Cab heaters in Germany
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I WAS interested to read your article on the above subject in CM, March 3, but would like to correct the statement made by Eberspacher's managing director.
This matter was raised directly with officials of the German Transport Ministery, who informed me that there was a German law going back many years which required German vehicles to be fitted with some form of heating. I was told that this requirement related only to German registered vehicles and then only in respect of normal vehicle heating and not special night heaters.
While the fitting of night heaters is something that should be carefully considered by operators whose vehicles run to countries where sub-zero temperatures are experienced, it is not a legal requirement in Germany.
D. W. GREEN International Executive FTA
Our gas heater is different
WITH REFERENCE to Jack Semple's article entitled "Bosses look again at cab heaters" (CM March 3), we would like to make the following comments in view of Mr Yonwyn's warning against the use of propane fueled gas heaters. We feel this could be damaging to our promotion of the Hotbox flown air heater and has no relevance in terms of this type of gas heater.
We would agree that some of the propane and butane fueled catalytic heaters are dangerous if used in a confined space this is because they are not externally flu ad. Hotbox draws its air for combustion from outside the cab, and all gases produced as a result of combustion are exhausted to the atmosphere. Air from inside the cab is recirculated over a heat exchanger so the atmosphere inside the vehicle is not changed at all.
Unlike diesel, propane gas will remain usable at temperatures as low as —42°C, which make propane fueled heaters a more viable proposition if they are to be used in extreme conditions. The cost of running a propane or butane fueled heater is about the same as an equivalent diesel heater.
D. A. ELLIOTT Sales Manager C.L.I. Ltd Verwood, Dorset
The standard way to object .
THE REPORT in CM (March 10) of the Appeal in the Karnmac Trucking case refers to remarks by Judge Inskip, the Transport Tribunal president, criticising the Road Haulage Association's objection to the grant of an 0licence to Kammac and stating that the notice of objection had been completed "in a very casual and unhelpful way".
Since the objection system was introduced, a standard form has been used for setting out briefly the nature of the objection. Only 21 days are allowed from publication of Applications and Decisions in which to submit the objection. It is often impossible in this short time to obtain all the facts and figures relevant to the case. In such cases these are produced for the RHA by its legal advisers and submitted at a later date.
Licensing Authorities have always accepted this procedure and to our knowledge we have never received any complaints from them. Objectors are at a disadvantage in obtaining all the relevant details from an applicant until he presents his evidence at the public inquiry. L. G. HARPER Secretary Road Haulage Association
Consignors should take responsibility
I, TOO, SHARE the sentiments of your correspondent, Mr Mike Taylor (CM March 241 but would suggest that consignor's liability be extended to such items as operator's licensing and road tax.
How often do we see cowboy Operators gaining contracts at a price that the honest operator cannot match? Yet it would present no problem for such consignees, which incidentally include household names and nationally owned companies, to ensure that all contractors' vehicles loading at their premises were legal in respect of weight, tax and operator's licence.
I approached my MP, Mr Charles Wardle, on these lines some months ago and received a sympathetic hearing.
I ought to have had the sense to realise that the interests of these companies lie not in ensuring compliance with the law, but in obtaining cheap haulage at any price, and to this end "The System" is geared. P. B. PALMER Palmer Freight Bexhill-on-See East Sussex
Tax — minimise if you can
FELLOW READERS probably cover a fairly wide spectrum of professional and industrial life. All come under the eye of the taxman periodically, and most, I imagine, directly or with the aid of accountants, seek to claim every legitimate entitlement against over paying tax.
Membership subscriptions are a deductible item in respect of certain bodies, but not others, and with more than 2,000 such institutions and associations, who are the lucky ones? Even accountants have not always known the answers, and it has been a case of trial-and-error.
Now all that has recently changed, because the Inland Revenue has given-in under parliamentary pressure, and is publishing the list of eligible organisations in a £3.50 book. Thus, individuals or their accountants can now check whether a claim is acceptable before lodging what might well be a request for allowance(s) not scheduled for relief.
Holders of heavy goods vehicle driving licences can claim not only for renewing the licence, but for the medical examination costs if they are over 60 years of age.
NIGEL BREEZE Southend, Essex