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15th April 2004
15th April 2004
Page 1
Page 1, 15th April 2004
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Page 6

Orbit lost to weight of staggering debt

Angry subcontractors are asking how a freight forwarder accrued debts of £300,000 in a year. Dominic Perry reports. A...

Page 7

Scottish tanker drivers brace for strike action

A strike by up to 40 Scottish tanker drivers is looming as union leaders continue to campaign for improved pay and conditions...

INTD apathy and ignorance

A SHOCKING 40% of operators remain ignorant about the Working Time Directive despite the fact it will be introduced in less...

Driver must hop skip and jump

THE SKY WAS the limit for the driver of this truck after the weight of two skips forced the vehicle to upend. He was trying to...

Valentine winner

Gillian Lauder was CM'S Valentine's winner in our recent competition. She gets a luxury weekend in London. Runners-up, who win...

Moto freebie

Buy your copy of Commercial Motor at Moto service areas and shops in the next month and you'll receive a free CM pen. The...

iPOD competition

Visitors to CM's stand at the CV Show should be checking our recruitment section at the back of CM each week. If you see your...

Snow show

Channel 4 is looking for any drivers who were stuck in last year's snow-induced chaos in the East of England. Contact: Sally...

Tipmatic box

MAN ERF UK is to fit its Tipmatic automated gearbox on all MAN TGA 4x2 and 6x2 tractors as standard.

Fatal accident

A man was crushed to death when machinery he was unloading from a truck fell on top of him in Market Drayton last Thursday (8...

Page 8

No explanation for collapse

Chris Tindall reports on the demise of a haulage firm whose performance plan didn't work out. One creditor describes it as a...

Villagers fight threat of RDC traffic

RESIDENTS IN the Wirral are fighting to prevent hundreds of trucks using their roads as part of plans to build a regional...

Page 9

Strike boosts queue for annual truck tests

A PAY STRIKE BY civil servants in Northern Ireland is set to worsen a huge backlog of truck tests, says the Freight Transport...

PAY UP OR SELL OFF!

Once again the Vehicle and Operator Services Agency is asking operators to pay more for their annual truck tests. Brian...

M6 Toll trial is 'inconclusive'

A TRIAL INTO the benefits of using the M6 Toll by one large haulier has proved inconclusive, according to Macquarie...

Page 10

TIME TO ACT ON WORKING TIME

The fact that fewer than a third of transport operators have taken any action ahead of the introduction of the Working Time...

Page 12

Gunman escapes with E800k load

HERTFORDSHIRE POLICE are hunting a man who hijacked a truck driver at gunpoint before making off with his £800,000 load of...

DfT remains on target to cut road deaths

THE NUMBER OF people killed or injured on Britain's roads has fallen 17% over the past three years, according to the Department...

Road safety message is not gefting through

A newly published survey reveals that education campaigns about driving when tired or after drinking have not affected...

Page 14

Truck thieves on the rampage

Truck crime in the West Midlands is spiralling — one victim fears it's only a matter of time before someone is killed. David...

Page 16

Calling it a day after a haulage century

A SCOTTISH HAULAGE firm is shutting its doors after 100 years because one of its directors has decided to retire....

Rising costs hit margins

A new survey says operators have a gloomy view of the year ahead; the ETA disagrees. Jennifer Ball reports. BARELYA QUARTER of...

Page 17

Insurer helps pay for rear cameras

A HAMPSHIRE OPERATOR has fitted nearly a third of its fleet with reversing cameras after its insurer offered to pay 50% of the...

Driver jailed for £4.5m worth of cigarettes

A TRUCK DRIVER has been jailed for two-and-a-half years for smuggling £4.5m worth of ciga rettes into the UK. Maidstone Crown...

IN THE NEWS

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

Page 18

Next stop the truckzone

Are you involved in construction? Then you can't afford to miss Commercial Motor's truckzone at the SED show in Milton...

Page 20

Big firms' shares up

SHARES IN some of the leading logistics com panies have continued to rise during the past month, buoyed by continued consumer...

Page 22

Rights of passage

Dominic Perry meets the Scot who heads the regional freight council and understands why transport will never be important....

Page 24

Drivers' lot

REGARDING RICHARD Rimer and Jim Macaulay's letters (CM 1 April) when in 1969 drivers' hours were cut from 14 to 12.5 (maximum)...

Safe drivers suddenly unsafe

THE RECENT battles over the proposed Working Time Directive legislation have brought about some interesting skirmishes between...

EU expansion a bigger threat than VVTD

ALASTAIRALLAN'S letter (CM 25 March) has prompted me to add my views. If Frampton and co are so worried about a few...

Page 26

We are running out of time...

Like it or not the Working Time Directive will arrive next year. Our exclusive survey has found that only 16% of operators...

Page 29

Tribunal rules redundancy was justified

When a driver was made redundant, and then suspected his old truck was making the same delivery, he claimed for unfair...

Page 30

Disqualified directors win licence despite bad record

A COMPANY run by two disqualified directors has won a fresh licence despite a "dreadful" record of prohibitions. But the...

Fines remind drivers to find out the law

A COMPANY which used a farm vehicle and trailer to transport plant machinery has been hit with fines and costs of £1,640....

Page 32

Customs and

practice It's best to assume that, like the Mounties, Customs & Excise (C&E) always get their man. Whether it's just a wagon...

Page 33

Future legislation

ADR/RID harmonisation: The Health and Safety Commission has published its consultative document on the new British Carriage of...

Page 34

The eyes have it Even a perfect safety record won't

save your HGV licence if you have a sight defect, as one driver found to his cost. Pat Hagan examines how the law focuses on...

Page 36

HIGH FIVE

Now in its fifth incarnation, Volkswagen's revamped Transporter has a lot going for it, from a refined, thrifty engine to...

Page 44

LONG LIVE THE KING?

Scania's new R-Series will put the Swedish builder back in favour with drivers, but is it enough for it to be crowned King of...

Page 48

EXPECT THE

WORST Can you afford to insure against unforeseen disaster, asks Adam Hill? Or is it that you can't afford not to? Insurers...

Page 52

COLLECT 1 PROTECT 1 Poor cash flow is probably the

biggest single reason for business failures in road transport — but there are ways of ensuring the money keeps coming in...

Page 56

FAULT FINDERS

What driver wouldn't benefit from thorout assessment and tailored training? Cohn Barnett is tested but won't say how he did....

Page 58

CHEAP

AS CHIPS Are telematics just an expensive toy? Or could you use them to help cut your fleet's running costs? Emma Penny...

Page 60

WHERE DO

YOU GET YOURS? The UK telematics market is currently split between vehicle manufacturers and third-party suppliers. Robin...

Page 64

Of early birds and parrots

Brian Lee muses on some drivers' attitudes to pay and hours, and wonders whether jobs should be put at risk by migrating...

Page 66

Money makers

George Alexander of Glass's Guide says the smart money is in used Mercedes-Benz panel vans, high-cube CDVs and the resurgent...

Page 68

Spring Daft.

Some companies need bespoke specialist vehides to c.o their work, and they are turning to the used market, where it's all about...