1.    Uber and the implication of London congestion fee charged to white vans but free to minicabs offering the same service.

Uber is a new phone style application used to book minicabs that are registered with the public carriage office in London. Use of the application is growing and has changed perception of the conventional form for a client to ring a centralised cab office.

Uber Rush is a new development focused on the same application but to use the mini cab to send a package or parcel. These competes directly with the traditional fleets of white vans on package deliveries in the streets of London.

The minicab is exempt of congestion charge fee.
The white van must pay congestion fee.

Consideration for a debate on the issue of one vehicle charged congestion fee and one delivering the same service which is not charged congestion fee.

2.    Freight vehicles not in production to provide ultra-low emissions.

The courier industry is particularly keen to provide the most carbon friendly solutions for inner city delivery.
A typical white van runs on diesel.
A typical white van driver working in London parks at roadside by their home and is unlikely to have a garage or off road parking. Facility and hook up for electrics is unlikely in the city fringe locations where white van drivers live.
White van driver covers around 250 miles per day, this exceeds present battery technology in an environment that is stop start in traffic. Routes change, bookings are sporadic, making hook up availability difficult.
Fuel savings are key to economic success of driver and company.
Ultra low emission zone is likely to arrive in London before the technology for van is available or affordable.

There is need for a vehicle solution for the courier industry to support Ultra low emissions.

Ultra Low Emissions TfL launch event  Jan 27th

A snazzy video with a Gnewt Hermes electric final mile delivery van set the scene for a positive exchange on an agenda for a healthier London at the LoCity launch Jan 27th.

Ultra Low Emission is far more than Euro 6, courier vehicles, small and light vans do not yet exist in the general marketplace and the 2020 timeline is racing towards us. IOC welcomed Transport for London's announcement of their January 27th launch event  of LoCITY – a brand new industry-led programme aimed at helping the freight and fleet sector lead the way in improving air quality and reduce carbon emissions.

IoC Chair Carl Lomas was on hand to listen to Mike Brown, new boss of TFL, responsible for 13 million passenger journeys a day.

Yodel has appointed former Arriva MD, Mike Cooper as its new chief executive officer. Mike will officially take up the position at the independent parcel carrier on 1 February 2016.

New CEO for Yodel appointed following a successful Christmas peak for Yodel, which saw the national courier award winning carrier handle 22 million parcels between 22 November and 24 December while achieving record customer satisfaction levels reported through the ‘have your say programme.’

Dick Stead, executive chairman of Yodel, said: “We're delighted to welcome Mike Cooper to the team. He has an impressive track record of galvanising people to deliver exceptional results and using consumer insight to drive a great customer experience. Mike will focus us still further on our ever improving service levels and provide impetus to Yodel’s growth ambitions.”.

Prior to joining Yodel, Mike spent nine years at Arriva plc, one of Europe's leading passenger transport providers, where he was deputy CEO and managing director. He also spent five years at easyJet as chief commercial officer, and four years at Thomson Holidays, where he was managing director of the direct sell business.

Exploding e-retail platform in the post Black Friday peak of 2015. It's not all parcels - pallets are going to home delivery. With a shift of pallets from classic B2B, in a recent IOC interview pallet network Pallex reported 30% of deliveries arrived at home address locations. Palletforce reported today central England investment in Staffordshire; 20 million to bring their facility to 50 million pounds, over 650,000 square feet and capacity for 30,000 pallets a night.

Deputy Director of the joint DfE/BIS Apprenticeships Unit Jennifer Coupland opened: introduction of the new institute for apprenticeships before key focus - ‘end point assessments’ measuring the assessments, quality and comparability both internally and externally. Event closed with an outline from Mark Froud FSSS (fed for sector skills standards) ‘certificate production by FSSS will be mandatory for all trailblazers’

John Lewis has launched a recruitment drive for 60 jobs at the retailer’s third distribution centre to open at Magna Park in Milton Keynes.

e-retail figures for the end of 2015 in the post Black Friday peak were the largest seen. “I’m excited to expand our warehouse team here at Magna Park 3,” said Terry Murphy, director of national distribution centres at John Lewis. “Our third national distribution centre in Milton Keynes is absolutely crucial to ensure a seamless omni-channel experience for our customers, and we’re looking to recruit driven individuals who can manage this process.” This is the third national distribution centre that John Lewis has opened in Milton Keynes – Magna Park 1 opened in 2009 and Magna Park 2 opened in 2016.

Nigel Base of the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders writes...

2015 registrations show strength of CV sector

2016 has started at a fast pace that I suspect is likely to continue. Final registration figures for 2015, released today, confirm a record year for vans and robust growth for trucks. This is good news for the industry as the New Year begins in earnest, but it's fair to say the bar is now set high.

 It’s interesting to note the shift towards heavier vehicles in all three main categories; vans, rigid trucks and artics. This trend has been apparent for nearly 20 years, but over the past 12 months there has been a step change. Vehicle users seem to be getting the biggest bang for their buck: the need to increase productivity, driver shortages and access to finance are all contributing to the shift.

Ultra Low Emission is far more than Euro 6; courier vehicles, small and light vans do not yet exist in the general market place and the 2020 timeline is racing towards us. IOC welcome Transport for London's announcement of their January 27th launch event  of LoCITY – a brand new industry-led programme aimed at helping the freight and fleet sector to lead the way in improving air quality and reducing carbon emissions.