Truck and Track Summer 2023 www.truckandtrack.com 52 PALLET NETWORKS Wincanton wins expanded mandate for entire Halfords transport network Wincanton, a leading supply chain partner for UK business, has been awarded a new five-year contract with Halfords, the UK’s leading provider of motoring and cycling products and services, to manage its entire transport operations for UK and Ireland. Under the contract, Wincanton will transport over 63.5 million items per year from the retailer’s three distribution centres to its network of nearly 400 stores across the UK and Ireland. This contract builds on Wincanton’s existing eight-year partnership with Halfords, which has seen the Group use its transport management technology to deliver £10 million worth of continuous improvements to the efficiency and sustainability of Halfords’ transport operations. Wincanton has also introduced a fleet of eight LNG (liquid natural gas) vehicles to support Halfords’ net-zero ambitions. This initiative has removed 628 tonnes of carbon emissions from Halfords’ transport operations. Wincanton will now support Halfords to deliver its network strategy. The Group will also deploy its Winsight technology. This innovation, unique to Wincanton, will further enhance customer experience, reduce costs and CO2 emissions. Rachel Gilbey, Managing Director of General Merchandise at Wincanton, commented: “Halfords is a valued, long-standing customer and we are proud to be extending our partnership with them for a further five years. This continuing partnership is a testament to the great work that we do, delivering operational improvements for our customers, and we look forward to continuing to use our innovation and technology to drive efficiency in Halfords’ transport operations in the years to come.” Ian Ridley, Head of Logistics at Halfords, commented: “Following a comprehensive market review, we are pleased to announce that we are continuing our partnership with Wincanton with the award of a new five-year contract. Having held a very successful and long-standing partnership, we are delighted to be able to continue our efforts in delivering further service and cost improvements. “Our jointly-agreed strategic road map will allow us to deliver numerous Continuous Improvement projects that are focused on enhancing services to all of our stores and customers, identifying greener solutions for delivery and committing to drive tangible commercial benefits throughout the term of our contract. With the Wincanton leadership team now fully integrated into our operations, we are pleased to be able to retain this dynamic that has proven successful to date.” Pallet-Track delivers road safety training Pallet-Track has delivered a new road safety initiative to improve staff awareness around the challenges faced by HGV drivers on the road and on site. The Wolverhampton-based pallet network teamed up with the Road Haulage Association (RHA) to host an internal road safety training programme to mark World Day for Safety and Health at Work. Its office team experienced some of the challenges HGV drivers navigate daily thanks to a visibility demonstration using a double deck trailer. The interactive training session provided staff with the opportunity to gain a lorry driver’s view of the road with the help of blind spot mats, which highlight potential danger zones where pedestrians, cyclists and other vulnerable road users cannot be seen. Visibility is one of the leading causes of accidents involving an HGV; in 2021, 207 people were killed in road collisions involving an HGV that were reported to the police, according to Department for Transport figures. Participants took it in turns to sit in the cab and gain first-hand experience of the zones at the front, rear and sides of the vehicle and trailer where visibility is severely restricted. The groups were also educated on the challenges HGV drivers encounter every day and how everyone can play their part in helping to keep all road users safe thanks to a talk from the RHA and training videos. The interactive activity was positively received by the team and will be rolled out more widely as part of Pallet-Track’s ongoing safety drive. Caroline Green, chief executive at Pallet-Track, said: “Safety is our biggest priority at Pallet-Track and we are committed to providing our team with regular training activities that enhance their knowledge around HGV safety. “We would like to thank the team at the RHA for its support with developing an interactive safety activity that was engaging and had real impact. “As an industry, it is essential that we work to improve awareness of the difficulties faced by lorry drivers every day on our roads and improve safety for all road users. “To achieve greater awareness, Pallet-Track will be rolling out this initiative more widely and working with our local community to increase knowledge around HGV visibility restrictions.” Simon Priest, RHA area manager, said: “There is nothing more important on our roads then keeping people safe. It was a thoroughly informative and productive day – we were delighted to be involved with Pallet-Track in delivering this life-saving training.” Pallet-Track hosted a road safety training day to improve staff awareness on the challenges faced by HGV drivers TRUCK & TRAILER SOLUTIONS WELCOME TOALLPORTS GROUP allportsgroup.co.uk
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