The Heaviest Airlift

Logistical Challenge is a definite fan of record breaking. After all what could pose a more difficult task than smashing the Guinness World Record, being put at the pinnacle, number one in your class. The Antonov (you can find more information on my Antonov post here) has done just that lifting a whopping 16.23m long by 4.27m wide gas power plant generator.

The generator weighed in a record 189.09 tonnes.





This Transcript from the Guinness World Records Website;

Antonov airlines are continuing to break records with their very impressive Antonov 225 aircraft – also known as “Myria”, meaning “dream”. This incredible plane already holds a number of records, including that of the only plane to have a maximum take-off weight of over 600 tonnes and the plane with the widest wing-span, at 88.4 m (290 ft).

Antonov airways were the current holders of the record for the heaviest item airlifted: in 1993, the Antonov 124 carried an item (which must be a single piece not requiring further assembly) weighing 124 tonnes. The Antonov 124 and 225 aircraft specialize in lifting heavy cargo, though they require a runway capable of accommodating adequate landing space as these are extremely large and heavy aircraft.

The crowds had started gathering before myself and the commercial

director of Antonov airlines, Mr Valery Kulbaka, we arrived at 9:30 a.m. Once two cranes had taken the weight of the cargo, which was a generator needed in a power plant in Armenia, I measured its weight; at a staggering 187.6 tonnes, it was indeed the heaviest item ever prepared to be airlifted. This was just the start of the operation, though: there followed a very intense and complicated process to get the item loaded into the massive 225. Many countries had been involved in getting the generator to Germany’s Frankfurt Hahn airport where this record attempt took place; all worked extremely well together and the operation went according to plan.

After they managed to load the generator carefully onto the specially prepared ramp, which had to be set at precisely 2.5 degrees, the team proceeded to winch the 187.6 tonne item slowly into the aircraft. Once it was fixed in place inside the aircraft, the Antonov team received a round of applause from the onlooking crowd. The record was not broken yet, though, as the aircraft still had to become airborne.

The crew continued to work extremely hard to get everything in place ready for take-off. By now it was past 11 p.m., but crowds of people were still flocking to the airport to get a view of this record-breaking lift-off.

Myself and Mr Kulbaka, accompanied by all the press teams, headed towards the end of the runway where the 225 was set to take off – and take off it did, the plane leaving the runway with a smooth elegance and grace, giving every appearance of being weight free. I then presented Mr Kulbaka with his well-deserved Guinness World Records™ certificate in front of the media; the onlooking crowds pressed up against the fences to witness this historical moment on the 11 August 2009.

Author Unknown; Date 11 Aug 2009; Heaviest Item Airlifted. Guinness World Records [online] community.guinnessworldrecords.com, Available from: SOURCE [Accessed 30 Aug 2009]

First of new trains arrives in Melbourne

THE first of Melbourne's new trains has been unloaded from the docks and taken to Newport.

Following a month-long journey by sea from Italy, the train was taken by truck through the inner-west overnight.

The first task will be to fit seats into the train before a lengthy period of testing until late November.

But the majority of the train is complete, with windows, interior panels and vinyl floorings already installed.

A spokesman for Public Transport Minister Lynne Kosky said all components of the train, such as the brakes and power, would be tested independently to ensure it is working properly.

“Being the first train, the testing phase is even more integral to smooth roll-out of the rest of the new trains,” spokesman Stephen Moynihan said.

“Any issues identified with this first train will be rectified and then help to smooth the production and delivery of the rest of the trains on order.”

Testing would only take place overnight when regular services aren’t running.

“Once all commissioning and acceptance testing has been completed, the train will be decked out with new livery and will be ready for service,” Mr Moynihan said.

To commuters, the trains will differ little from the existing Alstom X’Trapolis trains that already run in Melbourne, but there will be technical improvements for drivers.

It was the first of 38 new trains ordered by the State Government to cope with booming train patronage.

About half the order will be progressively shipped to Melbourne, while the others will be assembled in Ballarat.

The entire fleet of the new trains will be on the tracks by 2014.

Passengers will start using the new train that arrived last night later this year.

Gardiner, A. ; Herald Sun (August 25th 2009). First of new trains arrives in Melbourne. Herald Sun [online] news.com.au Available from: SOURCE [Accessed 25 August 2009].

Big Squeeze

(August 21st, 2009). Is the squeeze about to ease?. Channel 7 News [online] Youtube; courtesy of user: VictorianTrainDebacle. Available from: SOURCE [Accessed 22 August 2009].

Antonov. Heaviest & Largest

In the late 1980's the Soviet Government required a Strategic Air lifter for the Russian Space Program, its primary mission to transport the Buran Orbiter Space Shuttle. Secondary mission, transport Over-size payload.

Introducing the Antonov An-225....

The world’s heaviest and largest jet ever built. The wing span alone 291 feet, the landing gear features an amazing 32 wheels.

It was designed for the Soviet space program in 1988 and able to airlift the Energia rocket’s boosters, Buran space shuttle or ultra-heavy and oversize freight, up to 250 tonne internally or 200 tonne on the upper fuselage.

Cargo on the upper fuselage can up to 70m long!

Photographer Unknown (Year Unknown). English Russia "The Eastern Entertainment Channel" [online image] Available from: SOURCE [Accessed 28 June 2009].

Afghanistan Ballot Box Mirage

Tomorrow one of the most complicated elections ever will take place.

17 million eligible voters will treacherously make there way to one of the 35,000 odd voting stations across Afghanistan. Those who have not been deterred from the violence, will still face a tiresome journey, as many of the voting stations have been setup in remote locations. Not to mention the fact the country is still in conflict.

The IEC (Independant Election Commission) setup a gigantic warehouse in Kabul, where all final preparations for the August 20th Presidential poll will take place. Initial voter registration began late last year, last month all but five districts have now enrolled those missing out due to poor security measures.

As challenging as running the election will be, logistically Afghanistan remains one of the harshest terrains on the planet, endless desert and treacherous mountains add to the array of difficulty this operation knowingly attracts.

The IEC has arranged for 3,500 trucks to carry all voting materals to the various voting stations. In addition 3000 donkeys have been despatched to help move the populace to very remote areas.

Aurora Australis Breaks the Ice

MV Aurora Australis, The bright orange icebreaker an all purpose built ship for clearing a path is designed to take logistical challenges head on. Well, technically as I learnt today from the top.

Icebreakers do not ram the ice as such. I've always assumed these ships split the ice front on dividing the remains aside, but hey you learn something new everyday.

The Australis and other icebreakers ride up onto incoming ice, allowing the dead weight of the ship to actually crack through the shelf.

Our very own big bright orange icebreaker can be found docked over the winter period at the AAD (Australian Antarctic Division) Headquarters in Kingston Tasmania, roughly 10 kilometers south of the capital Hobart.

The Australis was built by P&O Polar and sailed for the first time in September 1989 and nearly 20 years to date, it still remains one of Australia's most unique ships.

TRANSCRIPT FROM CHIEF ENGINEER BRAD ESSON; COURTESY - AUSTRALIA NETWORK, NEXUS (SOURCE)

BRAD ESSON: Hello, my name is Brad Esson, I’m the chief engineer on the RSV ‘Aurora Australis’. We’re tied up at the moment at Princess Wharf in Hobart.

The ‘Aurora Australis’ is an icebreaker. It can cut ice up to about 1.6 metres at a speed of around one to two knots through the heavier ice and up to 6 knots in the thinner ice.

We’re laid up at the moment doing maintenance work to our main engines, ready for the start of the Antarctic season this year. The ‘Aurora Australis’ travels to Antarctica during the Antarctic summer which is roughly from about October through to about April. And it resupplies all the Australian as well as overseas bases.

We also take expeditioners and scientists down there for the summer. At the moment, I’m standing on the navigational bridge of the ship. The ship is navigated from here, obviously, and steered from here. The ship’s captain controls all the operation up here. I’m in charge of all the technical side of operations so I work down in the engine room.

To get to Antarctica it operates in the Southern Ocean, which is without a doubt the worst seas in the world. We’ve had instances where waves are up to 30 metres or even more. Makes it very unpleasant to try and sleep. A lot of the expeditioners suffer chronically from seasickness and they’ll be seasick for weeks.

Getting down there sometimes, you do feel sorry for them because they don’t eat, but you haven’t got to queue up as long to get your meals. Here we have a chart of the various places this vessel has travelled since it was built. The main places we go is – Hobart is here. That’s Macquarie Island.

Down here we have Casey Base, here we have Davis Base and here we have Mawson Base. As we go further south to around about Macquarie Island and Heard Island is where the extreme weather is, in this belt here. As you head further south you start to strike icebergs at around 60 south.

And at 60 south and further, it gets calmer and calmer because the sea is damped down by all the ice. There are two main types of ice. One of them is sea ice and the other is icebergs. Icebergs have been broken off off an ice shelf or off a glacier and they’re fresh water. And the other ice, we call it pancake ice or just sea ice, which is, basically, the top of the sea is frozen. Here we have the lifeboats. There’s one on each side of the ship. We hope we never have to use them, but they’re here just in case. Inside here you can see each of those black marks is a bottom, is one man.

So as you can imagine, it’d be very cramped in there in an emergency. So we like to spend as little time as possible in the lifeboats. The absolute last resort. This is my cabin where I live. I’ve got the same as the captain’s cabin, so he’s got one exactly the same on the other side of the ship. Most cabins are a lot smaller. We’ll show you that later. I’m standing now in the galley which is where all the food’s prepared.

There’s three cooks, and cooking for up to 140 people, three meals a day. This is one of the expeditioners cabins. Each of those two loungers fold out to bunks and those other boards at the top there fold down to be bunks. So there’s four per cabin. I’m now standing in the cargo hold. This is a twin-deck cargo hold, so these plates lift up, there’s another area the size of this below us.

We carry all our provisions for the Antarctic in here for all the bases. There’s bulldozers and containers and food and all sorts of things. These doors above me fold open and we use the crane to lift the cargo out of here and put it on the ice. Here we are in the engine control room. All the systems are controlled from here. Everything is monitored from here, pressures and temperatures.

If we have a problem, if something isn’t operating correctly, an alarm will sound in here. And if it’s outside working hours, it will sound in the duty engineer’s cabin. We also control all the hotel services. This vessel has over 100 people on board, so you are basically controlling a small town. So we have all the waters, sewerage systems, electricity, airconditioning.

Basically, what my day-to-day life on here is work, eat and sleep. I don’t do anything else. I don’t read books, I don’t… I watch the occasional video, but maybe less than five in a whole trip. This area is the engine room so it’s very noisy. You need earmuffs and ear protection at all times.

And you can’t communicate with people. The only way to communicate is by gesturing or take them to another quiet area. We can burn up to 60,000 litres of diesel a day. We can load probably up to 2,000 tonnes, or two million litres, of diesel.
Here I am standing back out on deck again. Just fore of the bridge, or forward of the bridge. I hope you have enjoyed our tour of the ‘Aurora Australis’ and, yeah, it’s a great place, Antarctica.

Esson.B Transcript; Date unknown; Aurora Australis. Australia Network [online] australianetwork.com, Available from: SOURCE [Accessed 18 Aug 2009]

Nepal Logistically Challenged

The WFP always makes for a great source for nightmare to navigate countryside, horrendously difficult terrain and unique logistical predicaments us traditional office working logisticians usually don't come along throughout our day to day duties. Last month I posted another interesting article on the Libyan Desert Corridor (Link); this month a transcript from an interview discussing the current food epidemic in Nepal, South East Asia.

Nepal may be small, but the mountainous country presents vast logistical challenges to WFP. Country Director Richard Ragan talks to web writer Michelle Hough about the peace process and WFP's creative responses to Nepal's challenges.

1.WFP has over 40 years’ experience in logistics, but how does it cope with the remoteness of many communities in Nepal?

On a clear day, I pull myself out of bed in Kathmandu, which sits squarely in the middle of the country, and from my rooftop see Mount Shisapagma.

It's the 12th highest mountain in a country which is home to eight of the 14 highest mountains on earth. Just behind it sits Tibet so Nepal is really quite a narrow country. But one shouldn't be fooled by the size, geographically this stands as the most challenging place I've ever worked.

Sometimes I feel like we're trapped, logistically speaking, in an expanded version of Steve Martin's famous movie "Planes, Trains and Automobiles" that should be called "Planes, Porters, Tractors, Trucks, Yaks, Donkeys and Helicopters”.

So far, the only things we haven't exploited for delivering food are elephants.

Transcript: Ragan.R, Hough.M, (10th January 2008). Ain't no mountain high enough: WFP Country Director Richard Ragan talks about challenges in Nepal. WFP [online] WFP.org. Available from: SOURCE [Accessed 17 August 2009].

A SPECIAL BIG THANKS to the World Food Program for this detailed logistical insight. As a token of your appreciation, if you can afford it please click here and make a small donation now.

Logistical Rally Race

NAC Insurance International Rally of Whangarei

Media statement
21 May 2009

Rally brings international logistics challenge

When the NAC Insurance International Rally of Whangarei takes place over the weekend of 6 and 7 June, an integral part of the event’s preparation will have been the shipping of cars and equipment for the FIA Asia Pacific Rally Championship (APRC) competitors.

The previous APRC round was in Queensland on 9 and 10 May and the aim is to have everything arrive a week prior to the next event, says APRC co-ordinator, Murray Brown, who manages the logistics of shipping the team’s valuable containers around the seven countries which host the APRC rounds. These are: New Caledonia, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Malaysia, Indonesia and China.

Christchurch-based Brown grew his logistics prowess having been responsible for freighting the late Possum Bourne’s cars and equipment around the globe. He says timing is critical with just four weeks between the Queensland’s mid-May round and the New Zealand event.

“We can’t afford to miss a boat or have a vessel delayed,” comments Brown. We have to fit in to sailing schedules as well as internal travel. Those four weeks disappear very quickly – especially when we like to have the containers on the ground for the teams a week before the event – so the timeframe shrinks very rapidly.

“With the current economic situation globally, a lot of the shipping lines are actually rationalising their shipping schedules so the length of time to transit from point A to point B has increased in a lot of cases, simply because they are calling in to point C along the way,” adds Brown.

With nine containers to ship safely to Whangarei, Brown says the job is to provide a country-to-country service so the teams can solely concentrate on the competition.

“Coming in to New Zealand we have a mix of five 40ft containers and four 20ftcontainers. Two teams run their own mobile workshop trucks, with rally cars reconnaissance cars and one team runs a people-mover as well, plus spare parts, and tyres. We have at least seventeen vehicles – a mixture of rally cars, reconnaissance cars and support vehicles.

“Normally included in the containers are 5-600 tyres spread across the teams, plus any others that get air freighted in, but the biggest other concern is the fuel, which has to be shipped separately.”

The APRC cars are required to run a commercially-available 102 RON (Research Octane Number) unleaded fuel, which isn’t available in all countries.

“So that is another service where I supply the fuel in the service park. It’s sourced from Shell in Australia and is shipped to all the individual events. Obviously there are issues around the dangerous goods side of things and any duties or taxes that may be payable due to it being a consumable item.

“It has to be done by the book.

“We offer a one-stop-shop, basically moving the container from service park to service park. So the only time the team has to worry about their container is when it’s on-event.”

And while the teams are busy with pre-event activities such as the driver autograph signing session and the ceremonial start on Friday 5 June, Brown will be busy planning what equipment needs to be packed and ready to leave Whangarei for transport to the island of Hokkaido in Japan for the next event just five weeks later.

Media Statement NAC Insurance (Mayt 21st 2009). Rally brings international logistics challenge. Rallybuzz [online]rallybuzz.com, Available from: SOURCE [Accessed 12 Aug 2009].

Iveco Stretch Semi

One way to reduce transport cost, is to increase your payload, or quiet simply deliver more product at once. Whilst its not uncommon here in Australia to see B-Doubles on a daily basis, legislation throughout Europe can be harsh.

Italian truck manufacturer Iveco together with various European Governments are trialing 18m long trailers, as opposed to the standard 16m unit.

Italy and Germany have led the way, "Progetto Diciotto" or "Project Eighteen" have been operating eight 18m trailers since May. If this trial is successful, Iveco may pursuade the government to legislate there widespread use.

Chamberlain Transport and the worlds largest freight forwarder DHL have leapt at the opportunity. The whole idea evolved originally from Iveco's safety concept truck on display at the 2006 Hanover show.

The United Kingdom Government are already conducting research on the feasibility of 18m long trailers, which has increased Iveco's confidence that a change in legislation may occur sooner than later....

"This is a way of talking about the concept and trying to get some momentum behind it" says Nigel Emms, one of Iveco's directors.

"We think this fairly straightforward increase in length, which would be hardly noticeable to the untrained eye, would allow our customers to maximise efficient running."

To conclude, stretching the trailer will increase efficiency, eventually begin reducing cost whilst as an added bonus help save the environment.

Dumped Dump Trucks

From one of my favorite websites englishrussia.com; According to the author of the post, hundreds of these dump trucks were left abandoned by Russian Diamond Mining Magnate "ALROSA". This company holds a 97% share of diamond mining in Russia, thus being able to afford to quiet literally dump these dumpers in the hundreds and ordering a new batch after they expire.

The words Logisitical Challenge arise in my mind, the cost to freight these machines back and forth to maintenance depots, intertwined with hefty repair bills obviously outweighs the cost of simply attaining a new truck.

These heavy dump trucks are not exactly soviet communist relics rusting away in horrific weather, we can see quiet clearly from the images expensive well known equipment such as Caterpillar and Komatsu.

Photographer Unknown (Year Unknown). English Russia "The Eastern Entertainment Channel" [online images] Available from: SOURCE [Accessed 9 August 2009].

Toll ANL tackle the Bass

Commencing August 12th, Bass Strait shipping services (Melbourne, Victoria to Burnie, Tasmania) will now be operated by the newly created Joint Venture between Toll Group and ANL Container Lines.

Toll Group Australia's largest logistics and transportation solution provider will own an 85% share, whilst ANL 15% to form "Toll ANL Bass Strait Shipping".

The "Tasmanian Achiever", and "Victorian Reliance" will continue operating there daily services. However August 12th will see the end for the "ANL Bass Trader" service from Melbourne to Bell Bay.

This from Toll's announcement offer to the Australian Stock Exchange;

“Toll Group’s customers will receive the same level of service from Toll ANL Bass Strait Shipping as they currently enjoy. Toll will continue to operate daily services of the Tasmanian Achiever and the Victorian Reliance between Melbourne and Burnie as the shipping service provider to the joint venture”, said Paul Little, the Managing Director of the Toll Group.

“The joint venture will commence operations on 12 August 2009, at which time ANL will withdraw the ANL Bass Trader from service between Melbourne and Bell Bay. We are confident ANL’s customers will enjoy the increased frequency in sailings and capacity offered to them by Toll ANL Bass Strait Shipping over the current ANL offering.

“The increased volume of goods transported between Melbourne and Burnie will improve the efficiency of the freight logistics task across the north of Tasmania and allow for an anticipated increase in volumes travelling on the Tasmanian rail network.
“Importantly, we also expect Tasmanian exporters to benefit from the joint venture’s offer of daily links to the overseas shipping lines in Melbourne including seamless connection to ANL’s shipping network.

“Our Tasmanian business is an important component of the Toll Group network which employs 30,000 people in more than 50 countries. Like many businesses around the world, Tasmania’s business community places its faith in Toll to ensure their products get to national or international markets as efficiently as possible.

“We believe this new joint venture will improve commercial prospects across Bass Strait – and that’s a good thing for all Tasmanians,” concluded Mr Little.

McInerney, Bernard; TollGroup (August 6th 2008). Media Release – Toll Group and ANL Join forces in Bass Strait Shipping. Wotnews [online] media.wotnews.com.au Available from: SOURCE [Accessed 8 Aug 2009].

Lockheed Martin Turbo Super Blimp

Last months insight into the capability and comparison of three heavy lift helicopters (Link) , could be overshadowed by some leaked footage I found of a concept Super Blimp by aerospace manufacturer Lockheed Martin.

Named the P-791, it looks as if it is powered and steered via four separate propellers. Two propellers at the rear potentially for propulsion and vectoring. Whilst unusually one fixed too either side possibly to assist with an air cushioning system or ground control ability.

None the less, this concept has endless possibility for airborne heavy lift. In the late ninties Lockheed worked on a similiar project called the Aerocraft, the 800ft long proposal supposedly was to have a lift capacity of over 1 million pounds, and move at a speed of up to 125 knots.

If those figures were anywhere near achievable then, 10 odd years later through this concept, the Lockheed Martin Turbo Super Blimp, could well and truly give business an extra option to conventional airfreight or seafreight if viewed commercially, otherwise offer military a new toy with unheard of unique characteristics that could be utilized along the lines of surveilance or high altitude command posts.

(November 21st, 2007). Lockheed-Martin "Skunk Works" P791 LTA ACLS dynmicpara. [online] Youtube; courtesy of user: dynmicpara. Available from: SOURCE [Accessed 6 Aug 2009].

Seafreight Global Satellite Tracking

The next phenomena to hit supply chain could be the innovative real time satellite shipment tracking system offered by freight forwarder DB Schenker.

The recently launched system will not only relay the coordinates of the vessel but record any deviation from the route, monitor container temperatures and ensure no unwanted tampering occurs undiscovered.

The new system has been given the name 'smartbox', and freight forwarder Db Schenker (ranked third largest ocean freight forwarder) has began implementing the new service amongst its impressive network of carriers, IT specialists, insurance companies and major customers.

Direct from the DB Schenker website; Innovation > GPS for more transparency>

In ocean freight operations, as part of the DB SCHENKER smartbox service, containers with valuable goods are tracked in real time. Sensors measures parameters such as temperature, humidity, door alarm and shocks which are linked with the position data of the GPS receiver and transmitted via a data connection. This telematics data is stored in the CIS customer information system and can be retrieved by the customer at any time, creating a new dimension of transparency within the transport chain. This enables immediate identification and rectification of any weak points, faster processes and better data quality.

Freight status can be retrieved at any time

More than 60 percent of the freight transports handled by DB Schenker cross a national border at some point. To ensure that we can also offer our customers full information on such international routes, 15,000 freight cars have meanwhile been equipped with GPS. These GPS devices transmit the exact location of the consignment as well as certain defined freight parameters by mobile radio: Has the freight car been exposed to shocks in the course of the journey? Has it deviated from the intended route?

This means that shock-sensitive goods such as laptops and other valuable items can be monitored at all times. If shocks occur in the course of the transport, it is possible to ascertain afterwards where and when the goods were exposed to what shocks. It is also possible to determine when and where a door was opened. If a door is unexpectedly opened by force, this triggers an alarm as well as other security measures. The GPS applications also help to monitor the timetable for the freight cars: At the start of the transport, the timetable is transmitted to the GPS device and a comparison of the target/actual times is conducted throughout the transport.

GPS and RFID – for even more security

In combination with modern radio frequency identification technology (RFID), this makes the localization data even more accurate. Schenker Deutschland AG is currently fitting 3,500 swap bodies throughout Germany with modern RFID technology to ensure automatic inventories management and monitoring at all German locations. While the data obtained from the RFID devices indicates which locations the freight has passed, only the GPS system provides the exact location of the freight.

Author Unknown; DB Schenker (November 13th 2008). Keeping an eye on your consignments - GPS for transparence, control and efficiency. DB Schenker [online] dbschenker.com Available from: SOURCE [Accessed 5 Aug 2009].

Linfox National Foods record $2bn contract

Linfox already one of Australia's largest private owned company's, with well over 10,500 employees continues to dominate the industry as a leading logistical provider.

Linfox has just signed what could be known as the single largest transport and logistics contract in history, a $2 billion dollar deal with National Foods, officially now making them one of there largest contract customers.

Linfox CEO Michael Byrne has said 300 additional employees will be hired to manage the major account. Linfox will begin there plan to implement a new network of distribution centers interlinked through linehaul and local delivery.

"Linfox helped review National Foods’ Australian supply chain operations and developed a powerful supply chain solution that will establish a state-of-the-art distribution centre network and specialised delivery vehicle fleet," Michael Byrne says.

"We are using cutting-edge SAP IT to provide leading transport and warehouse systems to effectively manage our customer’s distribution operations."

"The National Foods business has grown rapidly in the last two decades and our expertise will help them achieve significant distribution efficiencies," he says.

"We have worked with National Foods for several years and share their commitment to safety and operational excellence. We look forward to partnering with National Foods to deliver new value in their supply chain functions."

National Foods remains one of Australia’s largest food and beverage companies, and that of an often referred 'iconic' one. Its major product includes milk, juice, dairy, soy and specialty cheese.

Popular known brands under the National Foods banner include Berri, Coon, Dairy Farmers, Farmers Union, King Island, Pura and Yoplait.

Linfox will help the company reduce supply chain complexity while increasing visibility, National Foods’ logistics chief Conor O’Malley says.

He says the Linfox solution will deliver a "best-in-class service to our customers".

"I am confident that working together in a strategic and strongly commercial partnership, both National Foods and Linfox will deliver improved value to both customers and shareholders," he says.