Released on: March 18, 2008, 8:26 am

Press Release Author: Sarah A. Chase

Industry: Industrial

Press Release Summary: London, 18 March 2008 - JF Hillebrand the UK\'s number one
specialist logistics provider to the wine and spirits industry, has been hard at
work over the last two-years to address major UK transportation concerns. With an
emphasis on improving freight transport efficiency through better use of
infrastructure, while supporting the wine and spirit industry's commitment to
minimising carbon emissions, JF Hillebrand is proud to be introducing their
innovative Tilbury to Daventry Rail Service. "The Wine Train" will operate on a
daily basis, with each train carrying over 350,000 bottles of wine.

Press Release Body: The launch of this service involves a £1-million investment that
has been undertaken by JF Hillebrand to address many environmental issues associated
with transport. The Tilbury to Daventry service is estimated to save an average of
326 km (204 miles) per road-trip equivalent. This equates to at least 1.7 billion
grams of CO2 savings per-year. The service is estimated to take 6000 vehicles off
the heavily congested M25 and M1 major trunk routes per year. These motorways are
widely recognised as two of the busiest roads in the UK.

Foster's EMEA, the UK's division of Foster's Group Limited, which is a major
provider or wine from Australia, including such popular brands as Lindemans, Wolf
Blass, Rosemount, Penfolds and Beringer is among the primary clients taking
advantage of JF Hillebrand's new rail service. Since trials of the rail service
commenced earlier in 2008, 75% of Foster's containers have been moved by rail from
port to the inland rail terminal at Daventry. From here, they are then road hauled
the short distance to Lutterworth.

According to Rob Hollis, Foster's Director of Regional Supply and Production,
"Foster's is delighted to be supporting JF Hillebrand in this initiative. Along
with measures we have already taken such as the light weighting of glass bottles,
the use of PET bottles and the transfer of packaging of some products to the local
market, this represents another important development for Foster's.

Prior to the launch of this initiative by JF Hillebrand, there was no existing
freight service operating on this route. The company has worked closely with
intermodal train operators Freightliner to develop a commercially viable service
that compliments pre-existing lines. The company invested well-over two-years of
development to create this solution in a cost-efficient manner, whereby their
customers and clients would enjoy both environmental and supply chain performance
benefits without enduring any additional costs.

The Daventry terminal is on the route normally taken by HGVs running up from
Tilbury. JF Hillebrand reports a direct savings in so-called \"road miles," which
equates to roughly 326 per container movement (this is the round trip distance
between Tilbury and Daventry). The savings between road (63gCO2/tkm) and rail
(20gCO2/tkm) is 43gm per tonne km x 326km = 14018 x an average of 20t payload per
movement (conservative) = 280,360gm CO2 emissions per container shipped via the rail
service.

In addition, JF Hillebrand reports that they have already been in negotiations with
a couple of major retailers who have expressed an interest in reloading containers
with cargo emanating from the East Midlands area for delivery to the South East. The
overall positive effect of these new shipping relationships will both benefit the
environment and lead to further reductions in road congestion.

An event to launch the full operation of this new Tilbury to Daventry rail service
route will be held on Monday, 17 March 2008. The first train left the Tilbury
station at approximately 8:30 a.m. (GMT), arriving in Daventry around 11:30 a.m.
(GMT).


Web Site: http://www.jfhillebrand.com/uk

Contact Details: Sarah Chase
PR Account Manager
Image Line Communications
(t) + 44 (0) 20 7689 9009
(f) + 44 (0) 20 7689 8008
(e) pr@imageline.co.uk

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5-25 Scrutton Street
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