A day in the life of food hauliers
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MORE THAN 7,500 CVs from 130 fleets have taken part in an intensive 24-hour survey into the efficiency of the food and drink distribution sector.
Last week's survey, carried out by Scala Logistics Consulting for the Department for Transport, looked at fuel consumption.empty running and delays. The results will be available in the summer; a similar survey will be carried out in 2009 for comparison.
John Perry, MD of Scala, says the survey amounts to a day in the life of the UK's food and drink hauliers. It ran from midnight to midnight on 7-8 March and included operators with as few as 10 trucks up to the big supermarket fleets.
The companies all volunteered for the survey but Perry reports that some operators declined to take part because they were already confident about their efficiency.
"They did volunteer, but it wasn't a question of all the most efficient companies coming forward," he explains. "On the contrary, we had some which didn't even measure their fuel consumption, which seems incredible.
All the companies that took part will be offered individual analysis so they ca compare themselves with oth( operators and identify areas ft improvement.
The five key performanc indicators of the survey are: • Fuel consumption • Time-efficiency • How often trucks run empty • How often trucks run with pa loads (and how far those loa. fall short of full capacity) • Level of delay Scala is also examining how fi haulage operations are affected I: hours restrictions on deliveries.
The survey follows thre previous exercises carried out the Cold Storage and Distributio Federation in 1997,1998 and 200: