Organised by World Trade Group, the 8th Annual European Supply Chain & Logistics Summit is the region's most established and respected gathering of senior supply chain professionals. It's the perfect opportunity to hear the latest industry trends from our panel of world-class speakers and build profitable new business relationships.

The International Road Transport Union (IRU) has just adopted a Memorandum on controls in road transport in Europe. The IRU has identified the main problem areas - such as the multiple market access regimes, different formalities and control documents, varying national technical and safety rules, lengthy and uncoordinated road side checks, passengers' identity controls, including inside the Schengen area - and suggested practical solutions to national, international and EU competent and control authorities.

Cold chain management of food, pharmaceuticals and chemicals is on the rise. By land, sea and air, the use of temperature-controlled or refrigerated transportation (reefer) solutions is rising.

European Commission launches an action program to shift freight from roads to inland waterways. Seeking to relieve transportation congestion, delays and harmful environmental impacts - sound familiar? - the European Commission recently proposed an Action Program to help move cargo away from ports through the Inland Waterway Transport, which can be fully integrated into door-to-door supply chains.

The EU is about to embark on an unsustainable new transport policy which has little or no economic justification and undermines several other key European policies according to The Green 10 group of environmental NGOs in a letter sent on 23-rd of May to Commission President José Manuel Barroso.

‘Transport Research Arena (TRA) 2006’ is a major international conference being organised by CEDR, ERTRAC and the European Commission, set to take place in Göteborg, Sweden, this June.The first in a series of events on road transport, TRA 2006’s main theme will be the implementation of the European Research Area (ERA) in support of a sustainable, safer and more efficient road transport system in Europe.

The European Commission has authorised an extension of the Mont Blanc Tunnel concession held by the Societa Italiana del Traforo del Monte Bianco (SITMB) company, to enable the latter to comply with the new safety rules for tunnels introduced unilaterally by the Italian and French authorities and adopted following the accident in the Mont Blanc Tunnel in 1999. The Commission has examined the compatibility of the Italian request with the rules of the Treaty relating to State aid.

The industry associations ASECAP, ERF and IRU are deeply concerned that this policy review has not been published yet. The important players in the European road transport industry - motorway toll operators, infrastructure providers and road transport operators - ask the European Commission a pressing question.

The passage in the U.S.

Outsourcing within the shipping and logistics industries will continue to strengthen as companies seek to control their costs by focusing on their core operations, says the executive chairman of GAC, Björn Engblom. According to Engblom, fierce competition, driven by globalisation and consolidation, made it essential for companies to enter partnerships that freed them from operational tasks that were not among their core strengths.

All new retreaded tyres sold in the EU have must comply with regulations set down by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), following a ruling by the European Commission. These regulations introduce similar standards of safety and quality control for retreaded tyres as for new tyres.

The Czech Republic is poised to make a number of important changes to its Highway Code, which could impact on international hauliers. With effect from July 1st, trucks greater than 3.

The European Commission has given partial approval to a Czech scheme, which intends to encourage the development of combined transport through the construction, extension and modernisation of existing combined transport terminals. The Commission has also opened a formal investigation procedure regarding the compatibility of aids for the purchase of certain types of wagons with EU rules.

The European Council of Ministers have reached an agreement on a European Commission proposal from 2003 regarding the harmonisation of European driving licences. A single model in credit card format will replace the more than 110 different models currently in circulation.

The importance of road transport has been highlighted at the opening of the 30th International Road Transport Union (IRU) World Congress in Dubai. IRU President Paul Laeremans told an assembled audience of 1,500 delegates 70 countries from all five continents of the importance of road transport’s "high quality door-to-door services, as a modern day production tool and an integral part of complex logistic systems.

To get what you need from motor carriers, you need to understand what they need. "Transportation is not a commodity --it's a service," stresses Steve Huntley, director of logistics operations at Tyco Healthcare/ Mallinckrodt.

The International Road Transport Union (IRU) has expressed serious doubts over the European Commission’s proposal to enhance supply chain security. The IRU says the road transport industry is fully aware of its responsibilities to enhance security in the supply chain in an era where the risk of terrorist attacks is an unfortunate reality.

Logistics includes all the processes required to go from raw materials to end customer delivery, including purchasing, inventory management, warehousing, shipping and even customer returns. All product-oriented businesses have logistics as a cost of doing business.

Any business which involves a physical product requires logistics of one sort or another to carry on their business. Whether it's operating a small warehouse or stockroom to store, pick and pack your customer orders or arranging delivery of your products to customers, even the smallest businesses require logistics.