Rugby & TNT put pen to paper

Rugby Cement signed a complete supply chain contract with TNT Logistics last week, 15 months after TNT got actively involved in Rugby’s transport needs on a non-contracted basis.
The contract — for an undis­closed period — covers in-bound raw materials and delivery of finished products to customers from Rugby’s five manufactur­ing sites.
Rugby managing director Stephen Eastwood says: “We have consolidated our position with TNT and are looking for­ward to working closely to con­tinue to improve the overall ser­vice to our customers.”
TNT Logistics’ md of opera­tions, Andy Fitt, says knew there was “an awful lot of spec­ulation” about TNT’s position at Rugby, but that the two parties had worked closely together and were always comfortable with the direction we were heading”.
The structure of the contract has been jointly agreed and “is not a straight open book mech­anism”. It is a “variation on a theme” that TNT has adopted before, but Fitt declined to give
further details of this.
Rugby’s supply chain “is a fairly complex process. It is manufacturing led but it is not a constant process. It will flex and change”. It is quite unlike running a distribution centre for a retailer or fmcg supplier and is much more akin to TNT’s work with Allied Bak­eries, he says.
The Rugby contract was an opportunists win. Rugby’s busi­ness is not in one of TNT’s tar­get sectors in Europe and the initial contact came at a supply chain conference, he says.
The past 15-months has seen the controversial termi­nation of contracts with many Independent contract hauliers and the burden of coping with
a major failure of Rugby’s largest production site. TNT currently employs 165 drivers on the work and is looking for more. There are 52 ICHs and other work is sub-contracted.
• Rugby and TNT remain inter­ested in dual fuel trucks. The programme has been held back by issues of specification and supply, Andy Fitt says.