ACR Journal

05 NEWS CMYK / .ai CMYK / .ai CMYK / .ai acrjournal.uk Schmitz Cargobull delivers on ‘labour of love’ Temperature-controlled transport business P&S Logistics has taken delivery of an eye-catching Mercedes-Benz Actros GigaSpace rigid truck, equipped with Schmitz Cargobull M.KO COOL box body. The bespoke vehicle was designed and built over the course of 15 months – a process that owner-operator Phillip Hudson describes as a “labour of love”. Hudson embarked on the upgrade of the 26-tonner with the aim of maximising the flexibility of his Middlesex-based European food distribution operations. Built by Schmitz Cargobull in Lithuania, the refrigerated box body M.KO COOL was shipped to the UK and equipped with Carrier Transicold’s Supra 1150 MT (multi-temperature) unit and ECO-DRIVE power module. It was fitted with a tail-lift sourced from Germany, with additional truck specifications including Kelsa light bars, safety cameras and interior equipment. The rigid was finished with a hand-painted livery, in original designs to reflect different aspects of the business. Hudson also operates a Schmitz Cargobull drawbar reefer, equipped with a Carrier Transicold Supra 1050 unit. The ECO-DRIVE is able to run both the truck fridge and the trailer cooling unit electrically off the truck engine’s power take-off. The drawbar was built to the same high specification as the rigid truck, featuring Schmitz Cargobull’s proven FERROPLAST® side panels, which are stronger yet thinner than glass-reinforced plastic (GRP) bodywork – helping to increase the loading aperture inside the body. “What I have is very rare. I wanted to create something highly-specced which stands out from the crowd that I can use for the long-term. With the technology fitted, the truck and drawbar meet all the regulations, which has future-proofed my business,” says Hudson. “I am very happy with it. It was a labour of love putting it together, but now it allows me to do things that some other businesses cannot. I have the ability to use three different temperature zones – ambient, chilled and frozen, depending on what my customers want. If I have work that only requires a 26-tonne truck, or there are weight restrictions, I can just park the drawbar. The bespoke, mechanically operated tail-lift also enables easy and quick loading and unloading of pallets by electric pump trucks.” Used primarily to transport Slovakian food, the rigid has been liveried with the country’s flag, with the cab painted with images of London where Hudson was born. The rear doors, designed with Hudson’s Polish wife in mind, feature the Wawel Dragon from Polish folklore as well as the country’s flag. BCIA honours award winners The winners of the 2023 Building Controls Industry Association (BCIA) Awards were announced at a ceremony and gala dinner at the Hilton Birmingham Metropole. Host Jon Culshaw entertained guests with a range of impressions, ranging from Boris Johnson to Donald Trump, and Steven Gerrard to Michael McIntyre. The ceremony itself saw the highest attendance yet for a BCIA Awards event, with more than 600 guests enjoying fine food, drink, and evening activities, including curling and a game of Higher and Lower, organised by Immediate Past President Terry Sharp. BCIA President Graeme Rees’ chosen charity is the Teenage Cancer Trust and an impressive £5,102 was raised on the night of the Awards alone. The first award of the night went to Detail Design Engineering who claimed victory for Building Controls and BEMS Installer of the Year. George Smith of 3MSe took the honours in the Engineer of the Year Category while Abbie Bewley from InTandem Systems took the coveted Young Engineer of the Year trophy! New for 2023 was the Apprentice of the Year accolade and it was Robert Drysdale of InTandem Systems who was victorious. Econowise Drives & Controls won the Energy Management Award for their work on Savills Energy Saving Project with the Best Service & Maintenance Provider accolade awarded to Kendra Energy Solutions. MK Electric scooped the prize for The Technical Innovation of the Year – Products Award for their innovative solution, Connected Power. Next, the Technical Innovation of the Year – Projects Award went to Siemens for their sterling work on University of Birmingham - Creating the world's smartest campus while Group Horizon were triumphant in the Contribution to Training Award. Finally, the Outstanding Contribution Award was presented to Tracey Rushton-Thorpe of Keystone Communications for being an integral part of the BCIA for many years. Tracey was recognised by her peers for her energy, ambition, enthusiasm and passion for the promotion of the building controls industry – particularly for her significant efforts on the BEMS Controls Engineer Apprenticeship and industry training programmes. President Graeme Rees said: “The BCIA Awards 2023 provided another spectacular evening of glitz, glamour and the very best the building controls industry has to offer. The winners on the night came from some very impressive shortlists in extremely tough categories. It was fantastic to see so many guests enjoying the evening and once again the occasion underlined the quality, talent and innovation the building controls sector has to offer.”