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E very haulier working in the temperature-controlled distribution sector is under
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constant pressure from customers and competitors alike—letting standards slip is not an option. Running refrigerated vehicles is a complicated business governed by international regulations on top of the normal haulage legislation.
Not only is the equipment expensive and complicated, the driver has the extra responsibility of making sure his load stays within its specified temperature range throughout its journey.
The very nature of the game requires that standards of operation have to be kept very high because these days the multiples, supermarkets and public are driving the standards higher and higher," says Liam 011iff, company secretary of Transfrigoroute UK (TUK), the British arm of the sector's international trade association.
The supermarkets' growing emphasis on 'chill-fresh foods means food carriers are required to make more frequent just-in-time deliveries into shops and regional distribution centres, with increased levels of scrutiny, "The equipment used to transport foodstuffs needs to be of a very high standard and technologically advanced enough to be able to demonstrate to your customer that the food has been carried at exactly the prescribed temperature throughout its passage along the cold chain," 011iff explains.
The haulier must be able to produce an audit trail of the temperature of an item at every point in its journey.
"Refrigeration units have to be sophisticated enough to ensure that all this happens and the drivers also have to be knowledgeable about the subject, understand how to operate a fridge and understand the principals of airflow," he adds. "Whenever you out something in a fridge box it's not how cold the fridge unit is, it's how much air circulation is allowed around the goods.' To this end TUK is launching a driver training programme which will be supplied to its members and offered for sale to the industry at large. "It will go through everything from pre-trip checks to the dos and don'ts of fridge operation and loading," says 0111ff. "There's a huge driver shortage in this country and we want to make sure that the drivers that do exist are up to speed with how to look after a temperaturecontrolled load. You are giving the bloke an awful lot of responsibility." The programme will feature an illustrated presentation followed by a test.
Cool guide
Also new from TLJK is the Cool Guide—an A to 7 of temperature-controlled equipment operation. It covers everything from loading a trailer and the different types of door furniture to buying a reefer and the ATP regs (see panel, page 37).
Hauliers working in such a technologically sophisticated and highly regulated industry should be able to command a higher rate per pallet, but temperaturecontrolled distribution is not immune to declining margins. Competition from Continental operators and the constant downward pressure from the supermarket chains moans that rates are being cut to the bone.
John Harding, MD of Frome-based temperature-controlled logistics operator J R Harding & Sons, says: "The pressure is coming from the top. At this moment rates are no better than general haulage and it comes from the volume of transport available in this country."
Roland Llewellin, MD of Haverford
west-based RJ Llewellin International Transport, reports that he is just about managing to keep his rates static. He operates nine vehicles into the Continent. specialising in fish and shellfish Landed by a French fishing company in the north of Scotland as well as at Milford Haven in Pembrokeshire.
Despite fierce competition from foreign operators he has kept his contract with the company for six years. "There are a lot of people offering to do it a lot cheaper but we provide the service and we don't let them down," says Llewellin.
He adds that the gradual decline in the tonnage of fish being landed has been offset by an increase in the value of the loads.
He has watched the strength of the pound put a damper on exports and has consequently increased his UK work over the past year to compensate. "It's a hell of a job to get decent exports out of the UK; the rates are falling," he says.
"Quite often we send vehicles out empty to do the local European routes. We try to load them down to Kent, then ship them out and pick up a load in Belgium for example. On all our routes we are under really stiff competition from the Europeans—they're undercutting us by a hell of a lot. We're keeping a lot of our work because the customers know we do a good job, but it's getting very difficult."
Llewellin comes from a farming background; he started the haulage business in 1984, taking local agricultural produce to wholesale markets, In 1992 he bought his first reefer and now specialises in refrigerated transport. Apart from fish he carries cheese, meat, Pembrokeshire potatoes, ice cream and frozen vegetables.
To cope with the foreign competition he keeps six of his vehicles registered in Amsterdam. "The insurance on those trucks is about a third of the price of what it is for our British registered trucks," says Llewellin, who is actively considering a wholesale move to the Continent
High insurance He already buys his vehicles and fuel abroad—it's the high insurance rates in the UK which could be the deciding factor. "The VED is still quite high compared to the rest of Europe but the insurance in this country is going through the roof at the moment," he says. "You have to have 'deterioration' insurance which covers any problems such as failure of a fridge and the load being rejected because of temperature problems."
Last December Llewellin set up an internet-based temperature-controlled load matching service called Coolload (see box, below). So far 150 reefer operators have registered with the service. 'We are trying to build the customer base and hopefully when we get to a couple of hundred hauliers we can start to charge a monthly subscription and a usage fee," he says.
Llewellin keeps tabs on his vehicles via
a satellite tracking and messaging tem: "This tells us where the vehicle been and we can poll a vehicle and ge instant location within 50 yards and how fast it's going." Screens in the v cies display text messages, which se on the errors when dictating names addresses to the drivers. The sysi also keeps a record of the time rr sages were sent.
This technology is not yet widespr in the temperature-controlled sector, is becoming a viable option for operal who need to keep a close watch on IA can be very valuable loads.
Just under two years ago Read based Pulleyn Transport decided to its on-board monitoring equipment base via a satellite system. Twice a the satellite scans the fleet and do loads the journey and temperat records for each vehicle for the previ 12 hours, storing the data automatic
In transit
"We can monitor the temperature in o sit any time we want to," says operati director Graham Eames, whose elk insist on seeing records. The compa system stores the records for up seven years; this is needed for long-st life goods such as pharmaceuticals electronics. "They can sometimes cc back 18 months after the event and for a temperature record," he expla "Not because there is anything wr with the product but because they r be having their procedures checked.
Eames has standardised on C Chain monitoring equipment across 70-strong fleet: 'You have to have very best equipment to do the temp( ture recording and monitoring to s with. If that doesn't work properly yl never have any records."
Alarms on the vehicles alert Pulle base via the satellite if the load mc outside its temperature range for in than 20 minutes. "There's a flashing I on the trailer and a buzzer in the cab it also instantly comes through to computer in the office," says Eames big red panel saying 'temperature ala comes up on the computer. It gives trailer number and exact location where in the world-30 seconds a that it is automatically diverted toad cated GSM phone."
"As soon as that happens we get light onto the driver who can check it. drivers are trained and experienced I can look at the problem themselves." New drivers get up to two day's trainwhen they join the company dependon their experience. 'Even drivers ) have got refrigerated experience need to spend a day or more with us 1g through at the different types of cedures and equipment we run and / we use it," he says.
Eames does not compromise on ?,s; he stays ahead of the cheap Itinental competition by keeping his -dards high: "From a service point of v there's not one of them that could close to us. Customers have to come I see us, what we do, how we do it and equipment we use to see what they actually gettingfortheir money.'
By specialising in difficult and high's loads Fames avoids the downward pressure on rates being suffered by the food carriers: "We do the 'sticky end of the market. The harder and more difficult it is the more often they come to us. We do pharmaceuticals, ice sculptures, temperature-sensitive computer equipment, works of art etc."
Eames sees no advantages in being in temperature-controlled transport if it is not done properly: "It suits the people who like to work in a professional way, who take a pride in what they do, who like challenges.
"All transport is a challenge to a degree, but then you add to that the dimension of carrying goods which are perishable, which require specific temperatures—where you have to check temperatures before loading and make sure everything is right during transport." he adds.
However, Pulleyn Transport's sister company, Kidderminster-based Fransen Transport, is certainly being affected by the Continentals. The company runs a fleet of 12 multi-temperature vehicles into to western Europe as well as Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic. Managing director Henk euzink would not advise anyone to enter the temperature-controlled sector at present: "One of the biggest problems we face is the unfair competition with the Continentals. Virtually every part of our business is more expensive than on the other side of the water, "If you do your homework and get the right customers then you should be paid for the extras that you offer. But the whole thing has become so competitive, and one of the biggest problems in this country is the imbalance in road transport. There are far more imports than exports and this is even worse in temperature controlled."
This country
This view is echoed by Julian Reubens of Reubens Transport, based near Manchester Airport: "This country to me is a bunch of retailers. That's all this country is now. Manufacturers have gone. I've been in food distribution for 20 years but wouldn't consider moving to general haulage."
Reubens and his wife Marcia run a fleet of six vehicles working mainly for supermarkets. "They try and squeeze every last drop out of you," he adds. "They want it done cheap. At the end of the day you can go so cheap that people will use you, but you're not going to get anywhere if you want to upgrade your equipment. You've got to be in the middle. Anyone can be a busy fool." Reubens reckons he is facing unfair competition from Ireland: "I can't compete—a tot of Irish boys are running over here with Lithuanian drivers, paying them 2250 to be out all week. With cheap diesel as well, how can I compete?"
Sold out
Reubens sees a contract rental deal he has signed with BRS as one way of tackling the overheads: "At the moment I'm in the process of disposing of all my trucks and going completely to BRS. want to stay in the industry but obviously I've got to watch what's going on. We've been sold out by all the Governments. It's diabolical."