Behind the shed
Valentino goes trucking
Iveco has been named Official Sponsor of the Fiat Yamaha MotoGP Team whose rider Valentino Rossi has won the world championship nine times.
The new season kicks off in Qatar on 11th April, with Rossi of Italy and his partner Jorge Lorenzo of Spain looking to secure another strong season for the team. This sponsorship agreement with Fiat Yamaha will run for two years and includes the supply of a further four Iveco Stralis Active Space Super heavy trucks, in addition to the two already in use during the past two seasons. The UK leg of the MotoGP Championship takes place on 20th June at Silverstone.
Need a hero
The International Road Transport Union is searching for candidatures for the IRU Grand Prix d’Honneur. This distinction, awarded since 1968, will be presented at the First IRU-EU Presidency Conference in December to a driver in international road transport who performed an outstanding act of courage in the course of his or her professional duties.
The last winner was Barthel Green who received his award at the 31st World Congress from IRU president, Janusz Lacny.
In November 2006 Green was driving his vehicle in the Charleston, South Carolina and noticed a school bus driving unusually slowly in the centre lane. Pulling up his rig for a closer look, he discovered that the bus driver had passed out and that several children had grabbed the steering wheel and were attempting to steer the vehicle.
Green sped up his truck, passed the bus and pulled over. After exiting his vehicle, he ran alongside the school bus and opened the door to board the bus. He then managed to steer it safely off the road.
Eight legged beast
The Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport has restructured its organisation into eight professional sectors covering Supply Chain, Transport Planning, Rail, Active Travel & Travel Planning, Bus & Coach, Ports Maritime Waterways, Freight Forwarding and Aviation.
CILT chief Steve Agg reckons this “provides an opportunity for everyone in our profession to find their home in our institute”.
Charged up
Exide staff were recently surprised to get a request from a Mauritius engineering company wanting a price for a replacement battery on behalf of a customer’s Toyota forklift truck – whose original battery was 15 years old.
Jean-Marie Nuteau of Ray & Lenferna in Mauritius said: “The customer has stuck to a regular maintenance schedule . . . which goes to show what can be achieved with the right product.”
Logistics of love
The Freight Transport Association is launching a major new event, “The Logistics Showcase” to coincide with the CV Operator show on 13th April.
“It will be a major celebration of the logistics sector,” said FTA chief executive Theo de Pencier. “It will raise the profile of the sector and celebrate its successes.”
More than 600 people are expected to attend the event, which is being promoted with the slogan “Love Logistics”. It will see the launch of a new report featuring the results of two major surveys. The first is a public attitudes survey carried out by TNS-BRMB; the second is an in-depth industry survey.
The Logistics Showcase takes place at the Hilton Metropole in Birmingham. Details at: www.lovelogistics.co.uk
On yer bike
Four members of Acumen’s staff have decided to stop driving or taking the bus to work and have opted instead to buy a bicycle through the CycleScheme.
Acumen buys the bikes from a participating CycleScheme retailer. The company then “leases” the bike to the employee and the employee pays off the bike over a set period, which is usually 12 months.
The Acumen employees who have signed up for the scheme all work as drivers for the Northampton-based logistics company. They make a saving of between 30 per cent and 50 per cent on the cost of the bike through the scheme.