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2nd March 2006
2nd March 2006
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Page 1, 2nd March 2006
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Dramatic growth for logistics group

The fast-growing Clipper Group has unveiled a strong set of accounts and dropped hints over future plans. Guy Sheppard...

Uncertainty over 950 Kwik Save jobs

DI IL EXEL is negotiating with the new owners of Kwik Save to minimise job losses after 171 stores were sold off by its parent,...

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Pickfords sheds jobs after formal review

REMOVALS GIANT Pickfords is blaming over-capacity in the UK market for the loss of 80 jobs. The redundancies will mainly...

Longer commute leads to Tribunal

FORMER EMPLOYEES of Hexham firm William Martin Oliver & Partners are currently embroiled in a Carlisle Employment Tribunal....

Strike ballot at Asda

DRIVING AND warehouse staff at supermarket chain Asda could be on strike within weeks in a dispute over collective contracts....

Cutting costs

Freight Best Practice is offering operators free advice seminars on reducing costs. Contact: www.freightbest practce.org.uk

Dorset seminars

Western TC Philip Brown will be hosting seminars for operators on 20-21 March at the Crown Hotel, Blandford Forum, Dorset.

Aven calling

Brittany Ferries will reintroduce the Pont Aven ferry to its Plymouth-Santander route from 5 March.

Barnet's fair?

Thousands of parking tickets in the London borough of Barnet may be canceled after a court ruled they were unlawful because...

Different Harrier

There is no link between Faversham reefer operator Harrier Express Kent and Harrier Logistics, which recently went into...

Turnover's up

Reefer trailer manufacturer Gray & Adams boosted its turnover to £86m in the year ending 30 April 2005.

EU crackdown

Truck drivers who break traffic laws in EU countries and try to dodge the penalties will face a crackdown under new laws being...

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Bell sounds the alarm over Transconsult CPS holder

Three operators have appeared before the TC because of their transport manager, supplied by Transconsult. Mike Jewell reports....

Cut Congestion Charge for cleaner vehicles

BUSINESS AND INDUSTRY groups are putting pressure on Transport for London (TfL) to grant operators discounts on the capital's...

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Spring Daft for Mallinson

BARNSLEY HAULIER Ken Mallinson & Sons has expanded its fleet with three new high-spec Daf XF95 tractor units. This follows the...

Cummins aims

to hit stric US 2010 s - andard US ENGINE manufacturer Cummins plans to demonstrate an emissions-control system for truck...

Operator bonding with the Swedes

MILLTRANSPORT of Doncaster has appointed a new director to cement its relationship with Swedish frozen-food logistics company...

FTA and RHA join forces over call on fuel duty

BOTH MAJORTRADE associations have called on the government to freeze diesel duty while world prices are high and volatile. The...

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MAN reveals 2006 plans

German truck giant MAN has unveiled targets for its UK business and a new engine for the US market. But it has played down...

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East Europeans put pressure on the UK

UK international hauliers held onto 26% of the cross Channel market last year. Bridget Carter reports. THE NUMBER OF East...

Fatal accident inquiry to probe mobile use

AN INQUIRY INTO the death of a cyclist killed when he was hit by a truck will investigate the part a mobile phone played in the...

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'Reckless' DHL fined for biodiesel spillage into waterway

DHL HAS BEEN fined L8,000 with almost £6,000 costs after it caused biodiesel fuel to spill into a brook, polluting 6km of the...

Kent Lib-Derns tell drivers to 'truck off'

A LIBERAL Democrats campaign to force truck drivers to park away from the high street of a Kent town has been branded...

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Learn from Germany

Who should pay for making your drivers safer? Brian Weatherley wonders whether the Germans haven't got the right idea. Germany...

Hino targets Foden dealers

Japanese truck maker Hino is gearing up for an assault on the UK market by expanding its network Andy Salter repors....

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WEST MIDLANDS POLICE are Tesco supermarket chain warning truck drivers

to be on their guard following a hijacking in Walsall last week. The attack happened on the A454, near Junction 10 of the M6....

NOTTINGHAMSHIRE reefer operator Innovate Logistics has ordered 150 new Volvo

tractors to replace the Scanias it acquired when it took over rival Phil Hanley Transport. The Dm worth of new trucks are all...

Furniture delivery firm not worried by Stag's fall

BOSSES OF FURNITURE transport specialist Harker's say that the collapse of one of the UK's biggest furniture manufacturers will...

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MEDIA WATCH

IN THE NEWS Stuart Thomas brings you his regular round-up of the way our local and national press has covered the wonderful...

Scots drivers win JIC rise

A group of Aberdeen drivers will be celebrating this week after winning a long-running pay dispute. Guy Sheppard reports....

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Fleet grows as VVTD boosts workload SCO'TTISH HAULIER Transport is

investing £400,000 in new trucks to cope with expansion which its boss suspects is fuelled by the Working Time Directive. MD...

Petch blames its demise on low rates

ALEC FETCH Transport, the Yorkshire container haulier that closed at the end of February (CM 23 February), says its problems...

Southampton port revenue falls by 1.1%

POOR TRADING IN British shops has been blamed for a fall in the number of containers passing through Southampton port. In its...

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The smoking gun

In a few weeks, Scottish drivers will no longer be allowed to smoke in their vehicles. But will the law be enforceable? Chris...

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Profit potential for live wires

An EU Directive on electronic waste will come into effect later this year — and it could be good news for logistics...

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Purple patch for Scarlett

Palletforceis Vick Scarlett has overseen a period of impressive growth. Chris Tindall networks with the chief executive. M...

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Bridging the skills gap

HERE ATTHE Professional Drivers Association (PDA), we too are familiar with the problems of newly qualified drivers trying to...

Agency drivers need structured training

TWO RECENT items on drivers in C. orruncrcial Motor caught my eye.The problems highlighted in Comment are all too real and...

Support for driving fathers

T WONDER if any of your readers who work in this already over-regulated industry have experienced problems at home due to the...

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Chinese dragon spreads its wings

CIMC plans to be the world's number one trailer maker by 2008. As Brian Weatherley reports, the recent acquisition of Burg...

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Arts and crafts

With a new body and interior, the Crafter is more than just an updated a Colin Barnett reports. V olkswagen has unveiled its...

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'Front' operation for revoked firm is shown the red card

The two directors of an operation that was "entirely wrong" have been disqualified indefinitely, and the transport manager has...

EAST COAST SKIPS IN OUR 9 FEBRUARY issue we mistakenly

used a photograph showing a skip belonging to East Coast Skips in conjunction with a story about a skip-hire firm losing its...

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Tribunal overturns revocation to give dairy second chance

A DAIRY FIRM with onc of the"worst"maintenance records a TC had seen has won its appeal against revocation. The Transport...

Appeal for return of vehicle fails

AN ESSEX SCAEFOLDER, whose 0-licence was revoked in 2000, has failed to win back the return of an impounded vehicle. He had...

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'Abusive' operator sees his licence authority doubled

A SWANSEA skip hire operator succeeded in doubling his licence authority at a Cardiff public inquiry despite the fact that he...

'Everybody's doing it' is no excuse

A MITC11AM, LONDON driver has been given a 155-hour Community Punishment Order and ordered to pay fines and costs totalling...

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Right track

What does the CM operators' panel think of the proposals to overhaul 0-licensing? It's time for a change, Pat Hagan is told....

THE PANEL Adam Purshall TM Logistics Martley, Wares

Adam Purshall is contract manager in a company that employs 400 people and runs 150 vehicles. His verdict is simple: This will...

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Nick Matthews Logistics manager Denholm Industrial Services Yeovil, Somerset As

logistics manager Nick Matthews is responsible for a fleet of 79 vehicles, mostly supplying scaffolding. The business currently...

Philip Baker AJ Baker & Son Hastings, East Sussex Owner-driver

Philip Baker faces few repercussions from the planned changes anc believes the industry in general will benefit. "Getting rid...

Gerard Palmer Transport Manager Huntapac Transport Preston, Lancs "A good

thing," is Gerard Palmer's verdict on the proposed changes. They should make everything a bit more transparent." Palmer...

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Ed Pargeter Director, EP Training Leatherhead, Surrey As a training

provider, Ed Pargeter is in a position to observe the changes from the sidelines. He's convinced that they will slash...

Michael Owen General manager Commercial Vehicle Finance Basingstoke, Hants As

a specialist in CV finance, Michael Owen welcomes any changes that will improve 0licensing monitoring as well as...

THE VERDICT

In general, the proposals have received a big thumbs-up from our panel. They welcome the idea of a lead TC to deal with...

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Paul Atherton Paul Atherton Transport Noriolk An international haulier with

12 vehicles in his fleet, Paul Atherton is convinced the proposed changes are a good idea. But he worried that centralising the...

Malcolm Millard MGM Haulage Flexford, Southampton With 50 years in

the business, Millard has seen more changes than most. He has already noticed that centralisation is underway after...

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This week's answers have been supplied by a team of lawyers from Barker Gatelee, based in Ipswich, Suffolk.

Test aborted I noid an LG'v' Class 2 licence and recently paid £1,500 for a Class 1 (C+E) LGV course. This included five days...

Hidden probleni

I bought a second-hand Mercedes 313 LWB panel van, sold as seen, from a truck dealer. A year on, at its first MoT, I learned...

Outside the box

I'm a heavy haulage driver and I've been fined £50 by Transport for London for halting in a yellow box junction, having been...

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ARR VAL 0

The new hatchback aside, it may not look much different. But Vauxhall's Combo has been steadily evolving, especially under the...

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The Combo may look much as it has ever done, but behind that familiar face is a van that has

steadily evolved to keep pace with a changing marketplace. The comfort and equipment levels are such that no driver could...

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STATI OF THE UNIONS

Even the unions admit that with margins so tight, many operators would find it almost impossible to increase their drivers'...

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Drivers Action Movement

What do you do when a union does not deliver what you think it should? For Jack Crossfield, still a branch secretary of the...

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Industrial relations

The interests of unions and employers are not always at odds. Geoff Dossetter, external affairs director at the Freight...

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TAIL 8i ERROR The Institute of Road Transport Engineers is defining a 'national

standard' for tail-lifts. Its regulation causes much confusion, so what will the standard include? Kevin Swallow investigates....

THE TAIL-LIFT WORKING GROUP

The January meeting of the tail-lift working group included the Ray Smith Group, Radcliff Tail Lifts, Ross & Bonnyman, the...

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CASE STUDIES

The small operator One of the problems in publishing a standard is that not everyone will use it. In the case of tail-lifts,...

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WHAT GOES 1111..

Recent revisions by the HSE to the regulations governing working at height have forced many operators to review how they go...

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FALLS FROM VEHICLES — SAFETY CHECKLIST

• Always use al equipment provided to avoid work at height. If work at height is unavoidable, use fall-arrest systems if...

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• All work at height is properly planned and organised

• All work at height takes account of weather conditions that could endanger health and safety • Those involved in work at...

CASE STUDIES Case study one A demolition firm was ordered

to pay £15,000 in fines and compensation after a truck driver suffered serious head injuries falling almost 7m from the first...

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SAFETY FIRST

The first step in identifying and controlling risk — and therefore limiting accidents, insurance premiums and legal liability —...

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The drivers

How carefully do you check drivers' licences, competence, recent training, previous experience and references? With a skills...

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1111■10 ENTERS

THE FRAY Hino is preparing for a major assault on the UK market. Andy Salter has the details... CM EXCLUSIVE T he rumour mill...

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THE TOYOTA LINK

Industry analysts have been watching Toyota closely ever since 2001 when it increased its stakeholding in Hino Trucks to become...

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Eagle-eyed CM readers may already have spotted some of the new 700 Series multiwheelers on UK roads.

Five-vehicle operator Declan Dooley, who owns Dooley Grab Hire in Crawley. West Sussex, put a new 8x4 700 Series on the road at...

CM VERDICT

"Hell hath no fury like a dealer network scorned".., corny, but on this occasion very apt. On the evidence we've seen to date,...

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A site worth seeing

British Car Auctions has opened up its Bedford site for LGV sales. CM went to have a look. B ritish Car Auctions has completed...

UNDER THE HAMMER

The 45 vehicles sold generated more than £275,000 (ex-VAT). Here are some of the prices they made on the day: • Scania P114...

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Emergency purchase

Just 20 minutes on the blower to find a fleet tractor to work at 40 tonnes? If anyone can do it, it's CAA's Mystery Shopper....

Truck City is caught in the web

This month, resident website expert Chris Snook has landed on Truck City. And it wasn't initially what he expected. Company:...

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Manheim branches out

Manheim Auctions has diversified to handle stacks of identical products and it's benefiting auctions, the domestic transport...

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FINDING SUITABLE PRODUCTS Export continues to be a vital player

at auction, but finding the right stuff to go overseas is getting harder. Demand has been outstripping supply when sourcing...