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4th March 2004
4th March 2004
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Page 1, 4th March 2004
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Page 6

Police aim to boosl truck crime team

The detective who runs TruckPol plans to expand his specialist team of trucking crimefighters. Guy Sheppard reports. THE UK'S...

FTA threatens EC over digital tacho date

THE FREIGHT Transport Association has threatened to sue the European Commission for the costs incurred by the delayed launch of...

Page 7

Row over unspent cash in modernisation fund

THE GOVERNMENT 1 , threatening to sour its hard-won relationship with the industry by refusing to say if it will roll-over some...

Subbies ditch Hanson over cut

HANSON is facing a mountain of uncompleted work after 50 subcontractors at its Aberdare site in South Wales walked out over...

Freeze duty!

The FTA has called a government to freeze duty and outline its pl Lorry Road User Cha in its pre-Budget sub! to John Healey,...

Page 8

CU checks cost too much

Fastcool says hauliers are hostage to C&E checks and their charges. Jennifer Ball reports. A KENT OPERATOR has slammed Customs...

We're only a quarter...

THE UK'S international hauliers are continuing to be squeezed out of the market by foreign competitors according to the latest...

Vore power for Foden/ERF

Exclusive! FOD EN AND ERE buyers are to be offered uprated versions of Caterpillar and Cummins engines. The American engine...

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Volvo sheds the pounds in niches

JOINING THE current craze for dieting. Volvo is developing a range of weight-saving trucks for niche applications. Lightweight...

BLESSED BE THE POOR

Our man in black visits the F Freight Summit and watches listens, carefully, astutely, b mostly with a sinking heart., The...

Page 12

W Mids loses E2bn to jams

Public transport isn't the only answer say Biharn leaders. By Guy Sheppard BUSINESS LEADERS in Birmingham are urging the city...

Tesco agrees to improve drivers' lot

TESCO HASAGREED to make immediate improvements to drivers' facilities at its regional distribution centres (RDCs) following a...

Page 13

TNT faces pay dispute

A DISTRIBUTION contract won by TNT Network Logistics has sparked a dispute over drivers' pay. The Transport & General Workers...

Feather's gift of power

COMMERCIAL MOTOR has teamed up with fuel injection specialist Feather Diesel to offer cut-price power testing of trucks and...

IN THE NEWS

Stuart Thomas gives us his regular round-up oft way the newspapers have covered the transport world this week. About 5000...

Page 14

Tax break hits stony ground

Guy Sheppard says trade groups can't agree on the impact of quarry tax relief. A BI I I ER ROW has erupted between two rival...

Argos gives key to TDG

LOGISTICS giant TDG has won a multi-million-pound, five-year deal to manage Argos's first Scottish regional distribution...

Dublin daytime delivery ban will be reviewed

A DAYTIME BAN on deliveries on key Dublin city routes which has been in force since 1 March is to be reviewed at the start of...

Page 16

Jail for smashing into a standing ambulance

David Harris reports on the jail sentence handed down to a trucker who hit a parked ambulance, killing its occupant. A TRUCK...

The maximum sentence for death by dangerous driving is to

increase from 10 to 14 years to punish offenders who kill someone while driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs, or...

Crash wipes out family of foL

AN OPERATOR appeared in court last week charged with causing death by dangerous driving after a family of four died in an...

Page 18

Ocean Freight wins appeal against f9k stowaway fine

The Home Office backs down on a £9,000 stowaway fine after technical discrepancies. David Harris reports. THE HOME OFFICE has...

A TRUCK DRIVER killed himself because he feared he was

about to lose his HGV driving licence after being caught on a speed camera, a Derbyshire inquest has found. Kevin Lee, 38,...

FOLLOWING A collision between a truck and a train the

truck's driver has been arrested on suspicion of endangering railway safety. The incident happened at Fosse Way near Leamington...

Page 19

Laundry raided in Lincolnshire

CUSTOMS OFFICERS seized more than 80,000 litres of illegal fuel last week from a diesel laundering plant hidden in a...

Smile you're on camera...

A KENT HAULIER has been ordered to pay more than £7,500 in fines and costs after one of his tippers was caught on CCTV...

Page 20

Parking fees, charges and Austrian tolls...

Success in Austria and congestion charging in Bristol. Chris Tindall rounds up this year's Freight Transport Association...

Since the London congestion charge was launched, the number of

parking fines issued to delivery vehicles has increased massively, according to operators in the capital. DHL managing...

Bristol is planning to introduce a congestion charging scheme that will be "much more technologically advanced" than London's system.

Helen Holland of Bristol City Council says the proposals are intended to curb traffic levels in the city from 7.30am to 10am....

Page 22

UK sukontradors feel the delay

Figures from management consultancy Experian show that large companies now take six days longer to pay their bills than six...

Payment times

ExpenanS survey reveals that overall, payment times have increased by 0.5 days in the past six months. with UK businesses...

Vehide registrations

Figures from DaimlerChrysler show that while indvidual vehicle manufacturers have had a successful 2003 there are some new...

Page 24

Queen of the road

She's got an encyclopaedic knowledge of the UK's roads — and a voice to soothe the most frazzled of drivers. Emma Penny met...

Page 25

THE DJ'S VIEW Sally Boazman's popularity is not just restricted

to listeners relying on travel news. Presenters at the station also recognise the value of the service provided even if it...

Page 26

Sensible speeding

I AM CONCERNED at the content of your article entitled No Slack on Speeding (CM 12 February).The police spokeswoman's comments,...

Timely gift

JUSTA NOTE TO thank you for the prize from the Christmas Draw. The subscription is doubly welcome and the charity rather apt as...

Barrier blues

FOR MANY YEARS Commercial Motor has campaigned for improved safety barriers on our roads. In 1994 you reported that in the...

Page 28

Question ti

Can you cure driver retention problems with a survey? Emma Penny investigates the latest Road Haulage Vodernisation Fund...

But will it work.

krilhing which helps companies recruit and retain drivers has to be a good thing, and if it attracts more people into the...

Page 29

Bibby Distribution

Bibby, which has 500 drivers, is one of the companies involved in the pilot scheme. It wants to hang onto drivers, but...

Exel

Asking drivers what they think is crucial, says Ian Cooper of Exel's labour relations department. BP Bitumen, one of Exel's...

Page 31

Operator awaits verdid on refusing VI 'bogey men

An operator who refused to co-operate with the VI must wait to see what action is taken against him. Mike Jewell reports. AN...

Page 32

Tribunal rejeds appeal against speeding offences

A THREE-WEEK suspension of the licence held by Team C Couriers as a result of speeding by the company's drivers has been upheld...

Licence cut in light of numerous offences

A RECENTLY-ESTABLISHED Cardiff company has had its licence cut from six vehicles and four trailers to five vehicles and three...

Page 33

Recovery vehicle return is refuse

THE REFUSAL OF the West Midlands Traffic Commissioner David Dixon to return an unlicensed recovery vehicle impounded last...

Infringements 'could not be ignored'

LONGSTANTON-BASED Malco Freight has lost its appeal against the suspension of its licence for two weeks, despite claims that it...

Page 34

Stopping power

A nyone who doubts the value of random roadside checks should read the statistics from Operation Mermaid IV, a one-day...

Page 39

Free legal advice at CV shin

CM is launching a free legal clinic at the forthcoming CV Show in Birmingham. Patric Cunnane explains how operators can claim...

Page 40

iliforkzone, not warzone

Violence in the workplace, whether from staff or members of the public, is unacceptable but it can be combated. Michael Gore...

Page 42

SMASHING GRAB

Municipal and specialist vehicles have limited appeal but can generate impressive residuals. CM tests a rare late-year tipper...

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It Is a high-specification vehicle designed for a particular field,

and its price will reflect that, although what's around and when will determine its actual selling price. Savvy construction,...

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SPEC IAL

AGENTS Agencies may be commonplace, but they have a special something when run by HGV drivers, as Tim Maughan finds. T hese...

Page 50

Learn from experience

Four hundred and thirty miles south, in Horsham, West Sussex. we visit a driving agency that has been established for eight...

Page 56

RESCUE 1101114 Up

When your truck breaks down, you need help — in a hurry. We compare the responses to the call "I'm a broken-down artic driver...

Page 58

D af's phone rang 10 times before it was answered by

a machine, and we were then given some music to listen to. But before you could say "I'll name that tune" we were speaking to...

Page 59

FODEN

D af and Foden each have their own breakdown services so we tried out both Paccar firms. Foden's phone had time to ring only...

IVECO

W e tried hard to reveal our test to as few people as possible, and it was inevitable that this secrecy would backfire. After a...

Page 60

MAN-ERF

U nlike Paccar, the MAN-ERF Group has integrated its support resources so we only made a call for a stricken MAN. Our first...

Page 61

MERCEDESBENZ

T he Mercedes experience started encouragingly enough: we got a recorded message after one ring and a real operator after two...

T he call to Renault was answered automatically after two rings,

then by a human being after 10 seconds. The helpful lady had the whole process sorted within two minutes; 14 minutes after...

Page 62

SCAN IA

0 ur Scania experience was almost scuppered by our secrecy and its efficiency. The initial call was answered after a single...

Page 63

0 ur call to Volvo (actually to the same Rugby

call centre used by Renault) was answered in two rings, followed by a 20-second recorded message.The helpful operator went...

OK, so CM's Breakdown Test is only ever going to

be atrial of how each manufacturer performs on the day. No doubt they'll be more than happy to wave their national average...

Page 64

YOU'VE GOT NIA

Sending e-mails is simple, however, setting up your mail system can be intimidating. But there's no need to worry I n our...

Page 66

FUEL FOR THOUGHT

Getting more miles from your fuel depends on management setting the pace. Emma Penny finds out how companies can cut their...

Page 68

French corredion

W hat a month! Fourteen 'maverick' hauliers, with the support of the Road Haulage Association, traipse off to Westminster to...

Page 69

Up... up.... and away

SMMT figures show unprecedented confidence in the used market, which in turn shows confidence in the economy. T he increased...

Page 72

Mancunian recipe is light and versatile

Chapman Commercials focuses its attention on the lighter end of the market — and sees a dealers' market coming... W hile it's...

Catching Cilliseye on the forecourt are two lveco sleeper-cabs with

box bodies and tail-lifts. First up, X782 UAT, is an lveco Cargo 75E15 from TLS Rental, registered in February 2001 and fitted...

Page 73

Smile... ifs an HGV audion

Used sales are so good the auctioneers are working late. We look over the best deals. T wo months into this year and the...