ERF rejects big shows
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by Toby Clark • ERF is withdrawing from next year's IRTE Show and will not be exhibiting at any of the major exhibitions in 1998, because it feels that UK truck operators should be served by a single mainstream show.
Marketing manager Matt Thompson says: "Having attended UK commercial vehicle exhibitions longer than any other truck manufacturer, this change in strategy has been a tough decision.
"Looking at the European scene, single industry events are by far the most successful for exhibitors and visitors alike, and we were unhappy that the initial moves to establish such an exhibition in the UK came to nothing."
The company says that this is "a positive move, not a defensive move," and stresses that it is not adopting a low profile: ERF will continue to exhibit at distributor-backed shows such as CM 's Truckfest and Truckfest Scotland, and the second stage of its "Fuel Duel" pro
gramme is due to start in the new year.
Efforts to mount a joint exhibition by the IRTE and the SMMT fell through several months ago. The SMMT's Philip Jones confirms: "Currently we are not organising one single show for the commercial vehicle industry."
He adds that ERF was never scheduled to exhibit at the SIMIT's event—now renamed the Commercial Vehicle Show—which is due to take place at the NEC on 24-26 February next year. The IRTE's show will be held in Telford on 13-15 May 1998.
Other firms are keen for the show programme to be simplified. lyeCo Ford's spokesman says: "We have supported wholeheartedly the view that the IRTE Show and the CV Show should get together. We shall be at the CV Show—we believe that the NEC offers the right type of venue—and we have provisionally booked for the Telford show. We want one good-quality trade show." • Carline Transport of Bridgend has bought five ERF ECI1 6x2 sleepercabbed tractors for its Wolverhampton satellite depot. Coiled steel is sent to Wolverhampton by rail for distribution by road. The vehicles were chosen for their fuel economy in Midlands traffic—managing director Richard Brown estimates average daytime speeds to be around 20mph—but they will also be used for overnight thinking, haufing aluminium ingots to Alcan's plant in Gwent.