199
Page 20
Page 21
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
That was the year that was
Another tough year has been and gone; hauliers must be hoping that the green shoots of recovery really will bud this spring. There are glimmers of hope truck sales rose throughout the year, a CM survey showed that many hauliers were better off than in 1992 and Leyland Daf recovered from crisis to bounce back into production.Those who survived 1993 are perhaps sadder and wiser but at least they can be thankful they're still around. Some were not so lucky. Here we take a look back at the big stories that made headlines in CM during another turbulent year for road haulage.
JANUARY
,ingle Market becomes a reality; UK trucks leave Dover unhampered by customs checks. ..... Milk haulage faces a shake-up after the Milk Marketing Board announces a name change to Milk Marque in the run-up to deregulation Following a rate cut 60 ownerdrivers picket 10 ARC sites in South Wales. Management backs down and reintroduces the old rates structure .New truck sales increase by 1% year on year—the seventh monthly increase in a TOW.
FEBRUARY Ile receiver is called in at Leyland Daf after its Dutch parent. Daf, founders with .C300m of debts. Nearly 5,000 UK jobs are at risk.....The Vehicle Inspectorate proposes issuing "good conduct passes" to allow hauliers whose trucks have undergone successful roadside checks to avoid a repeat inspection Derbyshire haulier Richard Newman is the victim of vendetta attacks to his vehicle which cost him £2.000 in repair bills Following a CM campaign the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority agrees to restore licences to former childhood epileptic
sufferers. New guidelines restore licences to those who have not had an epileptic attack, or medication for the condition, in 10 years.....Mansfield reefer operator HDL ceases
trading; 100 jobs are affected Three drivers win £21,000 compensation from an Industrial Tribunal after being unfairly dismissed for tachograph offences The DVLA announces fines of up to 1225,000 for hauliers who evade
VED Hope for Leyland Daf emerges with news of two management buyout plans.....In an outbreak of "fishwars" UK trucks come under attack by French fishermen A CM survey reveals that 68% of truck drivers are opposed to wearing seatbelts.....New truck sales rise by 10.70 compared with a year ago.
MARCH Operators complain about a budget which increases the price of diesel by 10%. This follows a IX)T decision to increase the 0-licence fee by 1430 to .C170. However, VED is frozen International hauliers say they are saving up to half a day off round trips across the Channel following the abolition of border controls Sussex police use the little known Forgery and Counterfeiting Act to charge a driver with alleged hours offences committed on the Continent...,.New truck sales fall by 10.7% compared with March 1992. Uncertainty over Leyland Daf's future is blamed.
APRIL Southampton Council bows to pressure from hauliers and agrees not to implement a truck curfew......The European Commission invites UK operators to give evidence against French customs for imposing illegal fines on hauliers carrying extra fuel in belly tanks Dery prices are slashed as a result of falling world crude prices and the lifting of the winter surcharge Leyland Daf receivers accept a management buyout plan for van production.....A CM survey reveals that 40% of hauliers have suffered a truck or trailer theft in the last year The Government introduces tough controls on livestock hauliers running illegally: fines of up to £2000 can be expected The TGWU and the American Teamsters union agree to hold regular
consultations on pay and conditions Three East Anglian hauliers put up a reward of £35,000 to fight a gang of truck thieves—they accuse the police of not doing enough to catch the culprits.....Northamptonshire haulier C Butt says it was the victim of arson after seven trailers are destroyed and 28 damaged in a T.1 Om warehouse fire.
MAY
The United Road Transport Union accuses NFT Distribution of "bully-boy" tactics after it brings in agency drivers during a dispute in which NFT drivers reject a new national agreement. At the same time URTU and the TGWU agree to work more closely on hire-and-reward pay talks.....Truckstop owner Peter Hawes welds himself into his Cambridgshire truckstop in protest at the DOT's refusal to offer him a new site after it decides his existing cafe is a danger to road
safety Norfolk police set up a stolen trucks hotline BRS drivers and fitters are balloted for strike action by the TGWU after pay talks break down. Eventually a settlement is reached.....Furious hauliers protest after the Severn Bridge operator withdraws a 1000 discount for buying pre-paid books of tickets....,Year-onyear truck sales rise by 18°0.
JUNE In a cabinet reshuffle Robert Key is appointed Roads and Traffic Minister replacing Kenneth Carlisle who returns to the back benches The DOT announces that hauliers will pay three times as much as car users when motorway tolls are introduced. Labour says it will reverse the charges
if elected A Leyland Daf truck management buyout team led by John Gilchrist gets the go ahead from the receiver Twenty-eight drivers employed by Carlisle haulier Eddie Stobart are fined a total of nearly £12,000 for falsifying tachograph records UK operators face charges of £1,000 a year for every 38-tonner run in Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium. Luxembourg and Denmark from 1995.
JULY The UK runs out of haulage permits for Austria Truck rental companies spend millions on ordering new vehicles which is taken
as a sign that road haulage may be coming out of
recession The DOT announces plans for a cheap vehicle "mini-test"...,,Truck sales tall by 3.4% but Leyland Daf returns to number one position with the sale of 366 units.
AUGUST
Roads Minister Robert Key says the decision to widen the M25 to 14 lanes will lead to faster flowing freight.....Essex Trading Standards crack down on livestock hauliers after 20 dead cows are found in a truck from Holland Consultation begins on the privatisation of the Vehicle Inspectorate.....Northern haulier James Irlam claims to have lost £500.000 worth of business after police investigate hours offences.....London police arrest 12 people for alleged truck thefts. A further 16 people are arrested by police in Essex and the North-East Three more Eddie Stobart drivers are fined for tacit° offences Hauliers attack British Steel for introducing a "two-tier" system in which some operators will subcontract to others.
SEPTEMBER A CM survey of hauliers reveals that 41% are doing better than they were the previous
year Kent Council decides to use weighttriggered roadside cameras to catch hauliers who overload Renault and Volvo announce plans
to merge The DOT decides to allow 44-tonners to be used on road-rail work United Engineering Steels announces a 10% cut in
haulage rates Leyland Daf says it will restore its dealership network to 56. matching the prereceivership level..,..NFC companies Exel and
BRS merge The IRA warns hauliers not to work for the security forces in Northern
Ireland Truck rental firm Ryder orders 1,000 new trucks worth £30m. A Manpower survey reveals that a quarter of haulage firms plan to take on staff before Christmas United Transport sacks two drivers who refuse to lake their names off a High Court writ alleging that the company broke contracts of employment by scrapping overtime payments.....URTU wins a 1.7% pay rise at Bristol haulier Lane, overturning a company decision to impose a pay freeze Speed limiter checks are to be
introduced into the LGV test Truck
registrations are up 85% on September 1992, helped by dealers registering stock in advance of tougher emission standards.
OCTOBER
London police claim a single gang is behind
65% of truck thefts in the South-East The DOT announces that law abiding hauliers will have their 0-licenses automatically renewed Heavy haulier John Golding says he has lost UK work to Dutch hauliers because soaring VED rates have made him uncompetitive. Seed trader John Bryant collapses leaving 15 hauliers out of pocket by £200,000.....Transport unions set a goal of a minimum £4 an hour in drivers' pay talks Christian Salvesen buys Swift
Transport for £84m Milk Marque invites hauliers to tender for 23 depots Haulier Arnold Johnstone is taken to his funeral on a skip loader The VI admits 6,500 test certificates have been stolen from test stations this
year Truck sales fall by 8.5% compared with
October 1992.
NOVEMBER Two VI officers are shot dead in the course of duty at a testing station in Greater Manchester....,Livestock haulier Live Sheep Traders is fined £4,000 for illegal transportation of animals.....The VI is split into three divisions in
the run up to privatisation Four drivers win redundancy money from Southampton-based J8.::W Tipper Hire which had claimed they were self employed because they paid their own
tax Truckstop owner Peter Hawes ends a six-month occupation of his truckstop but vows to fight on.....The EC is to introduce mandatory "smart-cards" in new trucks for keeping track of driver's hours.....Tesco orders 480 Scanias in a deal worth £25m Allied Continental Intermodal publishes the first freight rates for
the Channel Tunnel The first Autumn
Budget pushes diesel up by 12% New truck registrations rise by: 26% on November 1992.
DECEMBER
New penalties for fly-tippers will increase fines
by 300% The DVLA admits it wrongly interpreted the law governing eyesight standards and invites drivers who had their I.GV licenses withdrawn to apply for compensation.....Drivers covered by the southern area Joint Industrial Council win a 3.20 increase: nearly 2% above inflation Transport Secretary John MacCregor decides that motorways will be tolled by 1998.....Volvo and Renault announce that the proposed merger is off,....Northern hauliers RDB Freight Lines and JG Osborne collapse-400 jobs at risk..11ino ships Super Dolphin range to Europe; promises a 530hp flagship tractor.