Industry experts help transport and fleet managers to increase operational efficiency and effectiveness at Commercial Vehicles Conference.

Dubai, UAE 10th March 2010:  Commercial vehicles operators that identify the full range of costs a vehicle incurs over its lifecycle can achieve significant savings in the long-term, an industry expert said today.

Marc Legeay, Marketing Director at Renault Trucks said it is important for commercial vehicle operators to look beyond the initial and more obvious costs such as purchase price when deciding which vehicle to buy, and consider things like fuel consumption, driver salaries, maintenance and depreciation, which form a large proportion of costs over a vehicle's lifecycle.

"Vehicle operators in this region typically focus on the purchase and financing costs and overlook the long-term costs of running a vehicle," said Legeay. "The initial cost and type of vehicle purchased can also influence future costs. Commercial vehicle operators who pay less at the beginning might end up paying a lot more over a vehicle's lifecycle.'

Legeay provided a comprehensive analysis on 'The lifetime costs' of operating a truck on the second day of the Commercial Vehicles Conference, taking place alongside Commercial Vehicles Middle East (www.commvehicles.com) in Dubai. He was joined by several other regional and international speakers who offered practical advice to the region's transport and fleet managers during sessions on 'Efficiency and Effectiveness', 'Ownership and Financial Best Practice' and 'Technological Advances: tracking, security and monitoring'.

Abdul Salam Al Hammadi, Head of Vehicle, Equipment and Maintenance, Dubai Municipality Transportation Department opened the conference with a presentation on 'Enforcing international standards for a better operations environment' and Adel Adamo, Certified Trainer, Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport International, UK spoke on 'Enhancing skills for better operations performance.'

Fabio Castello, General Manager of Scania Middle East delivered a presentation on 'Practical strategies to ensure high fuel efficiency' and Ian Godfrey, Director, CIPD Auto, UK outlined 'Methods of continuously improving service (workshop) operations.

"Transport efficiency is a combination of many factors such as correct specification of equipment to ensure it suits 100 per cent of the tasks being performed, proper vehicle maintenance to reduce breakdowns, increase uptime and reduce repairs, and one of the key factors is increasing fuel efficiency," said Castello.

The afternoon included a panel session on 'Ownership and Financial Best Practices' with an analysis of the 'Cost of Ownership' by Robin Voogd, General Manger of Leaseplan, UAE. Voogd was joined in the panel session by Imy Kassam, CEO, Stepping Stone Business Consultancy and Matthew Eisenegger, General Manager, Campbells, UK.

The final session on 'Technological Advances: tracking, security and monitoring' included presentations on the 'Benefits of commercial vehicle tracking' by Roy J Nasrallah, General Manager, GEO & Logic GIS Solutions; 'Telematics: How it can reduce fleet costs' by Chris Weiner, Solutions Architect, Arab IT; and a live demonstration on 'Online vehicle tracking' by Rani Ghazzawi, General Manager, Fleet Management Systems International.

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About Commercial Vehicles Middle East:
Commercial Vehicles Middle East www.commvehicles.com will take place at the Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre from 9-11 March 2010. The event is organised by Streamline Marketing Group. For more information about Commercial Vehicles Middle East, please contact Project Manager Daniyal Qureshi, Tel: +971 4 332 9029 or daniyal@smg-online.com

About Streamline Marketing Group
Streamline Marketing Group www.smg-online.com is a Dubai-based event management and marketing specialist with expertise in the turn-key management of exhibitions and conferences, and other international marketing and promotional projects. Other major events organised by the Group are the Big 5 PMV in Dubai and the Global Space Technology Forum in Abu Dhabi.

For further press information please contact:
Danielle Goff / Houda Azzaoui
Total Communications
Tel: + 971 4 336 9909
Fax: + 971 4 336 9905
Email: danielle@totalcompr.ae / houda@totalcompr.ae

© Press Release 2010