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11th February 1999
11th February 1999
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Page 1, 11th February 1999
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DOT talks to Germans about

East Europe driver invasion • by Karen Miles Department of Transport officials will meet their German counterparts next month...

Support grows for lobby

• More and more hauliers are rallying behind the call to support the fuel duty lobby of Parliament on 24 February, says...

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Stowaways: defence will be due diligence

by David Craik Truck drivers who can prove they have brought illegal immigrants into the UK unwittingly will escape the...

Transline resumes with wife at helm

• A haulage firm, whose managing director was banned from holding an Operator's Licence, has been granted a new licence after...

Animal export ban threat

• The livelihoods of hundreds of hauliers could be dealt a further blow if a Labour MP's attempt to end all exports of live...

Wife takes the wheel as husband collapses

West Midlands police have praised the courage of a woman who regained control of a 38tonne artic after her husband collapsed at...

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Customers help to reverse decision

• by David Cralk An East Sussex haulier says support from his customers and his local MP helped him win a conflict with a...

Stand up Show up

Rhetoric's a funny thing. Cynics will tell you they can spot it a mile off. The rest of us just know a telling phrase when we...

Lawyers hope for direct settlement

• Lawyers working for hauliers still awaiting compensation for the 1996 blockade are hoping to deal directly with the French...

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We like to talk to readers, and hear the stories you think we should be following: something seen on the road, a firm in...

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m by David Craik A Welsh haulier is considering flagging

out his entire fleet of 20 trucks to Ireland because he is saving "thousands of pounds" on the three vehicles he has already...

• A Newcastle-upon-Tyne haulage firm is doing business as usual

despite a suspected arson attack which did £100,000 worth of damage to seven of its trailers last week. The blaze follows six...

Arrested for immigrants

An Essex driver is pretesting his innocence after being arrested last month by French police in Folkestone on charges of...

Court bans layby cafes

II Truck drivers travelling along the A34 between the M4 and Oxford could be going hungry after a High Court Ruling last week...

Charged for fatal crash

al Three employees of Heathrow-based airfreight haulier Roy Bowles Transport are to stand trial for manslaughter after one of...

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by David Craik

—15 to be laid off Seventy-five staff at Aberdeenbased hauliers Munro Transport. which went into receivership on 14 December...

E A Runcorn-based driver charged with conspiring to import cannabis

after he was found in a South London garage raid by customs last year (CM 6-12 Aug 1998) has had his trial adjourned to 26...

Fake customs seals found

• A truck carrying Irish beef to the Continent has been impounded at Dover after it was found to have fake customs seals. The...

ifW in running?

Volkswagen is emerging as the most likely "white knight" bidder for truck and bus-maker Scania, which is defending Itself...

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Renault ends SIMS contract

Renault VI is trying to repair relationships with some of its customers and dealers after breakdown arrangements with a French...

TGWU moves in as

Shell contracts out • by Karen Miles The Transport and General Workers Union is set to approach the new bosses of Shell's...

Non-EU drivers: FTA call to halt Dutch

• Dutch hauliers using illegal eastern European drivers are operating with impunity, the Freight Transport Association has...

High winds hit hard

Gusts of up to TOmph in the north of England overturned more than a dozen lorries last week, forcing police to shut off roads...

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Plan to ease London flow

• by Tim Maughan Hauiage firms which operate through East London can look forward to smoother journeys if a £500m scheme goes...

Call for mobiles ban on the move

• Using mobile phones while driving must be banned, says the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents. Fallowing the...

Bridge-bashing figures rise again

More than 1.300 trucks and buses were involved In bridge-bashing incidents last year. Answering a House of Commons written...

8111 10 sort cheats from unsuccessful

• Hauliers could face new bankruptcy laws designed to reward "responsible risk takers" and penalise deliberate cheats. In his...

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Vauxhall launches approved range of body conversions for Movano

• by GoIM Barnett As promised at the launch (CM 12-18 November 1998), Vauxhall has expanded the appeal of the Movano with a...

Utility reefers for Wincanton fleet

• Winoanton Logistics has strengthened its European fleet with nine new chassis-less refrigerated semi-trailers from Utility...

Floating trailers

• Schmitz Cargobull is to be floated on the German Stock Exchange in a new SMAX market segment for medium-sized business....

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Sales show downward trend

• by Toby Clark Truck and van sales showed a downturn last month, according to the latest figures from the Society of Motor...

Scott buys Seddons

• Thornaby-on-Tees plant hire and haulage contractor Soon Bros has invested £850,000 in new depot fac i lities and 10 Seddon...

Gain MOD on Tata

• Tata is offering £500 cash back to buyers of the entrylevel Loadbeta Pick-up. The offer is restricted to the naturally...

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Honor chooses Scania for Cat 3

• by Bryan Jarvis Heanor Haulage, the Langley Mill, Derbyshire-based heavy haulage specialist, has added two new high-spec...

Oil giants run greener with ultraillow-suiptur diesel

• Both Esso and Shell have announced that ultra-lowsulphur (US) diesel will replace conventional diesel at most of their sites....

[lakes cleans with Cargozone

• Blakes Chilled Distribution is conducting a trial of Cargozone, an ozone-generating system for sterilising and...

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Brim' father took control

A Lancashire skip hire operator has had the number of vehicles on the licence cut from four to one after he admitted that the...

Mockery was made of licensing

A West Yorkshire company has been granted an 0-licence despite admitting that it had been operating illegally since a...

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Load case is quashed

A conviction for using a vehicle with an insecure load has been Quashed by Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court, Kingsbury-based John...

Second inquiry spells revocation

AJ Long Transport of Liverpool has lost its licence for 25-vehicles and 40-trailers. North Western Traffic Commissioner Keith...

0-licence granted to complete deliveries

West Midland Traffic Commissioner David Dixon has returned an operator's licence so that its trucks can return from the...

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Do you want to comment on any stories in Commercial

Motor? Does someone in the industry deserve a pat on the back, or a dressing down? Drop us a line at Commercial Motor, Room...

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COMING TO TAKE THEM AWAY

The Hawk's dear old mum always told him that if he were to get knocked down crossing the road, to make sure he was wearing...

ONE OF A KIND!

There are lots of proud owners who would like to boast that their vehicles are unique. Well Chris Currell from St. Albans can...

AWAY THE LADETTES!

0oh just look at her, it's enough to send shivers down the Hawk's spine. The young lady will catch her death of cold out of...

AIR-BRAINED SCHEME

In the never-ending quest for alternative sources of energy, a Japanese inventor has patented a wind-powered generator that...

A SPIRITUAL JOURNEY

When it comes to giving their opinions it has to be said that taxi drivers are not backwards in coming forwards. Indeed they...

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GI R L K aren Hodgson is a woman who knows what she

wants—and so far it looks like she's got it. At just 29, Hodgson owns and runs a fast-growing haulage business based on...

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VIE GIFTS 86 MEl

1111ES Axle and gross weight checks help your vehicles stay within the law while maximising payload. The simplest solution...

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II ST E

The Post Office has not wasted time in enjoying its new facility for greater commercial freedom, but how will this affect...

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HAR

• The safest way to deal with a broken-down vehicle on the hard shoulder is to tow it away—but it is not as easy as that when...

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Plans to change warning lights

• There is a growing amount of criticism that the current orange warning lights used by recovery vehicles are being ignored...

The grim toll on the hard shoulders

• Possibly the worst motorway hard shoulder accident happened at the end of 1993, when a school minibus ran into the back of a...

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OR PAY UP

The Government's environment police are increasingly turning their attention to careless transport companies. Hauliers who fail...

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ritish fleet operators are currently jostling for position in a

colossal market which is yet to be capitalised upon: the military. Last December John Speller, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of...

Fleet operators save the MoD millions

• The Ministry of Defence has already saved millions of pounds through the Public Finance Initiative. In a PFI, the existing...

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HGV driving instructor Jacqui Hinton argues that training schools should

be legally obliged to register with the Driving Standards Agency Instructors Register. • If you want to sound off about a road...