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29th April 1999
29th April 1999
Page 1
Page 1, 29th April 1999
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Page 6

RU IIIIVUT

Irish express delivery specialist Road and Sea Express has announced a management buyout. Paul Gannon is managing director;...

Haulier used to support tax hikes threatens to flag out

• by Karen Miles the haulier held up by the Government as evidence that UK operators have low costs compared with their...

Veteran closes blaming costs

NI Aberdeen-based Adam Middler Transport is quitting the haulage business after 30 years, blaming the recent fuel and VED...

ETA is not impressed

• Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott was greeted by an undercurrent of jeers and laughter when he spoke at the Freight...

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Trans-Action to have its say at the Forum

• Frank Steers. one of the leading lights in Trans-Action, and the man behind the recent spate of protests will finally get a...

RNA plans cheap diesel trips Di The Road Haulage Association plans to launch a "Fuel Cruise'' for its members.

The plan is to use the RHA's collective buying power to secure cut-price crossings for trucks through the Channel Tunnel,...

Do-or-die duty protest threatens to block M25

• by David Cralk British hauliers will launch a "door-die" campaign of direct action on 17 May which they say will only end...

Reefer wrecks cottage

• Tayside Police are investigating how a Safeway HOY came to rip the side off a cottage at Brechin in Angus last week. The...

Granada parking penalties—

angry operators will fight on • Hauliers are determined to continue their fight against "scandalous" parking penalty charges...

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Check the fine print with finance leases

• byNildd Daly Days after buying a leased truck, an owner-driver was told it could be taken away by a credit company which...

Fuel duty crisis puts RHA-FTA merger talks on back burner

• Co-operation and merger talks between the Freight Transport Association and the Road Haulage Association have come to a halt,...

Charging the facts

Comer John Prescott and he'll put his head down, and charge. That's exactly what he did at this week's Freight Transport...

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• by NMI Daly British hauliers are being replaced by

Belgians at Ferryline Trailers as the double whammy of ferry price rises and UK fuel and VED increases continue to take their...

Hi The second serious accident involving HGVs in less than

two weeks has occurred at a notorious bottleneck on the M271 outside Southampton. Last Monday a fully laden Axial...

No peace in Cumbrian Whys...

P Cumbria Police are launching a crackdown on drivers parking overnight in laybys in the region after they declared that BP has...

Drug warning for hay fever sufferers

IN Truck drivers who use first-generation antihistamines such as hay fever remedies could pose a safety risk on Britain's...

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Extra trucks lead to row with neighbours

• by Pete SwIngler A West-Midlands depot for United Carriers has been accused by its neighbours of "making their lives a...

Survey to check NOV wet speeds

• A survey into whether HGV drivers are putting lives at risk by failing to slow down appropriately on wet roads is to be...

Parcelforce will take work home

• Parcelforce Worldwide is trailing a home delivery service during evenings and weekends. The pilot is taking place in...

Belgians release Brit driver

Essex owner-driver Michael Wheeler, who was sentenced to serve three years in a Belgian jail in January for drug running, has...

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Doubts grow over digital tacho plan

• The European Commission's plan to replace the existing tachograph with a smart-cardbased digital recording system in new...

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Curtains for luxury cars

• by Peter Lawton Boniface Engineering and Southfields have teamed up to develop an enclosed slide-back system for high-value...

Aussie semi breathes in

• Australian low-loader specialist Brentwood Trailers has devised an ingenious answer to the problem of variablewidth loads....

Cargobullself-trackers cut wear

• Frozen-food specialist P h il Hanley is putting eight new Schmitz Cargobull self-tracking rear-axle trailers into service....

VW fixes backup costs

wi Volkswagen has launched a fixed-cost maintenance scheme for its vans, covering up to five years and 200,000 miles. The...

Special vans from LOV

• WV has introduced two special-edition vans, which will be available until the end of September. The Pilot Navigator (at 2.2...

Farewell to industry veteran

• The bodybuilding world was sorry to hear of the death last week of Eddie Higgins, national sales manager for truck bodies of...

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Truckfest '99: we'll e there!

If it's trucks you want, you'll get them at Commercial Motor Truckfest—and how. We preview the pick of the crop at the...

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AXLE/VEHICLE

ENVIRONMENTAL Authorisation cut following CONCERNS OVERLOADING DRIVER CS S two maintenance inquiries LICENSING Two vehicles...

WEIS FIE

Drivers' hours offences have cost Co Monaghan driver Paul McGrudden £500 M fines and costs. Chester magistrates heard that...

Driving instructor had no licence

A fork-lift instructor who acted as an HGV driving instructor when he was not qualified to do so has been ordered to pay £550...

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Base granted despite objections

Elstree-based McNicholas Communications has won authority to base 35 vehicles at Bolney, West Sussex despite opposition from...

Dangerous truck had been on Kosovo mission

A North Wales antique dealer, whose only vehicle was found to have a potentially lethal defect, has had the authorisation on...

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WELL DONE!

I think that Commercial Motor should have a "Jolly Well Done & Many Thanks" award, and I nominate Renault and Staffordshire CV...

DUTY DEBATE

I was listening to a television debate between Steven Norris, Dr John Reid and an interviewer when Reid claimed British...

PARKING PLOY

At last our industry is showing signs of closing ranks: at least among those of us at grass roots level. If the likes of Mr...

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HOWAY THE LADS, WITH A LITTLE HELP

Guide Post Junior football team have got talent, drive and ambition. What they haven't got is a coach, and as a result the...

BACK TO BASICS

Have you ever sat in a cab getting hat under the collar, stuck in traffic, getting later and later for your next appointment...

GARDNER'S WORLD

Here's an event that all Gardner Engine enthusiasts out there should mark in bold in their diaries, The Gardner 1999 Engine...

LESS IS MORE

Continuing with its Building Britain range, Corgi Classics is releasing a second set of vehicles in its Premium Edition series....

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Don scales down asbestos products

• Friction material specialist Don is starting to rationalise its asbestos brake products this year in advance of the likely...

Compact lift for vans

• Dutch-based vehicle converter Terberg Specials has begun production of a new electrohydraulic tail-lift for vans. The Vanlift...

Efficient lube usage

• Now available from the lubrication division of Permex Is the Oil Watch range of oil monitoring systems. designed to simplify...

Dust busters

• Dust is one of the deadliest enemies for any paint sprayer and, in a bid to fight it, DeVilbiss has introduced a new air...

Visibility in a marking tape

• New European legislation (ECE1041 covering retro-reflective markings for heavy and long goods vehicles and their trailers is...

• Hella has launched a new initiative for CV lighting,

bringing together 150 dealers in Britain, Northern Ireland and the Continent under a single European dealer listing. This is...

• Recently launched by Monroe is the Magnum range of

shock absorbers, designed for commercial vehicles from 3.5 to 41 tonnes. and for axles up to 12 tonnes. Developed for the...

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BUT WEET T he ar2 had a brief production Tun, from

1995 to 1998, while serving as a bridge between two generations of Volvo trucks. It combined the FLici cab from the eighties...

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"The main reason we have used Volvos for so long is because they

have proven to be reliable" Bob Tunier • Webb's Haulage, based at Longstanton, Cambs, has been in road haulage for more than...

THOMAS HARDIE AND COMMERCIAL VEHICLE AUCTIONS

THOMAS NAME WS "The FL cab is still not perceived as being dated and operators have no reservations in buying models fitted...

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"The extra power means that there

is much less gear changing" Kevin Greenway • Haulage contractor John Butlin was set up in the Birmingham area way back in...

"Tyres don't last long on our work but our 8x4 Volvos fare as well as if not better

than others in the fleet" Steve Broadley Steve Broadley is managing director of MB Waste Management and Recycling, which has...

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VERDICT

The FL.12 was introduced as a stop-gap until Volvo's FM was ready—Volvo only sold 378 of all types. B-ride 8x4 chassis just...

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S111100 . 1 . /1

SAVINGS T hey look smart and provide a convenient space for additional corporate promotion, but does the addition of roof...

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WHAT'S BOGGING YOU?

The Millennium Bug might still be lurking in a machine near you. Chris Graham considers the risks and reminds those operating...

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RICHARDSON TRANSPORT

• Massive flames spout from chimneys, and oil tankers glide into Teesport. It's a hive of activity that represents...

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DAVID FOX TRANSPORT

• Many 17-year-olds are faced with a tough dilemma: should they continue their education or thrust themselves into the world of...

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G STILLER TRANSPORT

MI As soon as you cross the perimeter fence of Stockton-based Stiller Transport, you know you are entering the premises of a...

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JOHN HARLAND HAULAGE

• CM catches up with John Harland, owner of John Harland Haulage, just after he has delivered pipes and spools for the Triton...

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MURRAY HOGG

• Murray Hogg, managing director of the Newcastle-based haulage firm of the same name, says proudly: - There is no job we will...

flECIONAL ASSISTANCE

Training and Enterprise Councils (TECs) offer information on training and may be able to subsidise training courses. Business...

NICHOLLS TRANSPORT

II Hauliers get a foothold in the industry in a variety of ways. Some inherit a business; others start out as an ownaccount...

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MONDAY

In the office early as I spent all last week in court. The list of things to do has grown alarmingly. Make a start on returning...

TUESDAY

Had two calls from the police during the night requesting us to fi accept summonses for foreign drivers, so !telephone their g...

WEDNESDAY mel■mino

Check charts and computer reports brought to my attention and dictate some reports to clients. One police force carrying out...

THURSDAY

Make an early start on paperwork as it's easy to get into difficulties with summonses which are for dates two or three weeks...

FRIDAY

Check all our court dates for next week. Meet representative from a driver agency to try and improve our response times. Speak...

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H861:s aftersales clinch Mem award

III With Mercedes-Benz's Dealer of the Year award to display, and an expanded territory, thanks to the recent network...

Dealers trade on, at a price

Cashflow problems have driven Wellingborough, Northants-based Renault truck dealer Harborne Group into administrative...

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Seddon refutes CAP price slide

• Values of second-hand Seddon Atkinsons are collapsing, says Robert Reed, truck editor of the CAP Red Book used vehicle price...

Dry powder boost

• A Staffordshire dealer has discovered a lucrative niche market for used trailers, and is taking full advantage of it....

Hedge backs diesel protest

• Used truck dealer Chris Hodge is offering his full backing to hauliers demonstrating on the streets against Government tax...