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7th August 1997
7th August 1997
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Page 1, 7th August 1997
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Enforcers promised cab search powers

by Rob Willock • Hauliers will no longer be able to rely on a legal loophole in transport law to escape drivers' hours charges,...

BRIEFS

• Skelmersdale-based haulage company Abt cm, which was placed in administration last December, has been saved along with 105...

TNT expands into supplying shops

EXCLUSIVE IN TNT is using its experience in parcels delivery to launch a chilled distribution service for independent retailers...

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More trucks fail the test

• Prohibition rates at liGV spot-checks in the North-West have been rising for the past five years, making this the UK black...

Tipper driver plans

to sue after crash BETTER! by Stuart Ellis • A tipper driver is suing his former employer after he reported that the brakes on...

I COMMFN MUST DO I f you think the industry has a

good record on vehicle maintenance, think again. Here's what Vehicle Inspectorate boss Ron Oliver has to say in his...

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Phoenix falls to the ashes

by Jane Sayer • Phoenix Cargo of Leverington, Wisbech, Cambridgeshire, has gone into voluntary liquidation owing money to...

CTR and TIP form Euro trailer giant

• Rental rivals Central Transport Rental (formerly Tiphook) and TIP Europe are joining forces to create Europe's largest...

EC slams Brenner toll

• The European Commission is suing Austria over the HGV tolls it has imposed on the Brenner motorway. EU Transport Commissioner...

Cal Mac strike solution saves jobs

• Threatened drivers' jobs at Isle of Arran-based haulier Arran Haulage have been saved after Caledonian MacBrayne ferrymen...

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Revised grants for rail hauliers

by Karen Miles • The Government is making changes to the rail freight grants in order to entice more hauliers and customers...

RMI welcomes plate changes

• The Retail Motor Industry Federation has welcomed the Government's assurance that an announcement will be made "shortly" on...

Big haulage boost in Ayr

• Ayrshire hauliers could be set for a jobs bonanza now a Scottish Coal extension to an open-cast mine in Glenbuck has been...

Owner-driver Dormer faces trial in Athens in October

• Imprisoned owner-driver James Dormer is to face trial on 10 October in the Court of Athens accused of stealing £45,000 worth...

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Outward loads slump

by Hob Willock • International operators are suffering from a lack of export business due to the strength of sterling. But...

White Rose moves to double shifts

• Yorkshire Environmental's medical waste operation White Rose is reviewing its transport operations following its £250,000...

Red Star uses owner drivers for first time

• Parcel firm Red Star is for the first time turning to owner-drivers to service its established collection and delivery...

CONTRACTS

• Gefco UK, the logistics and freight services group, has been awarded a national distribution contract to deliver white goods...

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'Phoenix' rate is high

by Karen Miles • The transport sector has one of the highest disqualification rates for directors running "phoenix" companies...

Bypass pleases residents but fails to stop town centre congestion

• The Okehampton bypass, which opened in 1989, has failed to stop lorry traffic through the town centre, according to a study...

Guide tells how to escape M25

• An M25 survival guide goes on sale next week, giving drivers a guide to "escape" routes off the notorious ring road....

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Safety first for Hyva

Is Edinburgh skip operator Stephen Dalton has bought a combined hookloader/skiploader from Hyva (UK) which is thought to be the...

H&H switches to MAN 4x2s

• H&H Distribution has switched allegiance from Volvo to MAN tractors as it believes they offer better reliability and...

Bandag focuses on UK market

• Belgian tyre manufacturer Bandag will be making a major push into the UK tyre market next month, launching two ranges of...

ERF chosen for payload

• Torridge Transport has added this ERF double-drive sixwheeler to its fleet of 28 Seddon Atkinsons to collect timber from West...

BRIEFS

• Volvo has sold its 11.4% stake in Renault, raising around £.450m and finally ending the merger plans which stalled in 1993....

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Data system follows truck

by Steve Banner • A new data collection system designed to tell fleet managers where their vehicles have been, the routes they...

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spectacular!

S co tti s h In the run-up to the Edinburgh Festival huge crowds of excited people are a common site on the city's streets....

says. McLellan drives for Peterhead-based BB Christofferson, mostly hauling loads for the local oil industry.

His truck is dubbed Lethal Weapon because "it's a great going vehicle". Keith Perkins has been a driver for Aitchinson of...

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luE" Dispute over 'significant'

• Consideration of disciplinary action against a West Midlands haulage company was adjourned after its managing director...

Licence lost • Maintenance problems have led to the revocation

of the licence held by Graham Batty, trading as Roofstrip, of Doncaster. Batty appeared at a Leeds disciplinary inquiry before...

Firm ran with no 0-licence

• A South kit Yorkshire compa ny that has been running vehicles without an Operator's Licence and in a dangerous condition,...

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Unfam ili ar with braking system • A delivery driver died after

being crushed between a set of steel gates and a truck, an inquest has heard. Ephraim Aldridge of Hadley, Telford was killed...

• The refusal of a licence on environmental grounds does

not prevent vehicles from visiting a site so it is often better if a licence is granted. This view was expressed by West...

Driver who tried to please boss is fined

• A Suffolk driver who claimed he had broken the 4.5-hour driving rule and falsified a tachograph record to make a good...

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haulage fact - file CM'S Haulage Factfile page provides busy operators with

brief news items on: forthcoming events, services, business products, training, company moves, personnel changes, truck thefts....

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letters

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

The numbers game

H ow can hauliers hope to make a living when unworkable situations and conditions are set and hauliers are not notified? We...

Admit there are weaknesses

J ohn Dickinson-Simpson (CM 24-30 July) is right to highlight the continuing problem of wheel loss. Surely manufacturers can...

Guess the height

I would like to make a point about HGV and PSV drivers: they are not psychic. The A616 tragedy (CM 31 Jul6 Aug) was due to the...

Small haulier is unfair target

R ecently in Commercial Motor Ireland the then Minister with the responsibility for road freight transport, Alan Dukes, was...

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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 at...

Hollywood comes to town—and the pub

tephen Spielberg has turned his attention to the historic 0-Day landings in his latest film, Saving Private Ryan. This .460m...

Three trucks and a motorcycle Three trucks and a motorcycle

Ei ou may wonder why it lakes three huge truths to transport one motorcycle around Europe. In the Hawk's day they would have...

Stop the pigeon A lways a bit of a A lways a bit of a

bird fancier him self, the Hawk was rather alarmed recently when he learnt what was happening to some of his feathered...

A red flag day

n a recent trip I spotted this chap outside a garage in Antwerp, Belgium. It seems he was trying to attract passing trade but...

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ROADTEST: ERF EC11.380ST

DUELLING TOP GUN It's three years since Volvo's Euro-1 FH12.420 shattered the 38-tonne fuel economy record around CM's...

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Small but effi ently formed

Small direct injection diesels have taken a while to catch on, but ever stiffer emissions legislation is beginning to force the...

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Delivering goods in an unfamiliar environment is one of the

most dangerous jobs in road transport yet safety still remains a low priority for many of the businesses involved. verhead...

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The last thing a commercial driver wants is someone looking

over shoulder and commenting on his driving technique. But there a positive aspects to the exercise and safety is top of the...

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n even the Department of Transport continues to refer to

HGVs rather than Vs, what hope is there that the rest of us will even begin to understand the new categories of licences...

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Friends for life

Just how valuable are your valued customers, and your not so valued ones? You may be surprised. Grab a calculator and follow...

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any questions

Jim Duckworth, editor of Road Transport Law and head of Transport Law Services, Woking, Surrey, helps solve your legal problems...

Absent manager

We have a held an international Operator's Licence for some years with a transport manager named on the licence. He really...

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'Most companies have the data and the capability to analyse it'

Will Murray of the University of Huddersfield Transport Department argues that vehicle acciden can be reduced by companies...