More than one hundred and twenty thousand vans at the table, A sector-wide express and courier briefing- national, regional, network and independent. Owner van driver at the heart of clean air with hot of the press TfL, GLA briefing for the new money to scrap last mile vans to Euro Six doubled to seven thousand pounds. Employment status to education and the latest levy-paid wins for drivers to managers in express courier. National Apprenticeship week, Univ West London launched the new Express manager Degree at the IOC round table. It was a full house hosted at the IOD Pall Mall with a 'Who's who' of sector, express courier welcomed to the IOD by the IOD London chairman, David Stringer-Lamarre and opened by the IOC Vice President, Sir John Hayes CBE, MP.
Welcome by IOC Vice President, Sir John Hayes CBE, MP
Sir John stepped out of Westminster to talk election, Brexit and new government with transport and final mile, welcomed DfT and DVSA to the keynotes.
Introductions and sector summary – Carl Lomas & Tracey Worth
Clean air, employment status and education at the core of the Institute, the Sunday email briefings, quarterly heads of industry round tables exceeding a hundred thousand vans each. Lobby for the owner-driver and latest van scrappage money doubled. Feb 28th fellows' gowning, research into customer promise for time of delivery, The National Courier Awards and 2020 sector trade shows.
A new IOC group chair announced, Richard England, Cambridge Courier Co is to take the role as IOC chairman for the SME and regional courier company group.
Building a first textbook for the express and courier sector with fellows' input of real-world final mile. We will be asking operators to polish the pages; this will be a real-world sector text.
Lauren Preteceille TfL – Van Scrappage – double money / owner-drivers
‘I also want to ask you for powered two-wheeler data’
Owner van drivers can step to a euro 6 with a seven thousand pound scrappage payment for their old van, it’s a big win for the final mile driver. Lauren delivered the detail hot off the press from the launch only weeks ago.
‘We have taken on board the value of an owner-driver's van, we have doubled the grant, I can also mention £1.75 million in London economic action partnership (LEAP) funding to deliver six more business-led Low Emission Neighbourhoods.. We will be tightening the LEZ, the Low Emission Zone - with an extension of the Ultra Low Emission Zone in 2021 and there will be lots of this sent via the IOC Sunday emails. – Road safety and Vision Zero, causal factors are at the heart of our concerns, we want to get to the route of powered two wheeler accidents.’ ‘I want to ask you for two wheel data'
Alan Lewis Constantine Law – Employment tribunal – Courier says 'No'
Worker status still a hot topic with the courts and tribunals - Lessons learned from the Employment Appeal Tribunal case of Stuart Delivery Ltd v Augustine were shared at the Heads of Industry meeting on 4 February by Alan Lewis, employment lawyer and partner with Constantine Law.
Alan talked IR35 and focused on that part of the worker status test that asks, “Is this a contract for the individual to perform work or services personally?” In particular, he shared the approach the courts are taking when considering the right to substitute someone else to perform the work. Delegates learned that there will be a strict examination of not just what the contract itself says, but what actually happens in practice. In the Stuart Delivery case, for example, the ability of a courier to “drop” a fixed slot he had opted for to provide services in the hope that another of the company’s couriers would pick it up instead, did not constitute an unfettered right of substitution to prevent worker status.
City of London Corporation – Thomas Parker
Ambitions for clean air final mile – Healthy streets
Cargo cycle parking at the express delivery point.
City of London Corporation have developed an innovative non-motorised commercial season ticket system for their public car parks to support the storage of cargo cycles near their collection and delivery points for express courier services. This received a 2019 National Courier Award.
Thomas Parker talked detail,
We are trying to consolidate freight using planning permission.’ ‘We want to see more cargo cycles in the City of London.’ ‘We are working towards last mile sites, van to cycle.’ ‘From our stats half of the vans in the city are not delivery, they are service vans.
With over half a million people commuting into the Square Mile each day, the City of London Corporation has taken a bold approach to improving air quality and road danger. In their 25-year Transport Strategy, freight and servicing vehicles are recognised as essential to the functioning of the City but that their impact must be reduced. Along with consolidation and retiming, supporting the uptake of cargo cycles for deliveries is essential to achieve this. One method is the release of larger parcels of land as dedicated logistics hubs for use of cargo cycles and pedestrian porters, the first of which will be released in March 2020.
We need to eliminate death and road traffic accidents from the city, we want more trips by cycle, we need to make the most efficient use of our restricted road space in the City Sq mile. Everything in the City is listed, we have the first zero emission streets. Fear not, we realise all freight vehicles cannot yet be zero emission.
We want to reduce the number of motorised freight vehicles by 15% 2030 , 30% by 2044. Reducing peak freight by 50% by 2030. Consolidation is at the heart of our vision. ‘We are trying to consolidate freight using planning permission.’ Longer term, we are asking for advice on consolidation site success and looking at returns and re-timing. Last mile logistics hubs, we have looked at assets for such use. Vans in, bikes out. We hope to see more cargo bikes in the City of London.
Thomas talked future vision for markets, Barking power station site and moving goods via jetty on the river.
DVSA Driver CPC Elizabeth Heaton - Charles Wright
Hands up for in-house driver training.
’We don’t want to see last-minute training for driver CPC compliance.’
Hands were in the air for Liz Heaton & Chris Wright as they asked the in-house driver training questions for the DVSA agenda.
In a cool double-act of delivery they brought detail and numbers from driver CPC and where the heavy vehicles sat in the final mile client chain. More than a decade of DCPC, over 1200 centres, while a small number deliver the most numbers. 3200 approved courses for DCPC, aprox 600,000 drivers in scope.
26 million driver training hours uploaded, but a lot at the last minute. We are finding large vehicle operators not planning the training regime in the correct way, ’we don’t want to see last minute training for compliance.’
Vocational driver training, safe urban driver, operator tacho, working hours, reducing fuel cost with better driving are what we want, we don’t want to see drivers taking the same course. ‘We want to drive forward one day a year planned driver training for DCPC.’ First aid, driver hours and dangerous goods remain at top of the courses offered for driver cpc. We are working on a voluntary DCPC trainer register.
DVSA Enforcement recognition. A five-year strategy to recognise best practice, carry a logo for anything relevant to road safety. This should go live in April this year, ongoing evaluation will be at the heart of the impact on products on road safety.
University of West London – the Express manager degree
Launched here in the National Apprentice week.
Delivery of your next generation managers in the Heathrow Logistics Hot Spot.
A degree apprenticeship for next generation managers without any student loan, paid by levy, delivered both in the express final mile workplace and via blocks at the University, off the job, delivered outside of the express sector peak periods. Three years including a manager CPC and FORS practitioner qualification fitted around the diary of final mile.
Janet Rowson and James Goodman, ‘We have a start date for the very first students in May; it's time to call us.
The two talked route to the new degree, application and gateway to the end-point assessment. It will also be possible to use prior learning from the job. Hons degree in Express manager is the goal for your employee. ‘How much will it cost and how do you pay for it?', the degree fee is set at twenty one thousand pounds, it comes from your levy payments.
The degree works well with existing staff. Three years long, it builds retention of your next-generation managers. Productivity lies in the degree entry level of your express courier business. Delivery at heart of West London, M4 corridor in the logistics hot-spot of Heathrow.
DfT Phil Martin, Man from the Ministry
E-scooters, the law does not allow use anywhere except private land.
From Ministerial portfolios, the Future of Freight project, additional weight and MOTs for electric vans through to eScooters and data collection were discussed in a roundup of current Department for Transport initiatives that impact on the Express sector.
Phil Martin DfT talked about the dept, it's ministers and responsibilities from Grant Shapps Sec of State to the roads minister.
We want to understand the whole freight journey, not just parts of the journey. We are looking at the way demand is driving your sector. Freight strategy, ‘you cant endlessly deliver over shorter and shorter timescales.
Phil moved to regs for new alternative fuel vehicles, further explaining electric at the MOT and licence weight for battery vehicles.
E-scooters - the law does not allow use anywhere except private land.
Our van survey - we are trying to understand the use of vans on the road, knowing the numbers between service vans and delivery vans, what those vans are really used for, where, when and for what distance.
Summary – Tracey Worth
One hundred and twenty thousand vans in the room.
This sector is busy, I thank fellows for attendance and I thank the speakers for their final mile delivery here today with one hundred and twenty thousand vans at this heads of industry round table.
Univ West London, launching the Express Manager degree here at the IOC round table during National Apprentice week. Today's applauses have been loud, the speakers have been focused on our sector. DfT man from the ministry talked govt dept to alternative fuel van regs. DVSA spoke driver CPC, City of London spoke consolidation centres, Barking and the markets. It was employment status form Alan Lewis, a network of networks from nationals to London regionals.
Your next round table date is May 14th, we have a special SME focus with cloud accounting to the final mile. Fellows' gowning is Feb 28th and we are already thinking National Courier Awards to find your best of best for 2020.
Please set your diary for the next IOC round table dates: May 14th, September 29th
