Multimodal and Commercial Vehicle Events Attract Road Haulage, Freight and Logistics Visitors

UK – Just two weeks to go until two of the biggest shows in the country’s logistics calendar with the Commercial Vehicle and Multimodal exhibitions being held in tandem this year in neighbouring halls at Birmingham’s NEC, giving visitors ranging from manufacturers to freight forwarding and shipping interests to take a look at the road haulage side of the industry and vice versa.

Multimodal 2014 appears to be even more full on than usual and is advertised as being on course to be the biggest in the show’s seven-year history, not to mention the first to feature both a Royal visitor and a football legend as HRH the Princess Royal and Kevin Keegan OBE are due to appear at the three day event which is spread over halls 6, 7 and 8 between 10am on Tuesday the 30th April until 3pm on Thursday May 1st.

Meanwhile, and open at exactly the same time, the CV show will be taking place in halls 3, 4 and 5 and is likely to prove equally popular with hundreds of exhibitors liable to attract even more visitors than 2013’s 18,000 plus. The exhibition boasts that 75% of visitors last year were the decision makers with joint or sole purchasing ability for the companies they represent, and the list of exhibitors meanwhile reads like a who’s who of names from the vehicle production and servicing world, with in addition many smaller companies keen to promote the latest in technological advances for commercial vehicles.

Multimodal has been an ongoing success story, evidenced by the number of repeat exhibitors and the comments made at last year’s event. These include companies like fork lift truck manufacturer Flexi Narrow Aisle who habitually bring something new to the show. This year the West Midlands group is showing off its FlexiPiCK case layer picking system, intended to change the way companies operating in the grocery retail sector design their supply chains without the need for palletising robots, AGV's, wire guidance, conveyors or other costly or restrictive forms of automation.

Then there is DP World’s London Gateway deep water project which is coming out all guns blazing to try and tempt more deep sea container trade away from rival, more established ports, hence the appearance of ex England captain Kevin Keegan on Stand 425 together with the quay crane simulator that proved so popular at last year’s event. Mr Keegan will also be the special guest at a VIP dinner at the Motorcycle Museum on Tuesday 29 April when he will be talking about his career that spanned playing for Liverpool, Hamburg, Newcastle and Southampton, as well as managing Fulham and Manchester City. He was twice European Player of the Year and one of a handful of people ever to play, captain and manage the national side.

HRH the Princess Royal will be making her first visit to the event in her role as patron of transport charity Transaid which will be present at both exhibitions and is always well supported by all sides of the industry, whether land, sea or air specific. On Wednesday 30th April the princess will take part in a panel for Transaid, and tour the exhibition.

Once again there will be the opportunity for visitors to discuss all matters appertaining to warehousing as the familiar sight of the United Kingdom Warehousing Association (UKWA) pavilion will be in full view as ever, conveniently sited adjacent to the hospitality area. 

Visitors who intend to call at both events are advised to allow about 15 minutes to make the trip through the NEC and at the CV Show they will be able to see Shell reveal its Fuel Matters 2014 study on Stand 4G120, listing the most common techniques used by road haulage managers to reduce fuel consumption as well as their opinion on the greatest opportunities to enhance savings. It will also highlight what they believe are the most significant barriers to improving fuel management practices and what needs to be done to address them.

The issue of efficiency is obviously high on the agenda and at Stand 3B100 visitors can see EFFIFUEL by Michelin solutions, a new entity of the Michelin Group, which brings together a range of fuel-saving levers to help companies reduce and contain their fuel consumption, managing it efficiently and meeting a fuel consumption target over periods of up to four years.

Similarly there will be numerous products demonstrating ways to improve the aerodynamics of new and existing vehicles and numerous safety devices designed to ensure a reduction in the amount of needless accidents involving HGV’s.