Interviews

Motortransport.co.uk brings you in-depth interviews with the movers and shakers of the road transport industry in the UK. Learn from the best and the brightest to get ahead.
From entrepreneurs to chief executives of the most influential hauliers; operators and 3PLs in logistics – including Eddie Stobart; Yodel; DHL and Wincanton.

Interviews

City Link boss confident in turnaround plan

November 26, 2012 Steve Hobson

In November, City Link’s parent Rentokil revealed the express parcels firm had recorded a loss for the first nine months of the year of £24m, albeit £1m less than that posted in the same period of 2011 on revenue up £7m to £225m. Nevertheless Rentokil chief executive  Alan Brown reaffirmed his faith in the management […]

Interviews

APC Overnight relaxed about new hub delay

November 22, 2012 Steve Hobson

With annual volume growing at 15% to 18% in recent years, overnight parcels specialist APC Overnight has outgrown its national hub in Essington, West Midlands. The company is in the process of relocating to a purpose-built 120,000sq ft centre at Kingswood Lakeside just off the M6 Toll road, but due to the wet summer and […]

Interviews

FedEx Express sets itself tougher green goals

October 31, 2012 Steve Hobson

Global express carrier FedEx Express is well on its way to achieving its goal of increasing the fuel efficiency of its vehicle fleet by 20% on 2005 levels by 2020. Steve Hobson asks Will Martin, MD of the UK operation, how it is being achieved here. Back in 2008, FedEx Express set itself the goal […]

Interviews

Knights of Old – service is not just a slogan

October 12, 2012 Steve Hobson

Knights of Old (KOO) was founded in 1865 by William Knight with a single horse and cart, and has grown steadily and today runs 169 trucks and 185 trailers. The modern history of the company really starts in 2000, when it moved to its present base on a ten acre site in Kettering, which now […]

Interviews

The DSA’s Mark Magee answers questions on Driver CPC

September 17, 2012 Steve Hobson

Mark Magee, the Driving Standards Agency’s acting director for regulation, standards and development, answers MT’s questions on Driver CPC. Many operators and drivers are cynical about the Driver CPC, regarding it as an expensive waste of time. I believe that one reason for this is the perception – right or wrong – that some people […]

Awards

2012 Haulier of the Year CM Downton profiled

August 3, 2012 Steve Hobson

The 2012 Haulier of the Year, CM Downton, is a family-run firm based in Moreton Valence, Gloucestershire. Despite MD Andy Downton’s self-deprecatory comments about the family just being simple West Country folk, the company is highly respected for its professionalism and consistent strong performance. In an industry characterised by brutally low margins, where hauliers are […]

Interviews

Wm Armstrong – keeping it in the family

July 18, 2012 Steve Hobson

Haulier Wm Armstrong, based just on the English side of the Scottish border in Longtown near Carlisle, celebrates its 85th anniversary this year, and the third generation of the family running the business today are working hard to ensure the business is handed on to future generations. The famous green livery – which the firm […]

Interviews

Widdowson builds on Waitrose success

June 15, 2012 Peter Steele

In April, Leicester-based Widdowson achieved a significant milestone: it became the first third party selected by Waitrose to be the supermarket chain’s official logistics partner in the Midlands. Waitrose has previously nominated carriers only to assist with distribution in the North and South. The move demonstrates how far the operator has come since it started […]

Interviews

Vosa chief prefers carrot to big stick

June 1, 2012 Steve Hobson

In his introduction to Vosa’s recently published 2012/13 business plan, chief executive Alastair Peoples promises the agency’s focus will be “on balancing ‘regulatory’ enforcement interventions with education initiatives to empower the industry to increasingly manage [its] own compliance”. To the glass half empty contingent, this could sound like an alarming budget-driven reduction in enforcement effort […]

Interviews

Ryder on track with Hill Hire integration

March 28, 2012 Justin Stanton

Ryder Europe vice-president and MD David Hunt’s claim that “Ryder is full of the joys of spring”,  is not what MT expects to hear as we meet to discuss the integration of Hill Hire. But like the company he works for, Hunt can pull the occasional surprise. Ryder’s big surprise last year was the £151m […]