14 BULKDISTRIBUTOR Road & Rail Tanks
July/August 2020
BNP Paribas appoints Michelin as preferred supplier
Michelin is now supplying tyres for BNP
Paribas Rental Solutions’ UK fleet, as
part of a new agreement with one of Europe’s
largest asset finance, leasing and rental
specialists.
The deal sees Michelin’s services & solutions
division supplying all tyres on a fully managed basis
across a nationwide fleet of specialist vehicles –
each with individual policies tailored to meet the
needs of BNP Paribas customers.
Fitting and maintenance will be carried out on
Michelin’s behalf by service partners ATS Euromaster
and Tructyre ATS, whose mobile technicians are in
the process of rolling out the manufacturer’s tyres
across the fleet.
Benoit Laflamme, head of BNP Paribas Rental
Solutions UK, said: “We are delighted to announce
this new partnership offering quality and
professionalism that will ensure delivery of first-class
service to our customers.
“It’s not a one-size-fits-all policy; Michelin is using
the full extent of its tyre range to cater for our
varied customer base, which operates everything
from specialist vans to HGVs, including fuel tankers,
cranes, car transporters, refuse collection vehicles
and refrigerated trucks on intensive multi-drop
work.”
The partnership has already hit the ground
running, with BNP Paribas supporting fleets in the
fuel, builder’s merchants, traffic control, distribution,
The BNP-Michelin partnership has hit the ground running supporting fleets in many sectors including fuel distribution
healthcare and waste sectors that have helped keep
the nation during the coronavirus pandemic.
“Delivering maximum fleet uptime is one of our
key value pillars and we pride ourselves on
delivering a fast, efficient, market-leading service,”
said Ged Mellish, head of operations at BNP Paribas
Rental Solutions.
“The early feedback we’ve had has been
outstanding. One of our large national customers
reported the level of service it has received is the
best it has ever had. The Michelin product, as a
whole, fits perfectly with what our company is all
about – quality.”
Andrew French, Michelin’s director of services &
solutions for the UK, Ireland and Nordics, added:
“We have a track record for delivering customercentric
solutions backed by high-technology
products, alongside quality customer service, and
this reputation was key to winning this significant
new contract.
SABIC contract for Abbey
“The team at BNP Paribas Rental Solutions were
clear from the outset that they wanted a tyre
management solution where the focus was on
sustainable mobility, enhancing their green
credentials, and that’s precisely what we’ve been
able to deliver. It reinforces the shared values of
both companies and it will allow us to partner on a
number of different levels going forward.”
www.michelin.com
Road tanker operator Abbey Logistics has
added another major plastics producer to
its growing list of customers in the plastics
sector.
SABIC Europe has awarded Abbey a distribution
contract to transport bulk polymer granules
throughout the UK.
The contract will see Abbey use its large fleet of
speciality tipping silo road tankers. The haulier’s
business development director Mike Ellis said:
“All of us at Abbey are excited to begin this
contract with SABIC and work together to drive
service and flexibility improvements and identify
ways to optimise the operations under our
management.
“This contract is another major milestone for
Abbey, establishing us as one of the largest bulk
tanker distributors in the polymers sector and
indicative of Abbey’s commitment to growing our
footprint in the polymers sector.
Meanwhile, Abbey has also ordered 52 tractor
units from DAF and Mercedes Benz. The order
follows a “significant improvement in financial
performance, despite COVID-19”.
CEO Steve Granite commented: “Performance
in the financial year to June 2020 has seen a
major improvement and a return to profitability
since earlier this year. I am incredibly proud of
what our team has achieved since we made
structural and operational changes in late 2018,
and not only are we back to where we should be
financially, our service to customers is back to
industry leading standards and our workforce is
motivated and engaged.”
The group says more investment is planned in
its fleet in 2020 as the company continues to see
growing sales despite challenging market
conditions.
Abbey’s latest order is a mix of DAF CF and XF
and Mercedes Benz’s latest generation Actros.
The vehicles are expected to go into service in
September and will operate across Abbey’s fleet
of bulk liquid and powder road tankers.
The majority of vehicles in this order are dual
purpose which means they are equipped with
both pumps for liquid products and blowers for
powder or granulated products. The benefit of
this is that they can be used across both liquid
and powder operations creating additional
flexibility in the fleet.
Gary Lawson, national fleet manager, said:
“Following extensive trials of these vehicles, we
felt each model would benefit our fleet and our
customers in different ways depending on the
type of work it would be doing.
“Our operations require specialist vehicles with
specific equipment needed for the sensitive
products we carry, and we were very pleased with
the performance of both the DAF and Mercedes
Benz vehicles in our trial and look forward to
taking delivery in September.”
www.abbeylogisticsgroup.com
VTG completes
LPG pool
modernisation
VTG Rail Logistics has successfully
completed its LPG pool modernisation
operation.
The company has been gradually renewing its
fleet since 2014, with around 800 of the near
1,500 tank cars having been retrofitted or
replaced.
The modernisation of the fleet carries a number
of advantages. The wagons can now carry a larger
payload, for example, which improves transport
efficiency. In addition, newly installed braking
systems are significantly quieter, and crash buffers
ensure that dangerous goods can be transported
even more safely as the energy absorption units
absorb the impact energy, protecting the tank.
Most of the wagons are also equipped with the
VTG Connector telematics module, allowing for
the provision of additional services, such as
tracking and tracing.
“We’re thrilled to have been able to conclude
the modernisation operation successfully and
according to plan, especially in these challenging
times,” said Frank Bensaid, managing director of
VTG Rail Logistics Deutschland. “With our modern
fleet, we are now able to offer our customers
increasingly safe and efficient ad hoc transport.”
With its pool of tank cars, VTG Rail Logistics
operates the largest private LPG fleet in Europe.
Annual volumes and, to a large extent, ad hoc
volumes can be transported.
Abbey ordered 52 tractor units from DAF and Mercedes Benz
www.vtg.com