Wales boosts freight logistics hopes

publication date: Jul 10, 2008

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author/source: Robin Roberts

The Welsh economy demands a first class transport system, deputy first minister Ieuan Wyn Jones said yesterday.

The minister has special responsibility for the Welsh economy and transport and told 120 transport and freight specialists at the Hilton Hotel, Cardiff that he believed the way ahead was a multi-mode approach to improving movement of goods. He was launching the Wales Freight Strategy in the first conference of its kind in Cardiff.

The logistics sector employs about 6pc of Welsh workers and contributes around £2.5 Billion to the Welsh economy, he said, adding it was facing continuous challenges as a variety of factors moved the goalposts. Recently, said Mr Jones, he had raised concerns with The Treasury over the impact of fuel and duties.

“We have made it a priority to transfer goods from road to rail because it brings environmental benefits and we must provide alternative journey options by rail or sea, or better utilisation of road services to reduce vehicles running only part full or empty.”

But he added that road transport would remain a key factor in the freight industry so it has to be improved.

Wales Freight Group chairman Callum Couper told the conference that freight transport plays an essential and indispensible role in everyday life, supporting the economy and ensuring on-going investment and employment for millions of people.

“Freight is the lifeblood of the economy and without a reliable and cost effective network in Wales many of our manufacturers wouldn’t be able to operate successfully, particularly in the highly competitive commodity markets, and any extra costs will find their way through to customers and impact on competitiveness,” he said.

Bill Simons, chairman of the Welsh Freight Council, said work remains to be done to turn fine words into actions to back up what shortcomings had been aired in the consultation document which has led to the strategy plan. Pinch points need to be removed on sections of the road network east to west and improvements are vital North to South Wales while regional and urban transport plans must take account of freight needs, along with better management of movements and tighter controls on foreign operators and drivers.

He said the current fuel prices were having a very serious impact on bottom lines and in parts of Mid-Wales the cost was far in excess of more competitive urban areas so it is not good enough to just delay the 2p a litre planned rise but necessary to drop all duties to the EU average of 25p a litre.

Transport boss Huw Owens spoke of the threat from foreign registered vehicles and companies which did not contribute to the UK economy and attempts to ease congestion by night operations have increased operating costs in overtime payments.

Rail Freight Group spokesman Robin Smith said a key element to rail use was better utilisation of the network as demand was rising for passenger trains which restricted goods use while weekend maintenance posed further problems which needed addressing. The key is to develop a network before demand for it is apparent, he said.

Seaborne traffic is capable of much further development said Matthew Kennerley, of Associated British Ports, as ships could transport heavy goods with the lowest cost and some form of “local” shipping routes needed further development as well as quicker handling on the quays or railheads.

Air transportation is only suitable for certain types of products but there is scope to do more from Cardiff and airlines are being encouraged to operate a freight service from Wales to the Continent and further afield, said Martin Evans of the Wales Transport Research Centre. This raised issues of noise and emissions but the reality was that the pollution was a lot less than claimed by opponents.

At the heavy end of the sector, steelmaker Corus moves 80pc of output by rail but suffers because it is a seven day operation served by a five-days a week rail network which shuts down for maintenance at weekends and does not have an all weather loading facility anywhere in Wales, which can disrupt distribution, said Corus transport director Mike Nightingale.

From an economic perspective future business plans by companies may mean a move away from Just In Time commodity deliveries towards stock deliveries once again, Prof Garel Rhys told the audience. Increasing congestion, rising pollution and operating costs were making some manufacturers rethink their production plans and putting new demands on better forecasting and management of systems to wring out the maximum efficiencies from operators.

Improving transport links and maximising the modes of transport within Wales and to the world would create a unique selling point when it came to bidding for new contracts and inward investment, he added.

He led a discussion by more experts on the way ahead and Cardiff University transport specialist Ms Yingli Wang said there was an imbalance in the amount of freight moved into and out of Wales and along the Northern and Southern corridors and it presented opportunities to maximise utilisation of vehicles through better co-ordination and management of freight movements.

Sean Jones, of component makers Bergstrom Europe at Ystrad Mynach, said their experience of exporting to customers throughout Europe and beyond taught them that transportation costs were a major element in their overall competitiveness and as a result it is looking to design and develop its future products in Wales but open new factories and place some of the manufacturing closer to its customers in Russia, India and China.

Creating more roads is a necessary development, said Leighton James, also of the Wales Transport Research Centre, who pointed out that the M4 Newport had been built with the intention of handling 70,000 vehicles a day but was now seeing 100,000 a day passing through the Brynglas Tunnels. Future road schemes will demand more interested parties work together to achieve the best results in environmental, social and economic terms.