Dr Mick Jackson, operations director at Skills for Logistics, has been presented with a Fellowship by the Institute of Couriers for his work on Continuous Professional Development for the freight logistics industries, and its benefits to the courier community.
Others to receive Fellowships included: Neil Michaelodous of one of London’s oldest courier companies GHL; former winner of the National Courier Awards, Steve Purkiss of Reuter Brooks; Mark Davies of Swift Dispatch Liverpool; Steve Deverson, director of DHL; Ann Pall of City Sprint; Joe Sheehan, boss of medical services at Lewis Day; and Steve Hemmingway of Point to Point.
Former transport ministers Steve Norris and David Jamieson were appointed IOC vice presidents to the ceremony, which was held at the House of Lords, and were greeted by founding fellows of the IOC and chairman Carl Lomas. Lord Falkland, president of the IOC, hosted.
At the London Marathon, Ceva’s Newsfast division took charge of kitbag operations for the 15th year running. More than 40 Ceva trucks lined up at the start of the course at Blackheath and Greenwich so that the 35,000 competitors could hand over their tracksuits and day clothes. Twenty-six miles and 385 yards later, the runners collected their clothes (packed by Ceva in numbered kit bags matching their competitor numbers) from the vehicles in The Mall.
The vehicles travelled across London in convoy, accompanied by a police escort, arriving in Blackheath and Greenwich, the two starting points for the Marathon, at 6am and left about 10am to arrive in The Mall by 11am. The last vehicles left the Mall at 5pm to return to their depots. The vehicles were then used through the night to deliver the nation’s newspapers – containing all the coverage about the event.
Volvo Trucks is launching an audio system which it says matches features only found in exclusive cars. It’s the first truck maker to develop such a system, which can integrate Bluetooth, MP3, USB and iPod. The company hopes to seduce the best drivers by boosting the comfort of the environment for long haulage journeys.
Adaptation to Bluetooth means the driver’s mobile phone can be integrated into the system, enabling wireless operation. “You can handle your phone’s functions using the steering wheel controls and speak via the audio system’s microphone and loudspeakers,” said business area manager Christer Pehrsson. “Incoming calls are shown in the radio display and in the display in the instrument panel.”
The top model – Audio Power – includes an 8-channel amplifier and eight loudspeakers plus a subwoofer.
Agility has been providing a transport service around Pyongyang, the capital of North Korea for musical instruments. It looked after 22 tonnes of instruments on behalf of the New York Philharmonic Orchestra, which was staging its debut concert there. This was the first time that an international logistics company had provided such support.
The orchestra arrived from Beijing by charter flight at Pyongyang and the musical instruments had to be transferred within a few hours into the concert hall and back to the airport. The orchestra, as part of their recent Asia tour, contracted Agility Fairs & Events Canada and Agility Korea to handle the logistics for the concerts in Pyongyang and Seoul.
Four Agility trucks were given the green light to travel the 192km across the border from Seoul to the North Korean capital. The vehicles, with air-suspension and temperature-control equipment, were carrying broadcast equipment for television companies to Pyongyang in order for the concert to air to a global audience.
“The operation was demanding, keeping in mind the freezing weather conditions (-12C) and the need for careful handling of the high value cargo in a span of a few hours. We had to ensure that our trucks kept a constant temperature of +22C at all times,” said Olaf Tauschke, senior vice president of Agility Asia Pacific Region.
Agility Korea carried out a similar operation for the New York Philharmonic orchestra the day after the Pyongyang concert in Seoul. After the cargo was transferred by air to Incheon Airport, Agility trucks picked up the musical instruments and equipment for a performance at the Seoul Arts Centre, before the cargo was delivered to the airport for the return trip to New York, with Agility handling the air freight back.
