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30th October 1997
30th October 1997
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Page 1, 30th October 1997
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Page 6

French drivers warn: the blockade is back

by David Craik • Barring an eleventh-hour solution, French truck drivers will begin blocking roads again at midnight on 2...

BRIEFS

• A House of Lords Select Committee hears evidence this week on the implications for the waste management industry of the...

Euro MP calls for 10-year HGV licences

• All HGV drivers will have to retake driving tests every five or 10 years if the European Parliament has its way. This...

Page 7

Tesco RDCs demand

trucks that fit bays TO KILL? by Rob Willock

• Supermarkets' motives were called into question last week after

suppliers complained that Tesco's regional distribution centres (RUCs) are turning away refrigerated loads if vehicles are not...

COMMENT

t does seem strange that you can be granted a licence for up to 50 years to drive a vehicle which can kill—regardless of your...

Guilty of huge tax bill

• A Norfolk-based haulier has been found guilty on seven counts of failing to pay his company's income tax. Nigel Jolley, of...

Page 8

Disqualified directors licensed as partners

by Mike Jewell II A couple who were disqualified from becoming company directors after their haulage business collapsed have...

More variable limits set on M25

• Variable speed limits are being extended round the M25 in a bid to stop dri vers crashing into station ary traffic. The...

TUC weighs up URTU position

• The Trades Union Congress appears to be dragging its feet over a decision whether to expel the United Road Transport Union...

Exel fights for 7-Eleven

• Exel Logistics will fight to retain its distribution contract with 7-Eleven following the chain's acquisition by rival...

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Lawyers want fines equality

by Rob Willock • Lawyers have repeated demands for better guidelines for magistrates after a small company and its driver were...

Police find immigrant accusation unfounded

• Allegations that WI-I Smith's newspaper distribution operation employed illegal immigrants were discovered to be "unfounded"...

Slow start on strike cover

• Insurance firms offering cover against strikes and blockades say hauliers have been slow to take up these policies. Haulage...

Drivers fear trouble at Rhondda rubbish tip

• Some 20 refuse vehicle drivers are in fear of their safety after some Rhondda residents protesting against the reopening of a...

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Bonus tax to be paid

by Sally Nash • The Transport and General Workers Union is warning members to declare bonus payments to the Inland Revenue,...

EURO NEWS

* Greek hauliers have won their battle against the government over proposed changes to HGV licensing, and have called off a...

Extra training cuts premiums

• liSM Fleet Training is guaranteeing accident and insurance rate reductions for companies investing in its new HGV...

Secondhand problems 'include commercials'

IN The Office of Fair Trading should have included commercial vehicles in its report on second-hand cars, says global...

Tetbury residents plan lorry block

• Operators travelling through the centre of Tetbury, Gloucestershire, will face disrupted delivery schedules over coming weeks...

Page 14

Teesport hit by delays

by Sally Nash • Container hauliers delivering to Teesport, Middlesbrough are facing long delays as P&O North Sea Ferries...

Open wide for drug tests

• Within the next 12 months hauliers and police could be using mouth swabs to check drivers for illegal drugs. A prototype of...

Mitsubishi middleweights canter into the UK market with Volvo Trucks

• Volvo Truck and Bus will sell Mitsubishi Canter light trucks in the UK from the beginning of next year under a new deal...

Shared centre deleted after hauliers break conditions

In the first case of its kind, a shared operating centre has been deleted from both parties' licences because of breaches of...

Page 16

BRIEFS

• Cummins is extending the service intervals on its MI1 engines from 40,000km to 60,000km using conventional oil. With...

Smooth on the rough

by Oliver Dixon • With the launch of the four-wheel-drive M-Class next year, the renewal of the Mercedes-Benz product range...

SAF cuts Euro-axle weight

• SAF has reduced the weight of its low-maintenance "Euroaxle" by 8kg by redesigning the brake drums and hubs. Unit weight of...

Fiat turbos

• Fiat has made its new turbo-diesel engine— already fitted to the Punto van—standard in the Florin() van and pickup, but their...

Page 17

Michelin rolls out new tyres

by Oliver Dixon II Michelin is targeting the van market with its new Agilis range of tyres. Five new products ranging in size...

ZIF gears up for coaches

• 7F has launched a development of the Ecomat automatic transmission, and a 10-speed variant of the AS-Tronic automated gearbox...

Facelift reaches new heights

• Platform hire company Facelift has bought a 25m-reach Denka Lift 131_25—the fi-st in the UK—and has ordered another. The...

Page 18

Tipper on final warning

• Derbyshire tipper operator Timothy Birchenough's 17 vehicle licence has been cut by two vehicles, and three further vehicles...

Haulier lied

• Walton-on-Thames haulier Alan Pidgley has had his international licence revoked following the use of a prohibited vehicle....

Concrete lump fell off skip

• An absolute discharge has been given to a Reading skip hire operator after he admitted using a vehicle with an insecure...

Page 19

Motorway check uncovered driver's false tacho records

• The driver of a vehicle stopped by police for acting suspiciously on the 11,16 was ordered to pay L=175 in fines and costs...

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lifetime guaranteed stainless exhausts

• Commercial & Plant Exhausts (Yorkshire) has launched a range of stainlesssteel stack kits and silencers for trucks and vans....

Hi-tech Tempsaver boosts safety

• Pentywn-based JR Industries is the sole licencee for the manufacture of Whiting roll-up shutter doors and lightweight...

Light van parts guide from SKF

• SKF Service has produced a g uide to aftermarket replacement components covering all popular cars and light vans. The...

Gifts for Hella dealers

• Hella has launched its latest lighting promotion, entitled High Flyers. The sales incentive package includes reduced prices...

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haulage fact! lie

f1J c Haulage Factfile page provides busy operators with brief news items on: forthcoming events, services, business products,...

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letters

Do you want to comment on any of the stories in Commercial Motor? Does someone in the industry deserve a pat on the back—or a...

Be responsible

T he report by David Craik (Call for agency liability change, CM 16-22 October) raises important questions about the way in...

Loaded training

J am writing in response to the debate on training featured in your "Loaded Question" article (CM 24-30 July). It included...

Driver's view: 2

I 'm a Class 1 British driver, currently unemployed, and I take offence at John Heads' comments about the lack of...

Comments sought on lorry speed limiters

am a third-year student studying Design I & Technology at The College of St Mark & St John in Plymouth, and as part of an...

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bird's eye view by the hawk Commercial Motor takes road

haulage very seriously. However, once a week our, quirky correspondent, the Hawk, steps off his perch to take a humorous look...

Vintage stock

it for one of their last sojourns of the season before owners lay up their vehicles for the winter, the Hawk and Foclen the dog...

Model presents

ith nights drawing in, Foden and I pull our curtains early. As we sit by the glow of the fake coal fire, thoughts turn to the...

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Land of the rising stars

T he 32nd biennial Tokyo motor show had all the trappings of a major world auto exhibition— glitz, glamour, a glut of...

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REGIONAL SPOTLIGHT NORTRAST

The great industries associated with the North-East—coal, steel and shipbuilding—have largely perished but there has been a...

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The combination of a high-roof Olympic cab and Cummins' torquey

14-litre engine make ERF's EC14 a desirable tool for owner-drivers. Used examples are thin on the ground, but it seems they're...

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MOBILE COMMUNICATIONS In-cab phones are fast replacing phoneboxes as hauliers'

preferred method of keeping in touch with their vehicles. But before long satellite technology is set to revolutionise the way...

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Paul O'Leary, director of Sovereign Road Freight, is fed up

with the disparity in road costs paid by UK international operators and their EU counterparts. 'There is one rule for us and...