Eddie Stobart offered Rockingham the once in a lifetime opportunity of naming a truck, after it successfully held its ‘Stobart Fest’ at the Northamptonshire race circuit. The event, which was the first of its kind, attracted crowds of more than 6,000 Eddie Stobart enthusiasts, some from as far afield as the United States. The event offered fans of the haulage company the unique opportunity to get close to some of the famous Eddie Stobart trucks and cast members from the Channel 5 documentary, Eddie Stobart: Trucks & Trailers.

There is usually a two-year waiting list to name one of the iconic trucks – and this offer is usually only open to members of the official Eddie Stobart fan club.

However, members of the general public can now register their suggestions at www.rockingham.co.uk/stobart, where a short-list of the best names will be published, for visitors to then pick their favourite. The winner will be the name which receives the most votes, the only criteria is that it must be a must be a double barreled female name such as Gracie-Mae.

Chief Executive of Rockingham, Charlotte Orton, said: “It is a great privilege to be given the chance to name an Eddie Stobart lorry. We have recently held our 10th Anniversary celebrations here at Rockingham so, to further commemorate the occasion, we wanted to offer this competition to our followers.”

Closing date for entries to be submitted to the website is Friday, December 9.

The new agreement, subject to final contractual documentation, will see ESL provide ambient transport solutions covering the whole of Britvic’s primary manufacturing and distribution activities in the UK.

Under the new contract, ESL will undertake both deliveries into the company’s UK manufacturing facilities and customer deliveries from several Britvic distribution centres across the country.

This is the first time Britvic has undertaken such a sizeable transport and logistics arrangement with a single provider, and is the largest distribution contract awarded by the company in the UK.

Stobart Group CEO, Andrew Tinkler, said: “We’re extremely pleased to have this opportunity to build upon our long-term partnership with Britvic. Our multimodal logistics offering will help deliver efficiency benefits and, through our rail freight network, Stobart Group can help Britvic meet, and even exceed, its carbon reduction targets. Our business model and tracking systems increase client confidence by providing operational information that most other companies can’t deliver.”

Stobart Group and A. W. Jenkinson Forest Products have a joint-procurement agreement on purchasing various items, with trucks being one of them, and together they have placed an order with Scania for 1,000 trucks.

Mainly comprising 2010 International Truck of the Year Scania R-series models, the order also includes a significant number of Scania G-series vehicles. Deliveries will commence in March 2010.

“As an established marque within the Eddie Stobart and A. W. Jenkinson fleets, the operating efficiency and all-round value delivered by the Scania product is well-known and appreciated by both our companies.

The order for the 1,000 trucks is 80/20 per cent split in Stobart’s favour, which comprises of vehicle replacement plus new growth within the Group,” comments Stobart Group Chief Operating Officer, William Stobart.  “The 400 and 440 horsepower engines specified in this order meet the latest Euro 5 environmental standard without the need for any additives or exhaust gas after-treatment, which offers considerable advantages from an operational point-of-view.”

For Scania (Great Britain) Limited, Managing Director Hans-Christer Holgersson comments:  “We are naturally delighted to receive this order, which marks our continued association with two of the most respected names in the UK transport industry.  We are also pleased to note that the operational performance of our award-winning new R-series trucks and our G-series range of vehicles, plus the experience and expertise of Scania’s UK service organisation, have all been contributory factors behind the decision of Stobart Group and A. W. Jenkinson to once again opt for Scania.”

Made up of both fleet replacements and additional vehicles, the order includes four key specifications:

• R 440 LA6x2/4MNA Highline cab right hand drive tractor units
  (Stobart Group)
• R 440 LA6x2/4MNA Highline cab left hand drive tractor units
  (Stobart Group)
• G 400 LA4x2MNA standard sleeper cab right hand drive tractor units
  (Stobart Group)
• R 440 LA6x2MNA Highline cab right hand driver tractor units
  (A. W. Jenkinson)

The haulage and distribution giant has been awarded a deal taking goods from a huge import centre in the North East of England to stores around the country.

The contract will see the company’s distinctive trucks move non-food products from the centre to distribution centres and stores across the country.

The goods will at first arrive by sea and rail at the import centre, at Teesport, Middlesbrough. The trucks will begin rolling with the new work next month, the firm confirmed.

Thisismoney.co.uk reports that Stobart is working with the owner of the rail system to find redundant land or lines where it could build terminals.

According to the report Stobart’s  first target is the Midlands Main Line. The move is part of Stobart’s plan to shift ten per cent of its freight to rail by next year.