AT THE HEART OF THE ROAD TRANSPORT INDUSTRY.

Call our Sales Team on 0208 912 2120

13th August 1998
13th August 1998
Page 1
Page 1, 13th August 1998
Close

Page 6

T&G calls for toxic waste driver study

by Karen Miles • Fears over the effect of toxic waste on babies born near landfill sites have led to calls for the health of...

Danger absolves drivers

• Eight drivers working for Cheltenham-based Ralph Davies International have escaped tachograph convictions after a court heard...

■ ••■■ Exel staff ballot

• Up to 4,000 distribution staff covered by the largest single agreement in road transport are set to be balloted for...

BRIEFS

• City Truck Group has made the biggest ever UK civilian order of Renault trucks, spending more than 213m on 218 Premiums. •...

Page 7

Dutch buy Dockspeed

II Acquisitive Dutch group Norfolk Line has bought Dockspeed, and promises business as usual for customers of the award-winning...

Farmers Ferry sails this month

• Despite threats of demos by animal rights groups, the chairman of Farmers Ferry, the new livestock ferry organised by Welsh...

'Hauliers will leave UK'

by Rob Wino& • British hauliers will emigrate en masse if the Government continues to increase its tax burden on the...

Miracle save for Pearce

• Newcastle United footballer Stu ning goal in a match just days aft art Pearce scored the winwalking away from his car after...

Page 8

1-driver teachers call off blockade

• HGV driving instructors representing driver training schools from the Midlands have abandoned plans to blockade the...

COMMEN'T

OF ROCKS AND HARD PLACES... F ancy a change? Fed up with the view outside your window? Good! Because if the Road Haulage...

Belgian firm buys Bull's thriving waste business

• A&J Bull's waste business is to be taken over by Belgianowned United Waste—but there will be no redundancies at the London...

Page 9

Irish win trading talks

by Brendan Nolan • Irish hauliers, who brought Dublin Port to a standstill last summer, have persuaded their government to...

CONTRACTS

• Swift Service has a threeyear, £4.5m break - bulk and distribution contract with DIY and stationery adhesives manufacturer...

10-lane upgrade for A8 is shelved

• The Department of Transport has shelved plans to upgrade the AS dual carriageway between Baillieston and Newhouse in central...

TDG defends downturns as isolated areas in results

• The chill wind of recession has not yet blown through the Transport Development Group, with downturns in two separate...

Page 10

Toxic imports data needed

by Karen Miles • Interpol has admitted that there is insufficient police control over rogue operators who illegally import...

Directors disqualified

• Two former directors of the failed Newport haulier International Cargo Brokers have been disqualified from acting as company...

Police blitz A66 blackspot

• A Cumbrian truck driver who was involved in a fatal road accident on the A66 four years ago has been summonsed for speeding...

Page 11

New figures boost breath-test plan

by Miles Brignall • The campaign to allow police to breath-test drivers randomly received a boost this week after figures...

Watch out for illegal immigrants in trucks

• Police are again advising lorry drivers to be vigilant after arresting two groups of illegal immigrants in less than a week....

Page 14

A&E demands strength

DOCTORS, PARAMEDICS, AND AMBULANCE PEOPLE from every corner jostled through a packed Ambex '98 exhibition in Harrogate,...

Page 16

Leyland to stop Isuzu assembly

by Toby Clark • Leyland Trucks will cease assembly of Isuzu lightweight trucks next year, leaving the Japanese firm in need of...

Scania 8x2 is a convert

• The UK's first Scania 8x2 has entered service with Gatwick Plant in Honey. Surrey. The R124G 360's full air suspension...

Seddon gets tough in the woods

• A Cumbrian timber haulier has bought a specialised Seddon Atkinson drawbar outfit for operations in the Lake District....

British Steel promotes load safety software

• British Steel has commissioned an educational video to publicise a new computer programme on truck and trailer load safety...

Page 18

Condition-free move

• A Rotherhambased haulage firm has been allowed to move its operations to Barnsley without any environmental conditions. But...

Maintenance problem • Scottish DTC Richard McFarlane took no action

against the licence held by Linwood-based Loanhead Transport, but issued a formal warning over maintenance when it appeared...

Time runs out for tipperman

• The principal ikt director of a Man chester tipper firm has been warned by North Eastern Traffic Commissioner Keith...

Page 19

Truck taken from centre during test

• A Bolton international haulier allegedly drove a vehicle away from a test station in the middle of a test after it was found...

Driver took breaks at wrong time

• A Bishop Auckland lorry driver has had his HGV licence suspended for eight days after twice exceeding the speed limit and...

Page 22

haulage facffile

Haulage Factfile pages provide busy operators with brief news items on: forthcoming events, services, business products,...

Page 24

letters

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

Driver shortages?

T am an owner-driver operating an artic on a weekly run to Germany and I am in need of a driver to cover a long-awaited...

Solihull: not Brum!

o Gerry Vallely wants INVM and others to show at the National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham (CM 16-22 July). Unfortunately...

Lex deals

y our article about Lex Service's proposed acquisition of Lex Vehicle Leasing is misleading (CM 6-12 August). Firstly, we have...

Page 25

bird's eye view by the hawk Commercial Motor takes road

haulage very seriously. However, once a week our quirky cores pondent, Hik, steps off his perch to take a humorous look at the...

A ticket too far

igel Montford from London wins the Hawk's accolade of the Jobsworth's Jobsworth! Traffic warden Nigel has dished out 5,000...

Foxing the villains

E i ou can lead a horse to water but nothing's going to make it get in the back of that van. Fortunately that wasn't the plan....

Staying power

0 veco Ford chairman Fox has just notched up 40 years in the industry. Alan, seen here in his best bib and tucker, began his...

Page 26

ROADTEST: VAUXHALL ARENA 15D

if the 1998 Vauxhall Arena looks familiar, it's because you're looking at a re-badged, updated version of the 1981 Renault...

Page 31

COMMENT

Contrary to popular belief, Special Types doesn't just mean special weight. You may be well within the current 38-tonne GVVV...

Wheels of fortune

I n June the Department of the Environment produced a report dealing with wheel loss From commercial vehicles. It was no more...

FUNDAMENTAL PROBLEM To non-engineers it seems that there must be

some fundamental problem with CV wheels because they demand daily monitoring to safeguard wheel security, while cars do not...

Page 32

ouble check your VED!

S ome operators are running into problems when transporting loads which, because of their dimensions, require notification...

Page 34

Tali° charts: get a system!

E very operator must give an undertaking that he will take steps to ensure the rules on drivers' hours and tachographs are...

Page 36

PROFILE NATIONAL PE SERVICE

Tyres are not among the most glamorous parts of a truck, but they're of immense importance and represent a large item in the...

Page 38

PLANE TALK

Marcus Clay (right) got his motivation to succeed from an undeserved snipe from a colleague. Now, he has not only achieved what...

"I worked up through the ranks, starting as a transport

assistant," says Clay. "Then I was site foreman, then sales manager." He was then promoted to sales director, a position he...

Page 40

Breaking down at any time is a nuisance—but if you're

on the Continent you stand a good chance of paying over the odds just to get your truck back on the road. Pat Hagan reports on...

Page 42

DRIVER FATIGUE river fatigali described as a hidden killer because

awareness about the danger it poses is so limited. It can impair driv,inga niuch as drink and drugs and is blamei for up to one...

Page 45

Peter Blanc, director with insurance company FMW Corporate Risks, has

some friendly advice for hauliers and their customers: check the small print in your policies! 'This may go some way towards...