belle Trailers units and one Rolfo trailer are joining Acumen’s enclosed fleet, which has more than doubled in size within five years from 13 to 30 vehicles.The trailers ...
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ArticleSeeking to harmonise supply and demand
In May, supply chain specialist Kinaxis announced that Volvo Cars had chosen its software for work on volume forecasting and production planning. According to Kinaxis, the Swedish carmaker will use its RapidResponse software to model the impact of rising production volumes, as well as other ‘what-if?’ scenarios. Accurate forecasting will ...
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ArticleRussia's fresh focus on exports
In recent years, Russia has put considerable resources into encouraging recovery in its domestic automotive industry. Last year, the federal budget included 62.3 billion roubles ($1 billion) in state aid for carmakers. Such sums have been spent primarily on boosting demand in the domestic market, which has been under pressure ...
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ArticleRussian carriers alarmed over rising fuel prices
The average price for gasoline in Russia has increased by 8% during 2018, sparking strong concerns amongst logistics providers over rising costs at a time when many are suppressing service charges in the interest of retaining business.Fuel prices are on the rise because of a number of factors, including the ...
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ArticleA match made in heaven?
According to a study carried out by the European Commission in 2014, almost a quarter of truck journeys on Europe’s roads are carried out empty. In individual member states, the prevalence of empty running can be even higher: in the UK, for instance, Department for Transport (DfT) statistics put the ...
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ArticleVW resumes production after haulage strikes
Volkswagen’s bus and truck plant at Resende, in the Brazilian state of Rio de Janeiro, is reported to be back to normal production, following a week of strikes in the road haulage industry at the end of May.A spokesperson for the company said it was now working with its 4,000-strong ...
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ArticleYoung replaces Schroeder at the AHAA
Guy Young (pictured) has replaced Bill Schroeder as general manager of the Auto Haulers Association of America (AHAA). The association represents the interests of finished vehicle carriers in the US and currently has more than 85 car carrier members (with almost 9,000 trucks between them) and around 35 suppliers.Young has ...
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ArticleMosolf continues expansion with buyout of German rival
German-based vehicle transporter Mosolf Group is taking over German rival firm Autokontor Bayern to reinforce its position “in an environment where markets are becoming more specialist and consolidating,” said the company’s CEO, Jörg Mosolf.The ownership change means Autokontor Bayern’s main shareholder and joint managing director Bernd Sauter will leave the ...