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BP outsourcing offers boost for tanker firms
Page 6
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PETROLEUM transport and logistics providers can Lender for all BP's transport work, after the supplier's decision to outsource.
"As part of a review of our logistics operations, we are inviting third-party logistics providers to Lender for the delivery of fuel from terminals to petrol stations, and to wholesale customers. We want to ensure we have a flexible and costeffective transport operation in place that allows us to compete in the highly-competitive UK market," a BP spokesman says.
The group currently employs 450 fuel tanker drivers directly, primarily at Grangemouth and Stanlow. and runs a fleet of 220 vehicles for 75% of its operations. DHL Supply Chain runs the remaining quarter of operations, but would not reveal the duration of the contract.
BP tells CM it wants to -provide users with the most cost-efficient service without jeopardising efficiency': so it is investigating whether or not external operators can offer a better deal.
A shift to using third-party operators would bring BP in line with other petroleum suppliers that tender to the wider market.
BP rival Shell uses Suckling Transport and Hoyer UK, which hit the headlines last year after union Unite won a 14% pay rise for drivers on the contract after a fourday strike over pay disputes (CM 26 June 2008).
Unite says it is concerned about a move from national negotiations as a result of BP putting its work out to tender, which, it says, could pre-empt similar moves by Esso and fuel retailer Sainsbury's. As CM went to press, the two firms were unavailable for comment.
"There are concerns that there is a deliberate strategy to end the direct employment of tanker drivers across the sector, with the aim of ending national bargaining on pay, terms and conditions," a Unite spokeswoman says.
The union, which tells CM that industrial action is a possibility as a result of the BP tender, was poised to hold a national conference involving oil industry tanker drivers yesterday log on to www, rnadtransport.com for further details on this story.
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