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13th November 1997
13th November 1997
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Page 1, 13th November 1997
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Page 6

Tougher terms for quicker payment

by Rob Willock • Many hauliers are powerless against late or non-payers and face cash-flow crises simply because they have...

BRIEFS

has risen to its highest level for five years, says the DETR. • NigE.I , the Norfolk based found guilty of not paying income...

Truck-theft police hit by cash crisis

• Police stolen-vehicle squads are so under-funded that they want the Government to make insurance companies add a £1 levy to...

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'Promise' of payment

• British hauliers will have to wait an extra three months to find out if their claims for compensation arising from last...

PM steps in to put end to blockades

by Mites Brignati and Rob Willock • Prime Minister Tony Blair was the unlikely hero of the French blockade after it appeared...

COMMENT

CREDITS AND DEBITS regularly encounter smaller contractors who I 6 are carrying on in business with no trading terms, no...

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intermodal freight park planned for Alconbury

• Cambridgeshire hauliers are being urged by local councillors to tell them what they think about plans to develop a rra[or...

Fatality driver is committed

• The low-loader driver responsible for a horrific crash which left five motorists dead has been sent to a mental hospital...

Manslaughter call on drink-drivers who kill

• Drink-drivers should face the immediate, automatic suspension of their licences and those who cause fatal crashes should be...

Boughton's been bought

• Commercial vehicle manufacturer Boughton International has been bought by venture capitalist company Manrow Venture...

Page 10

URTU in 'sacking' row

by Sally Nash • Hythe-based Dockspeed is taking legal action against claims by the United Road Transport Union that the company...

Renault rationalises on sales

• Renault VI is streamlining its dealership management, with the redundancy of seven regional sales managers to be replaced by...

National firm loses fruit deal

• The collapse of a Cardiff fruit importer and wholesaler has meant the loss of work for a national distribution company....

BRF's aim is for green UK roads

• The British Road Federation is urging the government to make Britain's roads greener. Using measures such as lownoise road...

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Settlement to avoid tribunal

by David Craik II Parcels firm Nightfreight (Herts) has paid one of its drivers £2,000 to settle a claim for racial...

Cumbrian blitz nets 72

• A special vehicle check on the minor roads of Workington, Cumbria, revealed serious defects on almost all the lorries...

Third axle ride for Aaron

• Watch out for this boy wandering about near the back of your vehicles. Last week, nine-year-old Aaron Bowers from...

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Bath proposes to call ' time on lorries in city

• Truck operators could soon face restrictions in Bath as part of wide-ranging plans by the city council to crack down on...

Levine breaks 50-year record

• A furniture firm which had a clean record for more than 50 years has been fined a total of £540 by Warley magistrates after...

Felixstowe in delay wrangle

by David Craik • The row between hauliers and managers at the Port of Felixstowe rumbles on after one manager denied telling a...

Debt waiver won't help tolls

• Government plans to suspend part of the Humber Bridge's debt will not solve the problem of high tolls, says the Road Haulage...

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Waiting time

It may be over but Operation Stack, Kent Police's well-rehearsed response to last week's French lorry drivers' strike, was in...

Page 18

Feldbinder buys Metalair

by Bryan Jarvis • Hamburg-based tanker manufacturer Feldbinder has purchased one of its greatest UK-based rivals,...

BRIEFS

• Suffolk-based Stennett's Transport has just bought 15 Fruehauf tipping trailers, taking its fleet of agricultural bulk...

Fuel Duel swings T&B choice to ERF's ECU

• Tibbet and Britten's Clothing and Textile Division has bought six ERF Ed 1.30 ESP 4x2 trac. tors following an ERF-organised...

TransDek moves to Cartwright

• Cartwright Group has bought the manufacturing and patent rights to produce and install the TransDek range of internal loading...

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Registrations up 5% for October, down overall

• October showed further improvement in the UK truck market, with SMMT sales figures up by around 5% over the previous month,...

Mitchell chooses VBG fifth wheels for flexibility

• Grangemouth-based John Mitchell has equipped its latest batch of MAN tractors with VBG fifth wheels. Eleven MAN 22.403 6x2s...

Berlingo gets a platform cab

by Charles Young • Citroen has introduced a platform cab version of the Berlingo 800. This replaces the C15 platform cab,...

Titan synthetics save on fuel

by Gibb Grace • Fuchs Lubricants (UK) has introduced a range of synthetic engine and transmission oils under the Titan brand...

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Isuzu's new big boy

Just when the lucrative 7.5-tonne market looked to be pretty well tied up, two Japanese contenders are to join the fray. One is...

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Davidson disqualified

• Fraserburgh owner-driver George Davidson has been disqualifled indefinitely from holding an 0-licence by Scottish Deputy...

Move refusal

• Bids by Michael Spanton, licensed for six vehicles, and Clive Lansdale, licensed for two vehicles, to move their operating...

Tell the IC about convictions

• The necessity for operators to report convictions, including fixed penalty notices, to the Traffic Commissioner within 28...

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Bakery loses two vehicles over environmental and hours regs

• Breaches of environmental conditions and the drivers' hours and tachograph rules has led to two of the four vehicles operated...

Two out of four are suspended

• A South Yorkshire animal waste contractor has had two out of its four vehicles suspended for a week with a warning that...

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haulage factfile

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

Page 27

Battery info from the Net

* Battery producer Varta has introduced an online information service on the internet containing comprehensive information on...

Compact mains power unit

• Merlin Equipment's new Tsi500 sine-wave inverter converts 12 or 24V DC battery power to 230V AC mains electricity, allowing...

Custom handles from Albion

• Albion Distribution, of Barnsley, now offers a wide selection of handle colours and printed information for all its flat...

Belts and hoses concisely

• Gates has updated its automotive belts and hose catalogue so that the 36-page colour publication is even more concise. All...

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

haulage very seriously. However, once a Week Off, quirky correspondent, tile Hawk, steps off his perch to take a humorous look...

See you later alligator

A nimal lover though he is, you would not catch the Hawk in an embrace with a Monitor lizard. However, Neil Swann has no such...

Swing high swift charity

0 wift Service, the industrial division of Salvesen Logistics, has done sterling work for charity this year—last month it...

What's in the back of the van?

El his 1933 Austin A7 Somerset van was certain ly built to last, surviving even an unexploded German bomb which was found in...

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letters

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

URTU replies

I Treatise that it is many years since John W Stevenson (CM 6-12 Nov) was employed by United Road Transport Union and that the...

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Like for like

T have just finished listening to the news. The topic of the morning has been the French truck drivers' strike again. These...

Adequate cover?

W ith reference to your feature Turkish Delight (CM 6-12 Nov). In 1996 we undertook a series of driver training courses for...

Whose trucks?

A r ere do e striking th French drivers get the trucks and trailers to block ade the motorways. Could you imagine any haulage...

Not only blockaders but queue-jumpers

I arrived at the M20 at 22:30hrs on 4 November and it I is now 5 November at 12:30hrs and I am finally booked on to a ferry...

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COMO EU ROADTEST: SCINIA P94.311)

SHOPPING TROLL EY High-profile supermarkets specify their vehicle fleets with the utmost care. Tesco runs 1,000 Scanias and...

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MONEY MATTERS

Ata p rem i um Insurance is essential and it can be expensive as well as complicated to obtain the right cover at the right...

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TRAILERS FRANSENS TRANSPORT

When is a curtainsider not a curtainsider? When it's also a tanker. CM takes a look at an unusual dual-purpose trailer that's...

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PROFILE FOREST FREIGHT FACTFILE: FOREST FREIGHT BASED: Fairview Industrial Park,

Rainham, Essex. FOUNDED: 1971 by Stuart Fullerton. CONTACT: Darren Brown sales manager. FLEET: 60 vehicles from one-tonne panel...

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any questions

Jim Duckworth, editor of Road Transport Law and head of Transport Law Services, Woking, Surrey, helps solve your legal problems...

Insecure load

One of our skip lorries was on the M62 when a breeze-block fell off onto the road. Several cars hit it and received minor...

A The summons alleges

that the company "used" the vehicle with an insecure load, contrary to Regulation 100(1) of the Road Vehicles (Construction and...

Crane licence

We are concerned about the new legislation which requires the driver of a mobile crane to hold an HGV licence from 1 January....

A The regulations which

require a mobile crane driver to hold an HGV licence from 1 January 1998 make no concession as to the driver's eyesight. He...

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Thomas McDonell, chairman of the Northern Ireland Owner Drivers Association,

believes losing your driving licence is the only way to stop repeated tachograph and overloading offences. The large companies...