'Sharing Resources for a better Future'

The Challenge

Most companies involved in the distribution of freight in the U.K. acknowledge the enormous responsibility we have for protecting our environment.

The road freight industry, in particular, realises that empty running by vehicles is both costlyand inefficient, and recognises that improved vehicle utilisation is a key factor to making the most of our natural resources. 

A DETR report published in 2000 argued that there is significant potential to improve road freight utilisation in Britain.

This report pointed out that, surprisingly, only 36% of trucks are fully loaded on their outward journey. And ­ worse still - only 16% make their return journey with a full load on board.

In fact, the report found that a quarter of trucks are completely empty when making the return leg of their journey.  

An analysis of this report shows that ­ despite the industry's campaign for heavier trucks - on average, vehicles are only three-quarters loaded on their outward journey and, on return journeys, trucks are less than half loaded. This indicates that the road freight industry achieves something in the region of 60% overall utilisation ­ and the petroleum tanker sector, is probably worse than this.

 Another interesting and very comprehensive report published this year was the Lex Transfleet Report called Freight Transport 2000. This suggested ­ not surprisingly - that co-operation between different users of freight transport could achieve substantial increases in resource utilisation. The report went on to say that truck sharing and co-ordination of road freight operations would reduce costs substantially. A fairly obvious observation to make, but one none the less which has obviously been missed by many in the freight industry.  

But the report warned that there are certain types of haulage, which are so specialised, that it is not possible to introduce load sharing. And, as the example, they specifically referred to oil tanker vehicles. 

In a report published by Croner earlier this year, Head of External Affairs for the Freight Transport Association, Geoff Dossetter, said: "It is inevitable that some lorry journeys will always be run empty, like petrol tankers"

The Solution

We like to challenge received-wisdom at Suckling Transport and we must therefore ask why it should be impossible to share resources in tanker distribution? Tanker vehicles are compartmentalised and are suitable for carrying a variety of products, such as petrol, diesel and kerosene, without the need for cleaning or flushing of those compartments. 

A recent Motor Transport editorial said "Shared distribution in white trucks must be the way forward for retail deliveries". Suckling's Eco Guardian project has already demonstated our capabilities of working in partnership with major UK companies such as Shell, DAF, and Michelin to achieve objectives. Working as a team, sharing resources, is part of our company culture.  

Suckling Transport feels adequately qualified therefore to launch TankShare; which as far as we know, is the first groupage service designed for oil tanker distribution. The scheme operated from terminals along the Thames; Immingham, Ipswich, Bristol and Grangemouth in Scotland. Over 40 companies have used the service since its launch stage, paying rates based on a simple pence per litre basis, by postcode, dependent on the delivery load size.  

In 1999, Suckling Transport won the Freighting Industry Environmental Best Practice Award for its Eco Guardian Project, which, environmentally, established Sucklings, and its customers, as part of the solution and not part of the problem. 

Continuing its commitment to protecting our environment and for promoting best practice, Suckling Transport is now leading the way in resource sharing. In the editorial mentioned earlier, Motor Transport said that "Own account operators need to look carefully at their empty mileage". In order to make such an examination worthwhile, there needs to be a viable alternative.  

We believe that TankShare represents that alternative. It can reduce empty mileage, it can improve efficiency, it can reduce costs and it can, like the Eco Guardian project, help us take a step towards a better future.