Keynote speakers at this major annual event will include Minister for Transport Andrew Jones and Andy Eastlake, managing director of LowCVP, the government-backed Low Carbon Vehicle Partnership – examining the real world of everything from multi-fuel engines to hydrogen power, hybrids, range extenders, platoons, autonomous vehicles and smart logistics.
Hot topics due to be tackled at this year’s IRTE Conference include: Euro 7, with Andy Noble, Ricardo’s head of heavy-duty engines, spelling out the implications; CLOCS, with a panel of speakers from TfL, FORS, Travis Perkins and others chaired by Brian Weatherley; and sustainable trucks and logistics, with Dr Phil Greening, of the Centre for Sustainable Road Freight, and Prof David Cebon, who heads the Cambridge Vehicle Dynamics Consortium.
Delegates will also hear from: Carlsberg’s head of fleet Phil Thompson on the company’s transformational telematics and driver management programme, which has been so successful that it is now being rolled out Europe wide; and Lionel Curtis, of Cartwright, with Richard Owens, of Don-Bur, on fel efficiency – and the truck aerodynamics versus weight and profile debate.
The afternoon is due to feature three streams – one covering legal and regulatory updates, another operational excellence and the third technology updates. As in the past, delegates will be free to move between streams to suit their own learning agendas.
For the legal stream, delegates can expect to hear from: senior traffic commissioner Beverley Bell (now patron of the IRTE); Gareth Llewellyn, new chief executive at DVSA; and Ian Jones of Backhouse Jones, the transport law specialist.
The operations stream will cover: an inspirational the irtec technician licensing scheme and IRTE’s Workshop Accreditation scheme; green bus and coach technology and implementation developments; and how to reduce fleet operational costs with telematics, dashcams and associated driver management and safety aids.
Finally, the technology stream will examine: braking and stability systems, with Thatcham Research and Knorr-Bremse; tyres and fleet husbandry, with Michelin, Pirelli and Sigmavision; and the latest in heavy-duty engine oils and ultra-refined fuels, with lead engineers from Shell.
For more information and to register for the IRTE Conference 2016, go to: www.irte-conference.co.uk