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13th February 2003
13th February 2003
Page 1
Page 1, 13th February 2003
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Page 6

Cif breakthrough: Lib Dems back hauliers' port defence

• by Emma Penny Commercial Motor has scored a breakthrough in its campaign to have international operators fairly treated. As...

URTU takes James Irlam dispute to ACAS

IA The ongoing dispute between the United Road Transport Union and haulier James Irlam &Sons looks set to rumble on after it...

Page 7

Lane Group hit by Next loss

• Bristol-based logistics firm the Lane Group has suffered a major blow following the decision by its biggest customer to take...

Charge standards welcome

The Freight Transport Association has welcomed the Transport Select Committee's recommendation in its Urban Charging Scheme...

Jobs to go as TOG loses major deal with Boots

III by Guy Sheppard Logistics giant TDG is to axe at least 50 drivers' jobs after losing a long-established contract with...

Page 8

Subbies concerned by new firm launch

by Chris Tindall Acentractors left out of packet after a freight prwarder found itsetf on the verge of insolvency . 13...

IP survey drives home apathy

i Road transport and traffic congestion remain ell down the political agenda, according to the iteSt OeHavilland Survey of...

Huge booze hit in Customs op

• More than 50 tractors and trailers have been seized in raids across the UK by Customs officers investigating a huge alcohol...

Eastern pay deal gives 22.5p rise

• Thousands of small and medium-sized hauliers in the East of England are being recommended to pay their drivers an extra...

Page 9

Scots fume at city tolls

• by Tim Maughan A Midlothian tipper operator has branded Edinburgh's forthcoming congestion charge a "slap in the face" after...

500,000,000 ... and rising

Trucks travelled a total of 500 million kilometres more last year than in 2001, according to Department for Transport...

Not in the Top Ten

Ever wondered how your MP earns his daily bread? Or what he does for you as a truck operator? If so, the latest survey of...

Page 10

Frock crime blitz leads 10 16 arrests

by Guy Sheppard dice arrested 26 people and recovered up to 200,000 worth of stolen property during a dayng blitz on truck...

Driver threatened at gunpoint

I Police are hunting a group of Dbbers who threatened a lerman truck driver at unpoint before making off with art of his load...

Rail grant boost

by Miles Brignall Hauliers running bulk tippers look set for a big increase in work following the government's decision to...

TGWU: haulage trade must change image

The haulage Industry should use the challenges posed by the Working Time Directive and Compulsory Training Directive (CT!)) to...

Page 11

Livestock hauliers claim for equality with farmers

• Livestock hauliers are demanding to be given the same rights as farmers moving animals less than 10km, after the announcement...

Dealer calls for second 'traffic tsar'

MI A West Midland truck dealer claims the region desperately needs its own 'roads tsar' because existing measures to ease...

WINCANTON INNWPSI

Shell UK Oil Products has dropped Wincanton as Its malt fuel distributor. The companie say they have deckled by "mutual...

BREWERY DEAL

Gist has signed a ElOOm fiveyear deal with CarlsbergTetley to carry out Its primary distribution. The group will transport...

PEMPLF. AWARD

Taylors of Martley has won an Investors in People accolade for its committed approach to training and developing staff. The...

ABA PROMOTIONS

There have been two promotions at the Road Haulage Association's South & Eastern area. Tony Weedop has recently been appointed...

WEB INSURANCE

Insurance company The Davis Group has launched a new websIte. As well as Informatior about products it also features...

TRAINING APPROVAL

The Road Haulage and Distribution Training Council has accredited Willenhallbased Nightfreight Training Services as an Approved...

TRAM= 11111 Utility group Transco has appointed Eitel as contractor

to National Logistics to mane* Its material distribution across the UK. The operation services 6,000 engineers and involves...

Page 12

We're on the road to nowhere

Ile government has admitted that its 10-Year iransport Plan has failed, and congestion will rise iy a fifth over the next seven...

Page 13

WHAT IS THE GOVERNMENT DOING TO EASE CONGESTION?

TRAFFIC TSAR Alistair Darling (right) has announced plans to appoint a "Traffic Tsar" to oversee traffic In the UK. The...

CONGESTION CHARGING

Durham was the first UK city to introduce congestion charging, and has seen a reduction in traffic as a result. From 17...

ROAD TOLLS The government plans to introduce road tolls on

certain routes; the M6 toll route will open In 2004. Drivers will be required to pay a fee every time they travel up and down...

ROAD TO RAIL The government alms to boost rail freight

by BO% by 2010. However, this plan has been put on a back burner after its move to slash more than 1300m from the Strategic...

ROAD IMPROVEMENTS Major road improvement schemes include plans to widen

the M6 between Manchester and Birmingham from three lanes to four and the provision of truck lanes and junction improvements on...

Page 14

Iligher-spec Sprinter

lby Cohn Barnett le 2003 model-year Mercedes-Benz Sprinter is iw on sale in the UK, and Commercial Motor has lanaged to obtain...

UK Actros unveiled

• During our recent visit to Worth (page 15), we had our first look at the new Actros in right-hand-drive form. UK operators...

ESP in action

This Bosch-derived ESP refines the existing ABS/EBS system by adding steering input and yaw (lateral acceleration) sensors to...

Schmitz blitz on chassis and axles

• Trailer manufacturer Schmitz Cargobull has revealed ambitious UK plans In the run up to the CV Show. The company outlined its...

Promising start to truck registrations

• Every sector of the commercial vehicle market got off to a flying start to 2003, according to the January registration...

Page 15

Going the distance

• You could be forgiven for expecting Formula 1 truckles to be a bunch of prima donnas, especially those from one of the...

Page 16

lybrids take the mat off army trucks

lectric hybrids power the perfect shoot scoot vehicles. US company Stewart & tevenson tells CM why they are the basis fits bid...

TENDER PROCESS

It's been over a year since the MoD published its original tender document, says Ted McQuinn. Clarification of some of the...

Page 18

• mskirk-based David empton is appealing against

e refusal of the North astern DTC Mark Hinchliffe to lease him from an undertakg that his brother would have rthing to do with...

alntenance problems have :sated in West Lothian-based listair Heggie being

given a nal warning about his future aerations. Haggle, trading as linburgh Woodlands, had been ailed before the Scottish DTC...

aircharm and Red Lion 'ansport, run by father and on

Graham and Kevin Ward, ave appealed against the avocation of their 0-licences nd their disqualification from aiding such a...

COME SUSPENDM) he poor maintenance record f Wrexham-based Josephine nd

Derek Rennie has led to heir licence being suspended or a six-week period. Trading s Minera Building Supplies, hey were called...

TC claims !logger hoodwink and refuses to return artic

The return of an impounded vehicle has been refused by the Eastern Traffic Commissioner after he decided that an attempt had...

Operation 'just needs tweaking'

A County Durham haulage firm which had been called to its first Public Inquiry in 36 years of operation has escaped with a...

Page 19

DTC: "Not safe to be on road"

A Cheshire operator whose truck had only received one safety inspection in at least four years has had his licence revoked....

DE gives an extra mond for tachograph inquiry

A Newton Stewartbased haulier has appeared at a Dumfries disciplinary inquiry to explain his failure to produce tachograph...

Page 23

Ain't just misbehavin but is it misconduct.

Conduct and misconduct: What is it? Misconduct is an issue of behaviour; it is about what the employee did, or omitted to do....

Setting the standards

It is the employer's responsibility to set standards of expected behaviour. The employer should think about the business and...

Page 24

lommunication of the standards

:ommunication takes place at many lifferent levels, such that the different evels reinforce each other. Typically, the...

be discipline policy

his is the policy set out by management overing broad issues of conduct (and nisconduct). It should explain: I how gross...

he Employee Handbook

Typically. the Employee Handbook sets out irocedures to be followed to meet the tandards detailed in the Discipline Policy. For...

Medium/low level communication

These are the lower levels of communication, and include verbal and written warnings. When the employer gives a warning about...

Warnings: oral or written?

Why do we start with oral warnings and then move to written ones in a progressive warning situation? And the answer is not to...

What is the warning procedure for?

First, let's be clear what the warning procedure is not for it is not there to prove whether or not you dismissed someone...

Page 25

Gross misconduct

There is no legal definition of gross misconduct—it is serious misconduct which goes to the heart of the relationship between...

Misconduct short of gross misconduct

The procedure should also spell ot: behaviour which will lead to lesse sanctions which, if not heeded, may i turn lead on to...

Preventive measures

Road haulage is a high-profile busines and one that is sensitive to public opinioi An operator who does not take safei...

Tiredness

The first and obvious line is to ensui compliance with Drivers' Holt] Regulations. That largely lies within yot enforcement...

Page 26

onffirm.cnrom acsINI:DIJOT

It is true that it would be fifficult to know either way ,vhether this rule had been :omplied with, but if you do find that...

kink and drugs

k duty to allow testing is )erfectly permissible, and you would ieed to get this in as a term of the :ontract against the...

lungs which only look like msconduct

'our employee does a particular route to nd from one of your customers, a hemical works. Smoking is forbidden at he chemical...

The enforcement of standards

This is a big topic in itself, so we will break the subject down under the heading of natural justice (see tint box, right),...

Natural justice

All disciplinary procedures should be designed and written to give effect to this legal principle. In any situation where an...

Employee representation

At any hearing which might result in disciplinary action, the employee is entitled to a companion. This can be any trade union...

Page 28

M-B VARIO 8140

I PRICE AS TESTED: 03,532 (ex-VAT)*. ENGINE: 4.25 litres, 134hp (100kW). GVW: 7,490kg. PAYLOAD: 3,605kg. AVERAGE SPEED:...

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CAB COMFORT

It would be incorrect to talk about the Valle cab's styling—it doesn't really have any. It's definitely more functional than...

Page 36

It's never been easier to monitor vehicles and drivers and

improve your operational efficiency. There's even help from the truck makers. Sharon Clancy reports on factory-fitted...

Page 39

Fleet management standarr

Daf, Daimler Chrysler, MAN, Renault, Scania and Volvo have all agreed to adopt a common protocol that allows third parties...

Page 40

PRACT

The Derbyshire Peak District may seem an unlikely spot to find a sizeable fifty-truck haulage outfit. But such an operation...

Page 44

G ruesome though it sounds, there is such a thing as

a Murder Manual which sets out the procedures to be followed by police in a murder investigation. In much the same way, fatal...

Page 45

Roll out for Examination Unit'

• The VI plans to have one mobile Vehicle Examination Unit for each of its 23 areas. Used primarily as support for collision...

Page 50

Good profits made at first CVA auction

• Commercial Vehicle Auctions saw a flying start to 2003, disposing of 223 trucks and trailers worth almost £1.4m at its...

Dealers feel share drops

• When a manufacturer's truck market share and sales volume plummet nationally, how does that affect its dealers? That's the...

Page 51

Used arena sees mix of marques

• Renault dealers could soon be selling a wider mix of all makes of used trucks, predicts used vehicles director Bruce...

Hino's Euro-3 launch

Hino's newly-launched common-rail diesel Euro-3 Ilx4s should provide Heddesdon dealer Valley Trucks with a boost, according to...

REGS AFFECT OLDER TRUCK SALES

New European legislation may cause many truck dealers to stop selling older used vehicles, says Glass' Information Services....

ALPERTON CEASES TRADING

London Ford and lveco Ford dealership Alperton is in receivership. The company has ceased trading, and most of the staff have...

ROSS MOVES TO USED SALES Peter Ross has become director

of used vehicle sales and remarketing at Scania. He replaces Graham Broughton, who has left the company. Ross was formerly...

BCA'S THURSDAY VAN SALE The first of BCA's newly-launched Thursday

dedicated van sales at Blackbushe saw over 400 light commercials come under the hammer. Vendors included Leaseplan, Lex Defence...

SBS RECOVERS AFTER FIRE

Independent dealer Smith Brothers Services is gradually returning to normal after a presumed arson attack in November gutted...

2003 USED MARKETIMUYANT

Despite stock market jitters and the prospect of war with Iraq, the used truck market is starting 2003 in buoyant mood. That's...