Paschenko named National Recruiter of the Year

Krista Paschenko was named the 2025 National Recruiter of the Year at the National Recruiting & Retention Symposium in Burlington, Ont. Paschenko, a Contrans Tank Group recruiter based out of […]

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Service Ontario’s IRP delays hurting trucking companies

Bob Cousins is a worried man. He’s got a brand-new truck sitting in his yard outside Ottawa for the past couple of weeks, awaiting plates to begin working. He’s making […]

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Security First for Industrial Real Estate

In the competitive world of industrial real estate, safety and flexibility are paramount. Network Space’s Broadheath Networkcentre exemplifies these principles through its innovative design and security features. By partnering with ASSA ABLOY, Network Space has ensured that their new development not only meets but exceeds the expectations of modern businesses.

Bespoke Secured by Design sectional doors and large-scale loading bays for real estate developer Network Space helped make their new development a safe, flexible and attractive long-term proposition for tenants. Combining high-quality refurbished units with new construction, Network Space’s Broadheath Networkcentre is a modern industrial development, with 206,000 sq ft of space across 25 units. The Altrincham, Cheshire-based contemporary multi-tenant site has been designed to appeal to a diverse range of businesses.

Secured by Design

This large project was split into smaller individual units. ASSA ABLOY supplied and installed each of the 25 units with an OH1042P Secured by Design Overhead Sectional Door, plus added a range of steel and fire exit doors for additional access and several loading bays. Secured by Design is the official police security initiative that aims to improve the safety and security of buildings and their immediate surroundings. Based on the risks in the local area, the local police conduct a full review of the building and advise on the security rating they’d recommend.

The optimal entrance solution for industrial units, the OH1042P door is designed to keep businesses both safe and efficient. Available with a vision panel which is also security-rated, the OH1042P is four metres wide, with a cylinder safe lock on both sides of the door. Its weather-resistant construction protects against wind and water, making it suitable for both loading dock and level access applications. This new door from ASSA ABLOY meets all safety and security requirements without compromising usability.

Bespoke loading bays

Because Network Space was appealing to a diverse range of tenants, ASSA ABLOY Entrance Systems worked with them to develop a specification for loading docks that could flexibly accommodate all kinds of vehicles and loads. This proactive, future-proofing approach reduces restrictions on tenants, ensuring all of their potential loading requirements are met. This was achieved through fitting longer, telescopic levellers for maximum flexibility, considering the arrangement of the buffers and the size of the shelters to ensure the loading bay can accommodate the maximum size of vehicles and trailers.

A range of high-profile tenants have already chosen to locate their operations in Broadheath Networkcentre. One of the larger units was let in advance of development, which allowed the loading bays to be designed bespoke to this tenant. Their comprehensive entrance solutions included several Crawford OH1042P overhead sectional doors featuring Secured by Design security compliant windows, which were used for both secure level access and dock doors. Their solution also included DL6120T telescopic dock levellers, wheel guides, DS6060P curtain dock shelters, rubber buffers, internal and external traffic lights and dock lights.

This tenant requested a non-standard colour finish to exactly match their brand palette. With no impact on the security rating, the eye-catching colour-matched doors both stand out on the building and provide an elevated customer experience on approach to their unit. The loading bay solution provided by ASSA ABLOY means that Network Space can accommodate different kinds of tenants in these units for years to come, demonstrating a strong commitment to tenant satisfaction and long-term asset management. Tenants can benefit from our service agreements, ensuring consistent maintenance and support for their operations within the units.

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The post Security First for Industrial Real Estate appeared first on Logistics Business.

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Penske Proudly Supports Wreaths Across America to Honor and Remember Veterans

At Penske, we are committed to making a meaningful difference in the communities we serve, and this year, we are proud to support Wreaths Across America (WAA). Our corporate sponsorship will help ensure that more than 258,000 wreath boxes are delivered to over 4,600 locations across the United States, each containing live, balsam wreaths that honor the service and sacrifice of our nation’s veterans.

Wreaths Across America, a nonprofit organization founded in 1992, began with a single act of gratitude and has grown into a nationwide movement. Its mission is simple, yet powerful: remember the fallen, honor those who serve, and teach future generations the value of freedom. Each December, National Wreaths Across America Day brings together millions of volunteers to place remembrance wreaths on veterans’ graves at military cemeteries, memorials, and historic sites.

This year, the event took place on Saturday, December 14, 2024, when over three million wreaths were placed to ensure no veteran was forgotten. Penske was honored to support this initiative, with our associates and their families volunteering in local wreath-laying ceremonies. By remembering, honoring, and teaching, we paid tribute to the sacrifices of our veterans, reflecting our dedication to those who have served and ensuring their stories inspire future generations to value and protect the freedoms they defended.

_{Pictured above: Penske associate George Stefanik paid a heartfelt tribute to his late father and uncle, at Indiantown Gap National Cemetery in Lebanon, PA, where he placed a wreath during the ceremony. “It’s always a humbling experience to visit here, but this event was especially meaningful,” Stefanik shared. “I’m honored to work for a company that truly values and supports our veterans and service members.”}

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BMW Group Logistics Tests Hydrogen Trucks

The BMW Group is driving the future of emission-free heavy-duty transport – with pilot operations of the first hydrogen trucks now underway at Plant Leipzig as part of the H2Haul project. Demonstrating its openness to different technologies once again – including in logistics – the BMW Group’s involvement is one component of its more comprehensive hydrogen strategy connecting transport, production and products.

Emission-free Heavy-Duty Transport

The BMW Group is taking the next step towards sustainable transport logistics: two local emission-free fuel-cell trucks are now entering pilot operations. Part of the European H2Haul project supporting hydrogen-powered freight transport, the trucks will travel between Leipzig, Landsberg and Nuremberg to see how their drive technology performs in everyday operations. In addition, state-of-the-art hydrogen filling stations are currently under construction at Leipzig and Hormersdorf (northeast of Nuremberg) to offer the fast refuelling necessary for truck operations to succeed. The project is being realised by the BMW Group in conjunction with Iveco, DHL and TEAL mobility.

“The right choice of transport is important in global logistics, as elsewhere, to keep us future-focused and efficient in our work. So, transport logistics is another area reflecting the BMW Group’s open-minded approach to technologies. For the first time, hydrogen-powered trucks will support series production in German car manufacturing. We have been working on the project for a number of years now and are rolling out this pilot fleet in collaboration with our partners. It’s an important milestone as it will give us experience of how these trucks work in series operations and help us continue enhancing this crucial technology,” says Michael Nikolaides, head of Production Network and Logistics at the BMW Group.

The H2Haul project looks at how hydrogen fuel cell-powered trucks perform in real-world driving and what they can contribute to fossil fuel-free heavy-duty transport. All in all, 16 vehicles are involved, subsidised by the Clean Hydrogen Partnership and operating across Europe. Of those, two are IVECO S-eWay Fuel Cell trucks on the road for the BMW Group. Findings from the pilot project are expected to help enhance the technology and get it market-ready. A valuable addition to the battery-electric trucks already on the road, the hydrogen vehicles are quick to refuel and offer significant range. They are also flexible to use as they are independent of the charging infrastructure or grid development.

The BMW Group’s participation in the H2Haul project is a key cornerstone in its Reduced Logistics Emissions Strategy. This aims to achieve emission-free transport logistics, with a dedicated cross-departmental team developing measures to reduce CO₂ from the BMW Group’s road, rail and shipping transport worldwide. Drive technologies receiving a positive rating are advanced into pilot projects and new plant concepts, whose emissions data is then systematically recoded to enable accurate CO₂ reporting.

Fuel cell technology is not all the BMW Group is testing: it is also involved in the HyCET (Hydrogen Combustion Engine Trucks) project. In the future, this will see two 40-tonne and one 18-tonne truck powered by hydrogen combustion engines join its logistics fleet. Funded by the German Federal Ministry for Digital and Transport (BMDV), the HyCET project is being implemented by the BMW Group in conjunction with DHL, Volvo Trucks, Deutz, KEYOU and TotalEnergies.

By testing H₂ fuel cells and combustion engines simultaneously, the BMW Group is remaining true to its open-minded approach to technologies – including in logistics. While fuel cells work more efficiently, combustion engines are cheaper to produce as they essentially work on the same tried-and-tested principle as a diesel. The EU ordinance classes both hydrogen technologies as zero-emissions, and out on the road they are both being trialled on the same routes and refuelling at the same filling stations. The aim is to determine the best use case for each technology in BMW Group logistics.

Heavy-duty transport is not the only area where the BMW Group uses hydrogen: it also uses it within its own plants. Plant Leipzig is considered a pioneer in this regard, being home to the first indoor hydrogen filling station in Germany since way back in 2013. Today it operates five such facilities as well as one of the largest fleets of fuel cell-powered forklifts and tug trains in Europe. The latest filling station even offers fully automated refuelling – another first.

Innovative solutions are a defining feature in production too, where the BMW Group is the first carmaker in the world to roll out a brand-new type of burner, now on stream in Plant Leipzig. The new bivalent system can be powered by gas as well as hydrogen, and there are currently five such burners operating in contrast roof painting for the MINI Countryman. Further burners are currently being converted for hydrogen, with the longer-term aim of doing away with gas power completely and reducing CO2 emissions further. “Our vision at Plant Leipzig is to largely decarbonise production. We can achieve that, in part, by replacing fossil fuels with hydrogen,” explains Petra Peterhänsel, Plant Director at BMW Group Plant Leipzig, taking a longer view of the plant’s overall direction for the future.

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