1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144 
Week of contract wins brings profits caution
Page 6
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
By Chrtstopher Walton
A DELUGE OF contract wins and renewals has given operators hope that the road transport industry could be emerging from recession.
However, there is caution that with operators fighting over a reduced level of work in the economy as a whole, there might be overcapacity that could drive contract prices down.
Eddie Stobart has led the way, securing a three-year, £60m ambient transport contract for the majority of Unilever's UK manufacturing and distribution activities.
Unilever's agreement with Stobart is the first time the UK arm has awarded such a significant amount of its ambient transport needs to a single haulier.
It comes just a week after Kimberly-Clark spread its distribution across 14 haulage and logistic companies, with incumbent supplier TDG managing the contract on a 4PL basis.
Unilever has plants at Port Sunlight, Merseyside, and Warrington, Cheshire, close to Stobart Group's road, rail and port hubs in the North-West.
Mark O'Bomick, director of research and analysis at Analytiqa, says: "As Unilever takes the deci sion to award such a significant amount of its ambient transport needs to a single provider for the first time, we see Kimberly-Clark switching to use a group of hauliers operating on a regional basis to cut its UK road transport costs by 10%. These strategies demon strate the variable outsourcing dynamics in contract logistics between a customer and their logistics providers where 'one-size fits all' rarely works for either."
The deal was just the tip of the iceberg for contract wins and extensions over the past seven days... • BAA Heathrow Airport has awarded DHL Supply Chain a £22.5m, two-and-a-half-year contract extension to run the Heathrow Consolidation Centre until late 2012.
• Parcel carrier Hermes won a fiveyear, multi-million-pound contract with television shopping firm SitUp channels. The contract was previously held by Home Delivery Network Limited (HDNL).
• HDNL won a contract to distribute more than 6,500 product lines for bathroom retailer Plumbworld.
• Nightfreight won a home-delivery distribution deal with bed manufacturer Rest Assured.
However, the profitability of a recovery has been called into question. In documents filed at Companies House this week by Kentbased S&S Distribution Ltd chairman David Sanderson says: "The current economic cycle will force national companies to review their cost structures."
But he warns: "Due to the level of reduced work in the industry as a whole, there is now over-capacity in the marketplace, which is increasing the competition and driving prices downwards."