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Features - December 08 | January 09

FTD is proud to bring you a round-up of some of the best light commercial trucks available to the freight and distribution sector within New Zealand. We wish to thank all the dealers who have supported this special feature and made vehicles available for us to test-drive.

COVER STORY:

December 08

On the Cover Kia 2900 - the power to surpise
The Kia K2900 claims to make the work of driving easier and more enjoyable. The modern and rounded aerodynamic cab design that Kia has adopted for the K2900 gives the vehicle a distinctive look and immediate aesthetic appeal.

Kia has integrated their knowledge of passenger vehicles and trucks to produce in the K2900 an extremely user-friendly and hugely enjoyable commercial light vehicle to drive. read review

ECO-Start Sprinter

A van for the future – the new Mercedes-Benz ECO-Start Sprinter
by Lynne Richardson : I’ve test-driven the Mercedes-Benz Sprinter twice now, and each time the company has come up with a new innovation that has raised the bar in terms of enhanced safety. The new ECO-Start Sprinter model is no exception.read review

Holden Colorado

Be green with envy - The Holden Colorado:
by Murray Chapman I was very impressed when the Holden people brought out the Colorado 4x4 crew cab for me to test-drive. This is a very sexy, grunty-looking vehicle and it gets a lot of envious looks as you drive by. read review

Nissan Urvan

Comfort and convenience – the Nissan URVAN by Alan Reid : This vehicle has been carefully designed to provide good carrying space and road handling whilst ensuring that driver comfort and safety are not compromised. read article

Nissan Navara

The hard-to-beat Nissan Navara By Alan Reid
I had the use of a Nissan Navara DX double cab ute and, had time permitted, I would have given it the full off-road test. Instead, I used the vehicle in my daily travels around Auckland. read article

Credit diligence and agreements

Credit diligence and agreements Finance companies exposed to the current levels of funding risk are being increasingly diligent in assessing credit worthiness, say some materials handling equipment suppliers. read article

Biofuel activity revs up

Biofuel activity revs up A range of biofuel initiatives are progressing or being planned around the country as Parliament considers the Biofuel Bill that proposes biofuels contribute 0.5 percent of current petrol and diesel sales increasing to 2.5 percent by 2012.read article

Greenhouse gasses

Green options – not if, but when Since 1990, New Zealand’s green-house emissions have increased by almost a third – on a per-person basis, we are now the sixth-largest polluter in the world. By 2012, we are required to reduce our emissions to the 1990 level under the Kyoto Protocol - or else: read article

Doing it green – Express Couriers

Doing it green – Express Couriers With the increasing focus on ‘green issues’, FTD spoke with Express Couriers’ national manager of transport, Alan Court, and asked how the company manages its fleet and keeps up with the eco-requirements impacting the industry.read article

New qualification options in logistics and SCM When a recession strikes, the best way to insulate your career is to develop your skills and increase your market potential. read article

An eight-step guide to changing careers by Katheren Leitner

Just another link in the supply chain?

An eight-step guide to changing careers by Katheren Leitner

read article

Efficiency boost for UK posties
The UK’s Royal Mail has invested in 25,000 of Intermec’s rugged, handheld CN3 mobile computers. read article

voice-directed technology

Dematic and Vocollect deliver a decade of sound solutions There have been a lot of technology innovations implemented across the supply chain over the past decade.Few have created savings and competitive advantage as consistently as voice-directed technology. read article

Centric released at CentrePort Wellington

Centric released at CentrePort Wellington CentrePort Wellington has announced the public release of Centric, its new web-based shipping and cargo enquiry system. Centric provides an up-to-date, easy to use interface read article

How’s the market?

How’s the market? The fourth in freelance writer/editor Hugh Patterson’s series in which he discusses the state of the materials handling business with the leaders of New Zealand forklift companies.. read article

Heli's tough trucks

Heli’s tough trucks perform at Hutt sawmill Eurocell Sawmilling has been operating for 25 years at its Upper Hutt site, processing sawn timber for shipment overseas via CentrePort Wellington. The site was Eurocell International’s first New Zealand sawmill. read article

Making the most of narrow aisles

Making the most of narrow aisles Narrow aisles present a mixed blessing – while you can store more items in the extra racking they provide, they also make pallet handling more challenging in such confined spaces. The new ESR5000 increases efficiency and safety in these tight spaces. read article

SG Equipment delivers more than hot air

SG Equipment delivers more than hot air for Rinnai  Rinnai New Zealand has been importing gas heaters from its Japanese parent company since 1974. Due to import licence restrictions at the time, assistance was given to companies which commenced local manufacturing. read article

New coastal ship has low emissions level

New coastal ship has low emissions level Pacifica Shipping’s new 700 TEU (twenty-foot equivalent units) container ship, which began its east coast service mid-November, will set record low levels for CO2 emissions in the domestic transport sector, the company says. read article

Auckland Airport’s new pier an investment in the future

Auckland Airport’s new pier an investment in the future The completion of a new $50 million international terminal pier at Auckland Airport marks the next stage in the airport’s development that will eventually provide for a projected 25 million passengers a year by 2025. read article

Major conference on global data standards

Major conference on global data standards New Zealand’s progress with global standards for supply chain efficiency, data management and traceability will be under the spotlight at a major conference in February. read article

MHL

MHL Update: Fine-tuning your trade show strategy It has been over 16 months since MHL was first held at the ASB Showgrounds in Auckland. And now, with less than eight months before the next show, companies are once again beginning to plan their marketing activities for 2009. read article

Ross Fearon

Beyond Graduation : Ross Fearon Ross Fearon is the logistics and procurement manager for Konica Minolta Business Solutions, a NZ-owned ‘printer and document solutions’ company that employs over 450 staff nationwide. He has been with Konica Minolta for just over seven years. read article

Lynne Richardson - on a forklift !

editorial: The lady who drives forklifts !
I was once introduced to someone as “the lady who test-drives forklifts” which is stretching the truth to say the least! Yes, we get invited to model launches, and I’m almost always asked if I would like to have a drive, but I always decline. read article

WEB EXCLUSIVE:
Sustainable Business

Express Couriers Limited wins National Sustainable Business Network Award : Express Couriers was named the National 2008 winner of the Sustainable Business Networks Awards in the emerging large business category. read article

logs in containers - Auckland Ports

Ports of Auckland branches out The first shipment of logs in containers packed at Ports of Auckland’s inland port at Wiri, South Auckland, is on its way to Asia. “We’re delighted logs will no longer have to travel out of the Auckland region to be exported,” Mr Sain says. read article

Bridgestone provides Bandag retreads in NZ - better for your bottom line. :In yet another exciting milestone for Bridgestone New Zealand, the organisation has formally announced the installation of new equipment converting three factories to Bandag cold-press retreading. read article