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3rd January 1991
3rd January 1991
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Page 1, 3rd January 1991
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...THE WORST OF TIVES

II You're welcome to 1991. Judging by Commercial Motor's survey of haulage prospects in the new year, that just about sums up...

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Closure risk

• Bodybuilder Besco, which went into receivership in November, will trade at least until the middle of the month, says receiver...

Euro licences

• A new licensing system for HGV and PSV drivers will be introduced under regulations laid before Parliament last week. Under...

Transport honours

• Tiphook boss Robert Montague has been awarded a CBE in the New Year's Honours List. MBEs were given to the RHA's...

RHAIS expands

• Road Haulage Association Insurance Services has appointed its first representative in South Wales. He is Glyn Edwards who...

Permits bonus

• The European Commission is planning an extra share-out of international haulage permits following German unification....

Barrow testing

• The Vehicle Inspectorate has confirmed that HGV testing will continue in the Barrow area under a new agreement made with...

Acid charge

• OB Transport of North Road, Ellesmere Port faces prosecution following an acid spillage on the M1 on 23 October 1990.

Prepare for tougher • Business will be even tougher for

hauliers in 1991 than it was last year, 50% of operators say in a survey. An exclusive Commercial Motor poll of 200...

Hauliers' hazard aid

• Hazardous goods hauliers could soon become part of a scheme designed to help the emergency services cope with tanker and...

Hartwell is set to sell

• Truckrent is on the verge ot selling its contract hire business which went on the market in October (CM 11-17 October 1990)....

Big export deals for AWD and ERF

• ERF and AWD have scooped major truck orders from Zimbabwe worth a combined £70.5m. Dunstable-based AWD is to supply 2,000...

VCA finds fault with CV firms

• A total of four CV manufacturers were found to have broken their Type Approval status in the year to April 1990, according to...

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times in 1991

said they would be acquiring new vehicles during 1991, many said they would be buying secondhand. Most were very cautious,...

Rayner rents tipping site

• John Rayner, chairman of the Road Haulage Association's tipper group, is diversifying into land and office rental, following...

• Paul Carvell, former manager of TNT's contract distribution operation,

has joined the Transport Development Group subsidiary Spurling as managing director.

lkarus saviours

• An international consortium of Soviet transport authorities, western investors and a Taiwanese group has been chosen to save...

Union cuts

• The Transport and General Workers' Union is shedding 300 jobs nationwide in a bid to reduce its £9m debts.

Trading standards cuts hitting checks

• Cuts in trading standards staff will mean fewer checks on overweight trucks in one of the UK's busiest regions this year, a...

Stagecoach must sell

• Stagecoach has been told for the second time in just over a year that it may have to get rid of a bus company took over....

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Cowie cuts rental sites

• Cowie Interleasing is disposing of more than half of its eight commercial vehicle rental depots. At least 14 staff have been...

0-licence halved

• Willowbridge Transport of Bury has had its licence authorisation cut from 20 to 10 vehicles after failing to inform the...

Hill seeks buyer

• Bulk haulier RH Hill, which went into liquidation last month, is looking for a buyer for its site at Fledborough,...

Bus firms team up

• Eleven bus operators have joined forces with Cleveland County Council to agree on a voluntary code of conduct, which is...

Winning truck

• Renault's AE tractive unit has won the 1991 International Truck of the Year award.

Cummins cuts

• Cummins Engine is to shed 600 jobs in the UK, mainly at its Shotts and Darlington plants. The company blames the cuts on a...

New deals

• Cossington Commercial Vehicles of Leicester has joined the Mercedes-Benz dealer network. It also plans to build a truckstop...

Strike over

III Greater Manchester Buses' 3,500 drivers have ended three weeks of oneday strikes by accepting a 7% pay increase.

Freezwest formed

• The Transport Development Group has completed the reorganisation of its controlled-temperature division by merging Freezwest...

Angers away

• European Commissioners have decided not to investigate the French government's £19m aid package for Scania's new truck plant...

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Climatic wind

• The Motor Industry Research Association (MIRA) is adding to its test facilities with a climatic wind tunnel, scheduled to be...

More dealers for Vauxhall Brava

• Vauxhall has appointed 52 more dealers for the Brava pickup. Improved supplies of the Isuzu-built 4 x 2s and 4 x 4s justify...

Coolest choice

• The Citroen C15 chassiscab fitted with an Isotherm refrigerated box body is proving to be among the most popular body...

Big cube from Bedwas

• Leyland Daf is now offering a high-volume parcel van based on its 3.5-tonne 400 Series chassis-cab. The PV600 features...

Lights shine dimmer

• Light CV registrations from January to the end of November were down 24% on the same period in 1989, according to the latest...

Indian chief joins the anny in style

• Mahindra, now marketed in the UK by Crusader Automotive, has announced a limited edition of its longwheelbase Indian Chief 4...

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Compound 110 on test in US

• Cummins looks set to launch a full-production turbo compound version of its popular L10 straight-six diesel in the US before...

Light contender

111 A 32kg George Fischer lightweight fifth wheel for loads of 3,000kg is being marketed in the UK by IMS of Loughborough.

First strike IN West Midland American Vehicles, which specialises in

importing US-built trucks, has supplied a five-tonne GMC "first-strike" fire appliance to Vauxhall Motors.

Axle increase call

• The Road Rescue Recovery Association is renewing its campaign for an increase in legal axle weights for recovery trucks. The...

UK woodmen check out Sisu

• Finnish heavy truck builder Sisu could be planning a move to Europe this year. Sisu is the biggest manufacturer in Finland,...

IN The first of 864 RB44 military chassis ordered by

the Ministry of Defence has been delivered to bodybuilder Reynolds Boughton. The RB44, based on the 50 Series cab, is produced...

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Pakistan prize

• AWD has received an order worth nearly 1.tri from Pakistan for 72 TJ2 trucks — its best-selling vehicle overseas.

Receivers in

• Trailer builder and rental firm Pennine Bodies is in receivership and nine of its 12 staff have been made redundant. Receiver...

Clean sweep for Cory in Southend

• Cory Environmental has won a £16m seven-year contract to provide refuse collection and other services to Southend Council....

Sheerness plans fruits of success

• Sheerness Cool Stores is launching an in-house distribution service, with six MAN tractive units, 15 trailers and 10...

York seeks franchisees

• Trailer manufacturer York is to franchise out its aftemiarket operation during the first three months of the year and will...

Marquiss up for sale

• Marquiss Transporters, the Scottish car transporter and recovery vehicle manufacturer, is up for sale or lease, following the...

Rickaby & Lee goes for food market

• Rickaby & Lee, the Yorkshire-based distribution company, has started the expansion plans it announced in the summer by...

Dairy dozen • Express Dairy has added 12 fridge-bodied AWD

TL 8-14s to its 500 vehicle fleet. The 7.5tonners are being supplied by Dando's Motor Services of Chipping Sodbiny, Bristol.

Chunnel centre

• Peter Lane Transport has opened a freight centre in Normanton, Wakefield, close to the Channel Tunnel rail terminal.

ANC appointments

• ANC has appointed franchisees for Croydon, Crawley and Dartford following its decision in October to put 15 wholly-owned...

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Cougar's light on its feet

• It is now more than two months since Huddersfieldbased Alternative Chassis Engineering unveiled its Cougar single-deck bus...

MRN ends battle

• Shrewsbury independent Williamsons Motorways is pulling out of local bus services after more than two years of intense...

Souter warns of MMC

• Bus companies could squeeze an extra 3% profits by controlling costs better, improving staff attitudes and encouraging...

Argentinians break into the US market

• Argentinian-built Cametal integral coaches, spotted by our correspondent in the US, have entered service with Mears Motor...

Getting mobile

• London Transport is adapting 2,500 Titan and Metrobus double-deckers to make them easier for disabled people to use.

Gas power

• Volvo will deliver a batch of 20 natural gaspowered buses to Gothenburg in Sweden next year. The city will be the first in...

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Driver sentenced for ERF artic theft

• International lorry driver John Cecil, who admitted stealing an ERF tractive unit from his former employer Macclesfield-based...

Lost wheel case rejected

• If an HGV loses a single wheel stud, or if one wheelnut loses its integrity, the remainder are incapable of retaining the...

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BUSINESS MOVES

STONE COLD START • Harris Distribution's £5. 5m extension to its Stone cold store is now fully operational. The 85,000m 3 cold...

Advanced refrigeration monitoring equipment is used to maintain the temperatures

round the clock. Tiny temperature changes can be detected and remedial action taken, preventing damage to product and...

DOWN THE ROAD • BRS's Trafford Park, Manchester branch has moved to a new location near the M63 motorway.

It can offer 24-hour operation at the commercial vehicle engineering centre at Barton Dock Road, Trafford Park, Manchester M32...

DEALERS

CHANGE OF MARQUE • TopTrux (Nottingham) has been formed to handle ERF truck sales in Nottinghamshire and Leicestershire. Until...

The TopTrux operation will start on 1 January. Operating hours

are 08:00 to 22:00hrs, and 24-hour emergency breakdown cover is available in the two-county distributorship area. Contact...

PRICES

SUBARU RISES • Prices of most Subaru CVs went up on 1 January. The following prices include VAT. LI 1.0 Sumo Microvan £5,290...

EVENTS

DISTRIBUTION DISCIPLINE • The first annual conference on Improvements in Distribution is being run on 17 and 18 April at the...

LOOKING AFTER THE PENNIES • The Institution of Mechanical Engineers

is running a seminar Improving operating economics of commercial vehicles on 7 February at IIVIechE's headquarters, 1 Birdcage...

COMMIS ON THE MOVE • The COMEX 91 mobile communications

exhibition and conference will be held at the Wembley Conference and Exhibition Centre, London on 1012 September 1991. The...

TRAINING

MAKE IT SAFE • Safety in the workplace is the subject of a series of one-day seminars to be held by the Institute of Materials...

CPC VACANCIES • Thurrock Technical College has places left on

its CPC course which is run in modules through the Open College. The Open Learning course is run nationally and allows...

PUBLICATIONS

HEALTH WARNING • The Vehicle Builders and Repairers Association has produced a second edition of its booklet giving guidelines...

PRODUCTS

MUNICIPAL VERSATILITY • The Dunlop SP811 dualpurpose on/off road tyre has been introduced in response to municipal operator...

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• Only up in Filey, Yorkshire do you see black

cabs like this, apparently offering a lumpy ride while passengers breath in great lungfuls of fresh Pennine air. In fact,...

• Many Londoners worry that public transport is not what

it used to be, and that more investment is needed in staff and vehicles. But even the Hawk was astonished when boarding the...

• Winner of the beer wagon competition (CM 29 November

— 5 December) is Bernard Coomber who was the first reader to identify the White Model WA122 Streamliner which was designed by...

• Foster Air Angler is a charity which helps children

with special needs such as learning difficulties by taking them on angling holidays which it uses as a `hook' for social and...

• The Transport & General Workers' Union does not normally

expect to see its members make the front cover of New Musical Express — that bastion of all things trendy in the world of pop....

• The dear departed festive season brought forth a spate

of manufacturer's calendars and diaries which CM staff will gratefully use to record their busy schedules this year. Among the...

• David and Peter Henshaw of Sherborne, Dorset, hope that

readers might be able to help them with a book they are writing about Rootes commercial vehicles, maker of the Dodge, Commer...

• Dogs did not get a very good press in

these pages during 1990, what with the tale of the police Alsation which bit two bobbies while they were trying to catch...

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TEMPING WITH THE PROFESSIONALS • I was surprised to note

that some of the agencies surveyed (CM 1-7 November) did not guarantee to collect and return tachograph charts to their...

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• WILLHIRE

STEWARTANALPOLE Nigel Stewart and Graham Walpole take on increased responsibilities with Willhire following a management...

• UNITED CARRIERS SMITH UK parcels operator United Carriers has appointed Trevor Smith as manager of its Alton, Hants depot.

Smith started his career with United Carriers 11 years ago loading vehicles. His most recent position was traffic manager at...

• PETER LANE RESTRUCTURE

Peter Lane Transport's new geographical structure has led to several management changes. Ron Moore has become South-West area...

• TYRESERVICES TATTLER 'I'yreservices has appointed David Tattler to the newly created position of field sales manager.

Tattler has recently completed 20 years' service with the company — he joined as office manager at Southport. He has held...

• STRATHCLYDE BUSES CHURCHILL/SHAW/ STEWART The interim appointment of John

Churchill as chief executive and managing director of Strathclyde Buses has been made substantive. Peter Shaw has been...

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TRIPLE ALLI

• Europe has never been more united. A glance at the diary reveals that 1992 is no longer a fashionable term bandied about by...

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The 460km (286 mile) route ran in a triangle to

the north of Paris. Just after 04:00hrs on a cold and damp November morning we left the suburb of Le I3ourget and headed...

TESTING

As with CM's own recent 38-tonne fuel economy trials the combinations set off from the start at 10-minute intervals, so they...

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RESULTS

Taken as a whole, the results achieved by all six trucks in this Eurotest are a favourable reflection on the efficiency of the...

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DAF FT 95.330

Dal's 11.6-litre engine owes very little to the Leyland P680 engine it evolved from over nearly 23 years. In 1968 it produced...

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MAN 19.322

MAN's 19.322 will probably be of greatest interest to UK readers of our Euroduel contestants. This tractor, to be badged 17.322...

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MERCEDES 1733

It is just over a year since MercedesBenz introduced the 1733 to the UK market but it was originally seen on the Continent a...

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PEGASO MIDER 1226T

The Pegaso Mider 1226T was undoubtedly the odd one out in our Eurotest. Of the group, it is the only one not on sale in this...

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RENAULT 1134011.191

The Renault R340ti.19T comes at the bottom of the revised R tractor range which went on sale in the UK last summer. The...

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RAMA 11113MA

Scania's introduction of the boxy Series 3 cab about three years ago gave little risk of an identity crisis. From the front at...