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Key to Lewis Hamilton victory holds lesson for road hauliers, says RHA

Telematics was key to Lewis Hamilton winning the Formula 1 World Championship on Sunday - and it is key to the survival and prosperity of road haulage companies.

The McLaren race team got the very best from Hamilton and his car using telematics to plan, monitor and learn. In the same way, truck operators can use telematics to get the best from their trucks and their drivers.

Driver behaviour in terms of engine revving, braking, idling, as well as mpg; journey times and delays on the road and at customers; identification of serious cash savings. All these are readily available to even small fleets using low-cost telematics.

"The key is to install a simple but effective system and then to use the information it generates to save money and improve your service and profits. Any firm operating even a small number of trucks should be looking seriously at what telematics can do for its business," said RHA Director of Policy Jack Semple.

"Some firms have already placed telematics at the centre of their operation and are achieving new levels of performance. Increasingly, firms that do not embrace the concept risk becoming back markers," he said.

It's a decidedly un-spooky Halloween in the world of transport today, with a positive response to plans from John Lewis to develop a range of eco-friendly trucks, while Keystone follows suit with their adoption of biofuels, cutting their CO2 costs.

In other news, Geodis Calberson has treated itself to some new Volvo artics to bolster its fleet, with seven new DAF tractors soon to follow.

Elsewhere, the latest edition of Webwatch on the Truck & Van blog takes a long hard look at Britcom International's website - and likes what it sees.

Finally, the British Museum has employed the use of Iveco Eurocargo 4x4 trucks in an archeology recovery project in Sudan.

The economic slump receives more attention today as TruckNet UK users discuss the shape of things to come, and it's not all doom and gloom it seems, however hauliers are still feeling the pinch as Woody's Haulage shuts its doors.

Meanwhile, the fight for the right to erect signs on the A14 is nearing an end for Orwell Crossing truck park, with a decision due next month. Sticking with the topic of truck parks, hauliers in Inverness are campaigning for better facilities, in the wake of a crash fatality at the Inverness Longman Industrial Estate.

And finally in today's roundup, Will Shiers gives us something to grin about on BigLorryBlog with an unfortunately named Spanish haulier.