With depots in Liverpool and Wirral, Abbey Logistics transports bulk produce and liquids across the UK and Ireland and its 11 new trucks will be added to its British Sugar fleet. Tony McDonough reports

Road tanker specialist Abbey Logistics is investing £1m in 11 new trucks that will join its existing core British Sugar fleet.

Abbey, which has its main logistics depots in Liverpool and Wirral, provides bulk sugar transport movements for British Sugar throughout the UK and Ireland. The new CF trucks from DAF feature latest generation aerodynamics, engines and gearboxes.

They are part of a £4.7m investment in a new DAF and Mercedes Benz trucks announced by the company in June, as it looks to return to profitability. In May the business reported a pre-tax loss of £3.7m from revenues of £62.7m following what it called a “a period of significant transition” which included changes to the management team.

The new trucks will  also offer dynamic intelligent driving modes designed for maximum transport efficiency and minimum emissions. They will produce up to 20% less nitrogen oxide and fewer particulates than previous generation vehicles being replaced.

As the sole processor of the UK’s beet sugar crop, British Sugar is the leading producer of sugar for the British and Irish food and beverage markets, processing around 8m tonnes of sugar beet that produces around 1.4m tonnes of sugar each year.

British-grown beet sugar fulfils 50% of the UK’s sugar demand and the industry supports up to 9,500 jobs, with sugar going into food processing and on supermarket shelves under the Silver Spoon brand.

British Sugar has made significant pledges to achieve environmental and efficiency goals in their 2030 Sustainability commitments, and their supply chains will play a crucial role in achieving these.

Matthew Parsons, Abbey Logistics’ general manager for the British Sugar contract, said: “Continued investment in our fleet is essential to ensure all operations under our control are efficient and have the lowest impact on the environment.

“This most recent investment will remove less efficient vehicles from the fleet and further reduces the emissions generated from homegrown sugar transport.”

And Stewart Dickson, British Sugar’s logistics contracts manager, added: “We want to reduce the impact on the environment across all our supply chains and transport our homegrown sugar as efficiently as possible.

“We are delighted that Abbey Logistics understands and shares our commitment to ensure our transport fleet continues to reduce emissions through intelligent management of deliveries and having the latest generation of vehicles in operation.”