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7th October 1999
7th October 1999
Page 1
Page 1, 7th October 1999
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'Shift tax away from trucks and on to tolls' Palacio

by Karen Miles Hauliers will face higher tolls but lower road taxes if the new European Commissioner for Transport gets her...

MAKING MORE

Quarrying group Tarmac boosted its first-half operating profits by 12.5° a to £68.68m. Margins also rose slightly, to 1044.

NO EXCUSE

The European Commission has found no legal justification for the French ban on imports of British beef following the lifting of...

HIRE PURCHASED?

Hill Hire has been approached by the Bank of Scotland in a £74m takeover bid.

STARTING WORK Wincanten Logistics has started a three-year, £18m contract to run Safeway's new ambient distribution centre in Northampton.

Mercedes-Benz has sold its Wentworth Park CV preparation centre in

Barnsley to Keddy Services. The 158 staff there have kept their jobs.

FAST &MUMS

A senior police officer has admitted that speed cameras in some enforcement areas are set to go off at 10mph above the speed...

OWN REEF Birmingham van maker LDV is supplying Norwich-based Asapen Windows with 50 vans in a deal worth Elm.

ROOM KIT McMulan International Transport has equipped its entire fleet

with Euteltracs, Alcatel's satellite-based mobile communications, vehicle positioning and data integration system.

Two more haulage companies fail this week

• As Commercial Motor went to press details of two failed companies were emerging. Nantwich, Cheshire-based Gamford Liquid...

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French target more flagged-out trucks

• More British trucks carrying Dutch numoer plates have been stopped in France this week, suggesting a crackdown by French...

Dover hit by hours demo

• by Melanie Hammond Hundreds of drivers converged on Dover docks this week to protest against long working hours, which they...

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Firm closes because 'there is no future'

A by Charles Young Stoke-on-Trent haulier Maurice Nield (Transport) is closing because "there is no future in the industry"....

Company survival plans flop

• Government-supported measures designed to pull companies back from the brink of bquidation are rarely effective, according to...

COMMENT

One in all in Exempting owner-chivers from the proposed Working Time Directive for HGV drivers is one of the worst ideas we've...

Calling all fleet managers!

• Time is running out to book your place at the 1999 Fleet Management Conference on 26 October at the National Motorcycle...

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Dover Eastern plans charge for parking

• by Karon Miles Parking is to get tougher at Dover's Eastern Docks, where free parking is to be cut by 50%. By the end of the...

Fuel charge was '410 litres over'

• A light haulage company is changing its fuel card supplier after it was charged for 548 litres of fuel after filling up one...

Card used to steal diesel

• A man who obtained diesel with a fuel card stolen from Llanelli-based Wynford North Transport has been put on probation for a...

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UK-liveried truck operating in Codu

II Greek operators came under fire again this week after a Kentbased haulier told CM that an artic he sold last year has been...

Customs finds paraffin in 25% of CV fuel tanks

• by Melanie Hammond Almost 25% of the HGVs stopped at roadside checks by Customs & Excise are found to have traces of...

Transamerica leases include `wear and tear'

In a move to clarify who pays for what at the end of a lease, Transamerica Trailer Leasing has drawn up a document defining the...

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Time bomb ticks for Euro drivers

The biggest issue to hit road haulage since the introduction of the tachograph was under discussion yesterday (6 October) in...

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As reported in CM last week, ERF has unveiled a range of vehicles and a strategy change.

Colin Barnett and Peter Lawton have been examining the details...Photography by Peter Cramer. New chapter in the Ell story......

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Auras comes alive on web site

Despite minor teething troubles, MercedesBenz's Actros Live! web site provided live web-based coverage of interviews with...

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Disc-braked trailer boom

• by Bryan Jarvis "By the middle of next year Britain's take-up of new trailers with disc-braked axles will cross the 50% mark...

Step on it in !suds Trooper van

• The latest product from Isuzu Is for van drivers in a hurry. The Trooper Commercial is powered by a 3.0-litre turbo-diesel...

Scania is looldng to 2010

• Scania has unveiled its - truck of the 2010s", which is designed to reduce congestion, enhance safety and improve fuel...

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No notice taken of warning

A Liverpool firm caught using a vehicle without licence authority, despite a previous warning at a public inquiry in October...

MOVE MORS Maintenance problems have resulted in the five-vehicle licence

held by Alex Smith Metals of Ayr being suspended fur a week by Scottish IC Michael Betts. But the firm has authority to move...

WEEK OFF

The one-vehicle licence bald by Graeme Mehrille, trading as GMR Skip Hire, of Falkirk, has been suspended for a week by...

LIME LIST Hours, tache and speeding offences have led to

the revocation of the licence held by WoodbrIdge-based Spallhaul Transport Eastern IC Geoffrey Simms also disqualified the...

FLEET CUT Gloucester haulier James Matthews' licence has been cut

to eight vehicles and eight trailers by Western TC Christopher Heaps after he heard that eight prohibition notices had been...

FORMAL WARNING

Western IC Christopher Heaps has warned Exeter-based Designer Flowers Wholesale Florist Sundries at a Taunton disciplinary...

Licensed too late for 1.5-tonner

Though the other drivers employed by Flintshire Steel Supplies were able to drive 7.5-tonners on their car driving licences,...

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A driver who was sacked after refusing to make a

delivery run has been awarded £1,4813.60 compensation for unfair dismissal by an Edinburgh industrial tribunal. The tribunal...

for refusing solo run Driver caught with

A driver who was sacked after refusing to tacho trace break The falsification of a tachograph record, and exceeding the daily...

Ex-prisoner granted licence

A man who passed his CPC exam while serv ing a prison sentence for smuggling a truck load of cigarettes has been granted an...

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Fact - file provides operators with brief ROWS on subjeds ranging from

events and. traffic blackspots to theft and fuel prices. If you have information for inclusion send It to Commercial Motor,...

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Do you want to comment on any stories in Commercial

Motor? Does someone in the industry deserve a pat on the bad, or a dressing dovmP Drop us a line at Commercial Motor, Room...

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HOW DO WE COMPETE?

Raving sub-contracted for the same large firm for 20 years on Spanish operations, we were alarmed to be told not to invest in a...

MORE PAIN

I read with complete horror the letter "Tailgate terror" from Anthony Phillips (CM9-15 Sept). While I agree tailgating exists,...

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Lay-by is where CAltakes a break from the serious issues

and our correspondent The Hawk takes a sideways look at road haulage. If you have suitable tales of charitable works or quirky...

KEEPING UP THE GOOD WORK

Its almost 10 years since the world witnessed the bloody Romanian revolution. Yet the plight of the people living in a country...

MORE HASTE...

When the Hawk is stuck in traffic. one thing that really gets his goat is lane hoppers. Now research carried out by Donald...

MORE mums FIVE

Those of you who thought the "Famous Five' were an Enid Blyton creation obviously need to get out of the house more often. As...

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Operating centres: the ideal situation

The purpose of the goods vehicle licensing system is to ensure the safe and proper use of goods vehicles and the protection of...

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The locals do have rights

Representations The owners and occupiers of land or buildings near an operating centre, or a proposed operating centre, can...

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'Previously used' watch out for limits

WHAT IF THE OPERATOR ACQUIRES AN EXISTING OPERATING CENTRE? A special dispensation was given so that if asked, the Traffic...

What conditions can be imposed on the licence?

If the Traffic Commissioner feels he can eliminate or minimise any adverse environmental effects of using the land as an...

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MAN 26.464 FPLT

I Price as tested: .£71,250 (ex-VAT), chassis-cab only. Engine: 12.8 litres, 460hp (338kW). GCW: 41 tonnes. Payload: 25.94...

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When you're a senior manager for one of the UK's

largest haulage outfits the pressure's high, and so are the rewards. But one such high-flyer walked out of the corporate jungle...

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N O EE There's so much happening in the business TN OW

world that It's a good idea for hauliers to step back now and again, and take a cool look at relevant issues in depth. Thanks...

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N O EE

KNOW NEVIS CM's Need To Know is put together in association with Tolley Publishing, which produces regular monthly business...

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A significant number of UK international hauliers are flagging out

to escape spiralling UK running costs—but a foreign-based distribution outfit is pouring money into its UK operation. Does it...

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In his second report from China, iiatric t

Cunnane witnesses the arrival at the Great Wall of a trucking expedition that • 4it has challenged the endurance limits of men...

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Jim Trusswell, newly elected chairman of haulage consortium the Transport

Association, says being the best is more important than being the biggest.. • if you want to sound off about a road transport...