Tankermen slam media
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• Leading tanker hauliers have slammed the media for what they say were inaccurate reports of last week's accident on the Al(M) near Darlington, in which five people died.
Radio and ITV reports spoke of a petrol tanker exploding as the cause of the accident, says Phil Gate, managing director of Sadler Tankers and chairman of the Road Haulage Association's road tanker group.
But police on the scene say that the tanker was not directly involved in the incident. It allegedly involved a flatbed truck carrying lead ingots which was in collision with a line of traffic including an empty vegetable oil tanker. But the explosion at the scene was caused by a car's petrol tank.
Gate is angry at the press reports, which he says damage the industry's reputation: "The road tanker industry has an excellent safety record," he says. "You have to go back 20 years till you can contribute a fatality caused by a road tanker." Imperial Tankers' managing director John Robinson agrees: "Millions of people probably still believe that the cause of that accident was an exploding tanker."
'Ehe Freight Transport Association says: "The press should be very careful to get their facts right and not to speculate on the cause of an accident."
Longer Mercs
• In our 3-9 January issue we stated that the Mercedes-Benz 1733 tractive unit is only available in the UK with a 3.2m wheelbase: in fact it can also be specified with a 3.6 or 3.8m wheelbase.
Last chance
• As CM went to press, recovery truck builder Wreckers International had 48 hours to clinch a deal with a buyer before the receiver moved in to wind the company up.