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12th October 2000
12th October 2000
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Page 1, 12th October 2000
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E-MAIL ATELEF.

Tory transport spokesman Lord Attlee wants hauliers to e-mail him suggestions for amendments to the Transport Bill at attleek!)...

HA MKS The FTA met Treasury Minister Stephen Timms last week as part of its "continued dialogue" with government.

NUMBER CHANCE

The Vehicle Inspectorate has a new national phone number for HGV and PSV test bookings and enquiries. Contact: 0870 606 0440.

BRIDGE DIVERSION

Traffic Is to be restricted to a single file across High Bridge in Knaresborough for up to four weeks after the parapet was...

LEEDS STOWAWAYS

A German truck driver, and the Dutch haulage firm he was working for, have been fined £30,000 after 15 illegal immigrants were...

TACHO FINES

Bordesley, Birmingham-based haulage firm Cambabest was fined £250 for failing to have a tachograph calibrated after Solihull...

RHA wants European Forum to push for higher fuel tax

• by Charles Young The Road Haulage Association will push for higher fuel duty on the Continent in the latest twist to its...

The RHA used its annual conference to respond to criticisms

that its campaigning strategy has gone off the rails. National chairman John Bridge accepted he is in a dif ficult position but...

Forum fury over blunt rejection

• Road Haulage Association national chairman John Bridge is seeking an urgent meeting with fellow members of the Fuel Forum....

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Protests still on Down Under

E Drivers in Spain and Sicily have lifted blockades, suspending their protests at rising fuel prices, but demonstrations are...

EC plans fuel duty pit]

• by Keith ihrthall The European Commission has launched dramatic proposals to harmonise fuel excise duty across Europe. It...

Motorists will back protests

• Up to 60% of motorists would happily support further blockades of the oil refineries by hauliers, according to new survey....

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Groups join to tackle Brown on fuel tax

by Guy Sheppard Leaning trade associations are teaming up to make a joint submission to Chancellor Gordon Brown about the need...

CBI man condemns militancy

in Hauliers booed the CBI director for Scotland, lain McMillan, after he accused them of displaying the sort of militancy...

COMMENT

Chasing rainbows Just over 30 days until the 6o-day deadline, and still deadlock. The government still refuses to acknowledge...

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Dublin dockers reject package

II Dublin dockers have rejected a settlement package in a dispute that has closed a major container terminal for more than five...

Eurotunnel invests to catch Calais stowaways

• by Huy Sheppard Eurotunnel is stepping up security at its terminal near Calais as latest Home Office figures show that fines...

HSE investigates waste haulier

• AU Bull, one of the country's largest independent waste hauliers, is being investigated by the Health & Safety Executive...

M25 blocked by equine escapee

MI A racehorse went berserk while being driven along the M25 in a horse transporter, smashing his way into the cab arid pushing...

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Firm failed to train drivers

It A Birmingham haulage firm and 22 of its drivers were fined a total of 1,3,200 by Solihull magistrates last week on a total...

• Trucks belonging to a company which went into receivership

with debts of more than £1m are back on the road under new ownership. Seven vehicles which used to belong to Newark-based...

The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) has reported

that the heavy truck market had a "spectacular" September, with sales figures up by almost 28% compared with the same month...

NEWS HOTLINE

020 0652 3680 We like to hear the stories readers think we should be following. CM is happy to preserve the anonymity of...

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Driving philosophy, by Mercedes

• Kevin Swallow Ask the best way to drive a truck economically, and many drivers will say: "Keep it in the green, son." But the...

JUDGE THE TRAFFIC AND SAVE ON FUEL

si Klaus Diemert has been with Mercedes Benz for 20 years and has been a HGV driving instructor for the past three. He takes...

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Cars get cheaper but vans stay the same

Why Peter Lawton The UK's biggest motor manufacturer has cut the prices of its cars—but its generosity does not extend to...

ECX comes out

I ERF's new ECX range is now beginning to appear on the roads. The first example, a 6x2 tractor with a 380hp Cummins engine and...

Job losses feared

• Dozens of drivers fear their livelihood could be affected by redundancies at a Yorkshirebased supplier of gearboxes. The...

Luxury in a rugged world

• Our American friends have finally managed to defy even our flexible belief. Ford's latest offering to the °luxury personal...

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No licence after illegal use

Woods Road Transport, based in Rainham, has failed in its application for a licence because of its illegal use of vehicles....

FORMAL WARNING

Joe O'Connell Plant Hire, based in Leigh. Lancashire, has been given a formal warning about maintenance. North Western TC...

DODGY BRAKES

Manchester-based Jim Ennis Construction was given a conditional discharge for 12 months and ordered to pay £85 costs after...

LICENCE REVOKED

The licence held by Anthony Hubbard, trading as OH International Transport, of Coventry, was revoked when he failed to appear...

FINANCE QUERIES

West Midland IC David Dixon has revoked the licence held by Wolverhampton-based Gurdev Singh at a disciplinary inquiry in...

UMW SUSPENDED

Convictions including using vehicles without current tachograph calibration certificates cost Jedburgh haulier Thomas Spence...

First of Transfreight drivers fined

The first of the Transfreight Services drivers to face prosecution for the falsification of tachograph records has been fined...

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Fired for refusing job

In holding that Barry-based PM Rees & Sons had dismissed one of its drivers unfairly, a Cardiff Employment Tribunal indicated...

Owner kept in Ark

A Welsh Maier, every one of whose drivers, including his own son, were caught falsifying tachograph charts, is waiting to see...

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TRUCKERS NEED THE EUR!

The decision of the Fuel Forum to call for massive tax cuts across the board for all and sundry is naivety at best and crass...

UPROOTING OSTRICHES

Well the industry has put itself on the political map now. The Westminster four, Blair, Brown, Straw and that other MP that...

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STATE OF THE UNION

So the haulage industry is in crisis. Working conditions for lorry drivers are still in the dark ages, with 15-hour days. a...

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THE ROBIN'S SWAN SONG

Come December I can predict there will he a few tears shed in The Hawk's household. And it won't just be at the thought of the...

SANTA'S LITTLE HELPERS?

Does your haulage business have to work over ChristmasP The Hawk Is looking to hear from operators who are required to keep...

DONKEY RIDES

On a recent trip to the sun-drenched Greek island of Rhodes, one of The Hawk's correspondents stayed in the ancient coastal...

A BUNCH or TANKERS

Well that's telling us! We've known for years, but at last here is the confirmation, the incontrovertible proof: Oil companies...

PICK UP A BARGAIN FROM THE OLD BILL

This 1979 Bedford TX Pick-up is what is known in the jargon of the constabulary as "ex-job". For 10 years ago the Pick-up was...

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ow that it has arrived, how does it hold up

against its alter egos, the Fiat Scudo and Peugeot Expert, and the other medium-size vans also fighting for market share? The...

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CO O N G

We all want our trucks to look smart and clean. But how do you choose and use products which keep you the right side of...

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R ernember the Transport Industry Forum? It was set up in

the wake of weekend "Fuel Cruises" that took advantage of cheaper fuel in France and a series of slow moving demonstrations...

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FUEL FLASHPOINTS

French ginnwoment gets tough as hauliers, farmers, taxi drivers and aMbekince drivers picket refineries, ports and road Inks...

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THE WORLD TURNED T o the untutored eye fuel protesters might

have been trade unionists mounting a legitimate trade union dispute. But they were condemned as anarchists at the recent TUC...

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H ow quickly things can change. In July, when a small

band of disgruntled hauliers and farmers pleaded with colleagues across the country to back their protest against rising fuel...

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1 n 1902 petrol cost gd (less than 4p) a gallon,

including a tax rate of...nothing. The first fuel tax was not imposed until 3o April igog. It was set at 3d (1.25p) per...

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oomsday prophets estimate that at the present rate of consumption

the world's supply of fossil fuel from known fields could be exhausted within 40 years. If that happens no amount of...

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IIC A I L OVER LE

he dtstinctive twang of an electric • guitar; the roar of the crowd as another anthem marts from the speakers. The cheers, the...

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"If we have got 24 hours in the day, the job will take 24 hours."

,. '"` We peer across the vast, empty floor of the sta. dlum. Out there, way across tte space, things are pretty quiet. But...

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BRIDGE BASHING

• We operate skip lorries in a city which has many low railway and canal bridges. Sometimes they come into contact with a...

CUTTING CURTAILMENT

• This company had to appear at a public Inquiry because a vehicle examiner reported the number of prohibitions our tippers had...

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David Green, director-general of the Freight Transport Association, explains why

he feels that direct action is not the way to win concessions on fuel duty... • If you want to sound off about a road...