đź•’ Article read time: 2 minutes
Engineering the next stage of vehicle compliance
Unlike cars, commercial vehicles do not currently have an audited repair standard for bodyshops against which to be evaluated, yet insurance and accident management companies need to be able to assess where to place vehicles for safe, reliable repairs.
As Logistics UK’s Engineering Forum members discovered at their latest meeting, this is set to change with the launch of a new auditable standard by the Vehicle Builders and Repairers’ Association (VBRA), the Elite Truck and Van Body Repair Standard.
This standard, which will be fully auditable online as well as the subject of onsite inspections, has already been welcomed by the insurance and accident management industry, and was the subject of one of the presentations at the latest round of Logistics UK Engineering Forum meetings, with the Midlands forum being held earlier this month at Volvo Trucks’ UK headquarters in Warwick.
25 representatives from member organisations took the opportunity to investigate the new standard in greater detail, as well as discussing other key safety and compliance issues including brake testing, EU and UK legislation updates and MOT testing. After a presentation on the latest propulsion systems being developed by Volvo Trucks as part of their commitment to achieving net zero, attendees also had an opportunity to view the company’s latest vehicles for themselves and discuss the challenges they face in ensuring compliance while moving to a zero-emission future.
“Logistics UK’s Engineering Forum provides the ideal opportunity for members to learn more about the compliance issues facing the sector and discuss possible solutions with their peers,” said Phil Lloyd, Head of Engineering Policy at Logistics UK. “With so many regulations to follow and new developments to assimilate, seemingly every month, the Forum provides members with the ideal sounding board to discuss how to engineer a zero-emission future as effectively as possible. Many thanks to Volvo Trucks for hosting us for this meeting, and we look forward to more lively debates at our next round of meetings in late summer.”
If you have an engineering background and are interested in joining the Logistics UK Engineering Forum, please email plloyd@logistics.org.uk for more information.
Published On: 16/05/2024 15:00:00
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In brief
New transatlantic service cuts transit times by two weeks
Shipping company ACL’s new transatlantic service, launched last week in partnership with BG Freight Line and Peel Ports Group, will have transit times up to two weeks faster than any similar service travelling between Dublin/Belfast and North America via a UK or continental transshipment port.
The partnership will offer importers and exporters quicker access to/from the USA and Canada than ever before with direct calls at the major ports of Halifax, New York, Baltimore and Norfolk via the Port of Liverpool.
ACL’s new schedule will see Liverpool used as the first port in and out of Europe and vessels will not stop at any other intermediate European ports to further reduce the transit times. ACL and BG Freight Line - part of the wider Peel Ports Group - have also agreed to coordinate their schedules to minimise connection times at the Port of Liverpool, while both will also be given berth priority to ensure those smooth connections.
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