Global quarrying major Lafarge has awarded Babcock International Group a £100 million, ten year contract to provide a fleet managed service for its Heavy Mobile Equipment (HME) located across its Aggregate and Cement sites in North America. The programme follows a £50m fleet management contract awarded to Babcock in July 2011, which covers Lafarge’s Aggregate and Cement sites in the UK. The company told IM that it is also actively looking at opportunities in the mining sector for the provision of similar fleet management and optimisation services.

Babcock is delivering a whole lifecycle approach to managing Lafarge’s fleet of vehicles and equipment, from procuring and supporting the equipment through to arranging equipment disposal. The contract covers HME including vehicles such as loaders, heavy rigid and articulated trucks, excavators, and bulldozers. The statement said: “Through Babcock’s proven partnering approach, Lafarge will be able to focus on their core activity of delivering world class materials, whilst benefitting from the efficiencies, a multi-jurisdictional overview of its fleet operations, and the sharing of best practice that this new service will deliver.” Neal Misell, Babcock’s Managing Director, Mobile Assets added: “This contract marks a significant milestone with Lafarge. Following the successful UK roll out, our dedicated team in North America is ready to deliver the highest level of support to Lafarge’s Aggregates and Cement businesses, enabling transformation in the way the fleet is operated and managed.”