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13th May 2004
13th May 2004
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Page 1, 13th May 2004
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Page 6

Tippermen: We're on the road to ruin

Tensions are high at a Leicestershire quarry, where owner-drivers are nose to nose with strike breakers. Roger Bushby...

Fuel price threatens resurgent protests

FUEL PROTESTERS are vowing to take to the streets again after the price of fuel broke the 80p/lit mark — the level that...

Page 7

Tories won't give you bigger trucks, says MP

A CONSERVATIVE government would be unlikely to back an increase in truck weights and dimensions, judging by comments from...

Future palls for indebted network

Exclusive! THE FINANCIAL DIRECTOR of troubled pallet network Pallnet, which is believed to have gone in the red in the four...

Fatal crash

A truck driver alleged to have been involved in a crash in which a motorcyclist died has appeared before Gloucester...

Gas cutters

Government targets for reducing greenhouses gases have been raised for the second time in 12 months. Carbon emissions will be...

Jigsaw contract

Jigsaw Solutions has won a three-year transport services contract with garden timber manufacturer Forest Garden. Jigsaw will...

Leyland deal

Christian Salvesen has been awarded a contract with Leyland Trucks to collect parts from suppliers across the UK and France for...

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Midlands heads truck crime league official

Truckpol figures show the Midlands is the worst place in the country to leave your truck. Guy Sheppard reports. A ROW has...

Shell tanker drivers win £9 an hour

A REVISED pay offer has averted a strike by 30 tanker drivers at Shell Direct but union leaders say they have still failed to...

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End of the line for Rowland Transport

NEWARK-BASED Male Row land Transport has gone into voluntary liquidation, leading to the loss of 30 jobs. Edwin Kirkwood from...

Mitsubishi faces death charge

MITSUBISHI MOTORS is to face criminal charges following a series of accidents connected with a design defect on its trucks....

LOOK AFTER YOURSELF...

Safety issues make Brian Weatherley confront the hard fad that nannying employees can only take safety so far. To eliminate...

Page 10

FUEL'S PARADISE

It might just be paranoia on our part, but the issues surrounding rocketing fuel prices appear to be being downplayed by...

Page 12

At last! Vasey is freed from French prison

Owner-driver John Vasey is coming home after 15 months in a French jail. Jennifer Ball reports. JOHN VASEY, the British...

Ken plans to ban Euro 2 from London

KEN LIVINGSTONE is to make the creation of a low-emission zone (LEZ) a key pledge in his fight to be re-elected as Mayor of...

Page 13

Argos bids to build major RDC in the North-East

ARGOS SAYS it will create 700 new jobs including a number of driving posts, if it gets the green light for a new regional...

Have you seen these suspects?

POLICE HAVE released e-fits of two men they want to interview in connection with a truck hijacking in Staffordshire last month...

Six charged following fatal crash

A STOKE-on-Trent truck driver has been charged with causing death by dangerous driving following the death of a cyclist last...

Page 14

'No excuse' for importing drugs

A LANCASHIRE-BASED haulage contractor has been jailed for 11 years after being convicted of involvement in a major plot to...

IN THE NEWS

Stuart Thomas gives us his regular round-up of the way the newspapers have covered the world of transport this week. A common...

Page 16

Nothing short term for us...

A NEW pressure group has accused highway engineers of imposing road safety measures without properly considering the needs of...

Jail sentence suspended

ATRUCK DRIVER, who caused a crash which led to a man's death 12 days later has had his 18-month sentence suspended for two...

Wincanton staff lose out over Kwik Save

Wincanton jobs in East Kilbride are under threat as Kwik Save leaves Scotland. David Harris reports. MORE THAN 150 driving and...

Page 18

Skye's the limit for toll campaigners

Campaigners are to challenge the continuance of Skye Bridge tolls in the courts. Chris Tindall reports. HIGHLAND COUNCILLORS...

Thieves beat depot security men in heist

Police are hunting a gang of thieves who attacked three security guards at a haulage yard in Birmingham before stealing a load...

Football boss nets £19.2m for Hargreaves

NEWCASTLE UNITED FC's honorary president Bob Young has sold his haulage company for £19.2m. Young, who founded the bulk haulier...

Page 19

Sorting the wheat from the chaff

NEARLY A QUARTER of UK truck operators are showing the early signs of going bust, according to a new financial report. But the...

Top cops will be vetting truck parks for security

A NEW award scheme to be launched later in the year will identify truck parks that comply with security recommendations....

Page 20

Gordian knots

Lengthy delays cost operators billions of pounds, but the government's attempts to cut congestion continue to fail. Jennifer...

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No holding them back

SHARES IN the majority of leading logistics companies have continued to rise during the past month, buoyed by continued...

Page 24

Blue is the colour

Brian Weatherley has asked the Shadow Transport Secretary for some election pledges on transport... just in case the Tories...

Page 26

A nay for the eyes

ON 15 APRIL Commercial Motor featured an article entitled "The Eyes Have It". I would like to draw your attention to an...

What price fuel?

I WOULD LIKE to notify yourself and the readers of Commercial Motor, that a meeting of hauliers from the south-east of England...

The long and the short-age of a fruitless job search

SHORTAGE? What shortage? 1 read in your magazine and others that there is meant to be a shortage [of qualified drivers] but it...

Where are the weighbridges?

I NOTE WITH interest that a new vehicle check point is being built on J14 of the M4, presumably by VOSA and Wiltshire Police....

Page 28

Fear in the cab

A new study, Research on Attacked Drivers (ROAD), reveals that truck crime could be costing the industry far more than just...

Page 31

Licence lost for using HGV as a weapon TC revokes

0-licence and HGV driving licences after operator threatened woman with a truck AN OPERATOR jailed for using a truck and a...

Page 32

Operators who put things right 'have little to fear'

A BLACKBURN operator's application for six extra vehicles has been granted, with a warning that the company must never again...

Examiner could turn wheelnuts by hand

THE OWNER and driver of a truck with wheelnuts so loose they could be rotated by hand have paid £455 in fines and costs....

Page 33

Restrictions extended to weekdays

AN OPERATOR banned from weekend operations because of residents' complaints about noise applied to have the restriction lifted...

Court charges £1,000 for old 0-licence disc

RUNNING WITHOUT an 0-licence and displaying an expired disc has cost a London operator £1,450 in fines and costs. Barking...

Page 34

Getting an earful

Proposed regulations on noise will affect several aspects of transport. Steve McQueen reports. proposals for new Control of...

Page 36

A bitter pill to swallow

Sacking an employee on long-term sick leave can never be easy: Mariangela Milioto shows how to keep the situation legal, if...

Page 38

Going public Public liability insurance is not a legal requirement but without it

you're putting your entire business at risk. Emma Page reports. There's no law saying truck operators must have public...

Page 40

A BIJOU HOME

FROM HOME It's time to chase the spiders out of CM'S sleeping bag and head for the wide open spaces of Leicestershire for our...

Page 42

Daf LF

The Daf sleeper cab may not be the biggest in our group but it does have the biggest bunk at 2,030x700mm. And at 150mm, it's...

Page 43

Daewoo D75

Daewoo's Fantasy Pony (we sleep in them; we don't name them) certainly stands out from the crowd. From outside, the bulbous...

Page 44

lveco Eurocargo

Rule number one: when standing on a test track with your colleagues at night and told to pick a truck to sleep in, always run...

Page 45

MAN L2000

When you're bedding down in a 7.5tonner you have to come to terms with the lack of space, but once you accept that your...

Page 46

Mercedes-Benz Atego

Think three-pointed star and you think luxury and, aside from a few issues with the heating controls (of which more later) we...

Page 47

Renault Midlum

Renault's contender in this group is fitted with a GRP cab roof extension on top of its rear extension.The inside of the...

Page 50

THE RULE OF COOL

The industry is already taped tight with regulations. So why do some reefer operators want more? Tim Maughan reports. Few UK...

Page 54

TIPPING THE BALANCE

Just when we think we've run out of things to say about tipping stability, something new pops up. Brian Weatherley travels...

Page 62

RUN TO E SUN Mayday Bank Holiday and the seaside

beckons. Cohn Barnett joined the Historic Commercial Vehicle Society's 43rd London Brighton run at the wheel of a Ford Anglia...

Page 66

More than a pay packet

Brian Lee finds that competitors promising the earth still don't shake his world. Last Saturday afternoon found me astride my...

Page 71

Gallic charmers

Renault Trucks supplies a full range of construction vehicles that are built to last. it< enault Trucks offers a full range of...

Page 72

t's here! 1

There's less than a week to go before the UK's biggest tipper show at Milton Keynes. Here we give you the lowdown on what to...

Page 75

Ready to rough it

If your operation takes you off-road Fourtec has a lot to offer — you won't want to miss the Spanish Santana and Italian...

Page 77

Eastern promise

If you're going to SED make a point of checking out the Valley Trucks stand — this well established dealer will be majoring on...

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Special forces

The truckzone is a home from home for Seddon Atkinson's range of specialist vehicles. Since it was acquired by Iveco in 1990...

features a Clearspan remote-control sheeting system. Safety will certainly be

enhanced by the reversing camera, while roof mounted loading lamps will help to keep this Strato working day or night. From the...

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Best of the rest Visitors to The truckzone will also

want to take a look at the rest of this giant construction show. Here we check out some of the highlights... SED is now in...

Page 85

Renault sees the light! Renault UK is making the most

of its first appearance at SED, including the debut of its crew-cab Master. But if you move loads and personnel don't forget...

Page 87

Say hello to Tata

Tata has a new UK distributor — Phoenix MG Rover's sister company Phoenix Distribution signed an agreement with Indian...

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A touch of self-indulgence

Mitsubishi reckons its hard working pickups drive like luxury cars, but they are also tough, powerful workhorses. If an L200...

Page 91

Bargain hunting online Rather than tramping round the forecourts you can buy

used Volvos on line — the website's just been revamped. Since Volvo Trucks revamped its intemet used truck service at the...

Page 92

A market crying out for good stock Glass's Information Services reveals that a shortage

of used CVs has created a sellers' market. With the supply of used vehicles struggling to meet demand, residual guidelines are...

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Most popular ride in town

We've tested more vehicles than anyone else; now we're using our extensive database to highlight popular vehicles. This time we...