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11th October 2012
11th October 2012
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Page 1, 11th October 2012
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Take action on crime

At Commercial Motor Live I was lucky enough to hear Towergate MD Larry Smith talking about the crash-for-cash phenomenon. I...

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Stobart Doncaster DC drivers stage strike

By Chris Druce FORMER TESCO drivers facing redundancy at new employer Eddie Stobart have completed a 48-hour walkout at the...

Twitter shower rant does the trick

SHOWER FACILITIES at Sandbach services in Cheshire are to be upgraded after an LGV driver took to Twitter to complain about...

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Condor Logistics to close doors after Channel tax relief chopped

By Ashleigh Wight SOUTH COAST haulier Condor Logistics will close at the end of December, putting about 180 jobs at risk. The...

Calling all ATF operators!

MORE THAN 40 owners of authorised testing facilities (ATFs) are set to meet next week to discuss their working relationship...

Tanker leaks 6,000 litres of caramel

A TANKER CRASH on the A482 near Lampeter has seen up to 6,000 litres of caramel food additive leak into a river in Wales. The...

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FTA calls for joined-up cycle safety

THERE NEEDS TO be a joinedup, multifaceted approach to improving cycle safety that includes driver and cyclist training,...

Swain looks to new markets after LV buy

By Chris Tindall SWAIN GROUP has bought fellow Kent haulier LV Transport, which operates about 20 vehicles and 30 trailers out...

Goodyear launches first AA-labelled truck tyre

GOODYEAR IS launching what it claims is the first AA-labelled truck tyre, which should offer operators improved wet grip and...

LAND-ER HOPE AND GLORY: Shropshire operator RL Holding Transport Services

has added this Renault Premium Lander to its fleet. Owner Rob Holding was so impressed with the demonstrator vehicle’s Union...

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DfT to review trunk road speed limits

By Chris Tindall THE DEPARTMENT for Transport (DfT) has renewed its commitment to review the speed limit for LGVs on major...

CM staff are all fired up

WE WERE green with envy at this latest addition to the Palletways network: it’s an energy drink developed by Lithuania’s My...

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And just in case you missed out...

We took the opportunity to speak to visitors to see what they thought of Commercial Motor Live Andy Boyle OBE, MD, ABE Ledbury...

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VDO launches new version of DTCO digital tachograph

By David Wilcox VDO UNVEILED a new version of its popular DTCO 1381 digital tachograph, which incorporates a countdown feature...

Hardstaff targets new Actros

NOTTINGHAMSHIRE-BASED dual fuel (natural gas/diesel) conversion specialist Hardstaff has started work to tailor its system for...

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Airtabs set to reduce fuel bill by 2.5%

By David Wilcox AVERAGE FUEL BILL savings of 2.5% could be achieved with the benefits of Canadian-made Airtab aerodynamic...

SAF 80 One axles head for UK

SAF-HOLLAND’S UK distributor IMS expects to have the first new weight-saving SAF 80 One trailer axles in the UK by the end of...

BRS moves to all-Renault fleet

TRUCK RENTAL and contract hire company BRS expects to have converted its entire fleet of 1,340 trucks to the Renault marque...

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Industry needs to regulate workshops

By Roger Brown SENIOR TRAFFIC commissioner (TC) Beverley Bell said the time was finally right to introduce an accreditation...

Shhh... it’s all so quiet

Lisa Lavia, MD at the Noise Abatement Society, told the Out-of-hours Deliveries seminar that her organisation backed the use of...

Drivers: how to manage your company’s best assets

Respect between a driver and transport manager is crucial in getting the most from drivers. This was the message from Gareth...

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Low noise kit on show at quiet depot

By Laura Hailstone RECYCLED TRUCK tyres are being used to reduce roll cage noise, in the form of thick, tough rubber matting...

Which pick-up came out on top?

THE OFF-ROAD area proved a popular outpost at Commercial Motor Live, with visitors able to sample a range of the latest pick-up...

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Managing your maintenance

How should you manage your maintenance contractor? September’s Trucking Britain Out Of Recession survey reveals some answers...

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IS LIFE TOUGHER OR EASIER?

Finding new work at an acceptable rate in September was either much more or a little more difficult than at the start of the...

Optimism holds high

Optimism levels remained high in September, with a marginal uplift to 43 compared with August’s 42. Of the respondents, 71%...

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We need to act now before UK manufacturing is a thing of the past

SINCE THE SECOND half of 2008, the UK tipper market has seen some changes. It was general knowledge that the trailer side of...

It wasn’t all so bad in the olden days

I LOVE THE reproduced first issue (16 March 1905) of Commercial Motor (27 September). What a great idea. I can’t decide...

Perfect model for a contortionist

IN MILESTONE MODELS ( CM 20 September), Andy Salter portrays the Renault Magnum as ‘an osteopath’s dream’. I agree,...

Please include your fu l name, position, address and contact number.

Letters published in the magazine may also appear on the website (www. commercialmotor.com). Although we do not publish...

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Bosses banned after licence used illegally

Goodman Hichens’ directors disqualified for a year after allowing another business to use O-licence By Roger Brown FIVE...

Active role

Directors must always play an active role in the management of an O-licence. The disqualifications emphasise that directors’...

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Firm fined for working at height injuries

AN ESSEX truck body firm has been fined £7,500 after an employee suffered life-changing injuries when he fell from a...

Manager’s repute taken away

TRAFFIC COMMISSIONER (TC) for the East of England, Richard Turfitt, has taken away the repute of a transport manager due to his...

Avoiding injuries

If the firm had planned the work properly and made changes following the previous incident, then the worker’s injuries could...

National register

Butler’s name will now be added to the national register – a database that is accessible to EU member states and records...

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Arlington Haulage

ARLINGTON HAULAGE can now base four vehicles and four trailers at an operating centre in Withy Road, Bilston, subject to the...

Maritime Transport

MARITIME TRANSPORT is looking to remove its operating centre in Whitacre Heath, Coleshill, Birmingham from its licence. It also...

ND Jeans Engineering

ND JEANS Engineering has been given the go-ahead to station two vehicles at the Stevens Works in Temple Lane, Templecombe...

Western and West Midlands traffic areas Birmingham

● The TC will look at disciplinary action against Birmingham-based Kiely Bros on 15 October. ● A PI will discuss...

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Thin end of the wedge?

Recent changes to cabotage rules have created an unintended headache for the car transporter industry. CM looks at the key...

DfT consultation

The Department for Transport (DfT) launched a consultation in May on proposals to allow ministers to relax the EU cabotage...

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EACH EU MEMBER STATE TO ITS OWN

EU legislation already provides that governments in each member state have the ability to grant relaxations to the cabotage...

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Still born to run?

In this highly organised, technical age with sat-nav, route planning and firms that boast multiple depots throughout the...

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STOBART AND TRAMPERS

William Stobart , chief operating officer at Stobart Group, says: “We believe trampers have a major part to play within our...

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Ahead by a nose

In a press statement issued in April 2005, Scania announced the death of an iconic truck and the end of a century-long design...

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THE CASE FOR THE SAFETY NOSE

Long-time long-nose lorry advocate Scania added a new twist to the story in 2003 when it proposed adding a 600mm “deformable...

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MERCEDES’ NOSE FOR A NICHE MARKET

In 2008 Mercedes bucked the cab-over trend by unveiling its 7.2-litre engined Zetros bonneted 4x4 and 6x6 severe-duty...

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THE NEXT-GENERATION THAT NEVER WAS

At the 2002 IAA Show Scania unveiled its bonneted STAX (Scania Truck Advanced Xterior) tractor, posing the question: “Will...

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Too little,

too late Leyland’s T45 Roadtrain was meant to be the truck that was going to finally see off the competition from all those...

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LIVING WITH A ROADTRAIN – R SWAIN

Long-time Leyland operator R Swain & Sons (now Swain Group) of Rochester, Kent majors on Daf tractors and rigids in its fleet...

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RYDER’S ROADTRAIN REVOLUTION

Roadtrain was born out of the 1975 Ryder report into British Leyland, which recommended the government invest a billion pounds...

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T45: THE NON-AGGRESSIVE CAB

Roadtrain’s attractive curvaceous ‘C40’ cab was very much a tri-partite effort, having originally been designed by...

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CHARITY

TRANSAID AND BIBBY Regional driver training consultant with Bibby Distribution John Aspden spent two weeks in Tanzania with...

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BACK HOME

My time in Tanzania was more challenging than my earlier work for Transaid in Zambia. Last time, I worked on improving existing...

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Can’t sleep? Take your van for an MoT

MERCEDES-BENZ dealer Midlands Truck & Van has started to offer nighttime MoTs so customers no longer have to take their...