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14th December 2000
14th December 2000
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Page 1, 14th December 2000
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=IS RUSH The Freight Transport Association is seeking the relaxation

of delivery curfews to enable its members to keep shelves stocked in the run-up to Christmas. It says that these curfews,...

MIME GAMS An extra 2,000 roadside speed cameras are to

be deployed. Many will be the new digital type; the equipment will be financed by money from speeding lines.

SPRAY BANGS Worried residents an a Black Country estate made

more than 40 calls to the emergency services after a truck load of aerosol cans exploded when arsonists torched the vehicle...

Drivers throughout the European Union will have to wear OF

seat-belts if proposals from the European Commission are accepted by EU ministers. Brussels is concerned about the number of...

INSGUIT THEFT A red MAN, registration R583 EFA, with the

Swaine livery in white on the sides, was stolen on Wednesday 6 December with its £25,000 load of chocolate biscuits. Contact:...

BREATHE PROOF Police will be able to rely on the

results of roadside breath tests as evidence of drink-drive offences In proposals announced in the Queen's speech. Roadside...

Top TC slams DOT for failing to outlaw partial flagging

by Melanie Hammond Senior Traffic Commissioner Michael Betts has hit out at the Department of Transport for its continuing...

VED rebates stalled

• The Government has admitted that the vehicle excise duty rebates announced by the Chancellor in his pre-Budget statement have...

Fuel cost falls

• The price of fuel is finally coming down for bulk anti forecourt buyers following a fall in global oil prices. Freight...

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Threat to steel

• Steel hauliers across the country are bracing themselves for further job cuts following the resignations last week of two...

P860 drivers to reject deal

Drivers from the Transport and General Workers Union (T&G I working for P&O on their fuel distribution contract for Shell were...

P&O pays for gas checks

• by Ouy Shepard P&O Stena Line has ruled out increasing its prices next year to cover the cost of compulsory checks for...

• Hauliers must give jobs to newly qualified drivers if the driver shortage is to be alleviated.

This is the opinion of many HGV drivers who responded to our recruitment feature which detailed the effect driver shortages are...

A Derbyshire haulier has escaped a £28,000 fine from the

immigration service, even though it had no evidence to prove its case. The threat of closure has been hanging over SJ Freight...

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Irish hauliers celebrate fuel cuts

• by Brendan Nolan irish hackers will be pay i ng thou,:ands of pounds less in diesel duty following a Budget that will leave...

French buy Newhaven

• A French local authority has agreed to buy the port of Newhaven in East Sussex in a bid to safeguard haulage jobs....

Fuel price 'not fixed'...

• The major oil companies, which sold fuel on their own forecourts more cheaply than to independent suppliers after the...

...hut EC study aims to cut diesel prices

• National competition authorities and the European Commission have agreed that EC investigators should study the fuel market...

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Volvo admits dealer fiddled truck wei t

by Guy Sheppard Volvo has admitted that parts from its trucks were secretly removed to meet a customer's weight requirements...

Give them a chance!

Drivers, drivers, drivers. Possibly tho biggest problem facing the haulage sector in the medium to long term. Many now...

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ROC delays outrage hauliers

IK by Dominic Perry Hauliers faced with horrendous delays at supermarket Regional Distribution Centres (RDCs) are demanding...

Scots fear huge cuts to fishing quotas

II Scottish fish hauliers are facing a tough year with the European Fisheries Commission expected to impose huge cuts to...

Artic sales slump blamed on government

II Government confusion over truck taxation is being blamed for a slump in artic sales. The Society of Motor Manufacturers and...

CONTRACTS

SECURE PARCELS Securicor Omega Express has won a three-year parcels delivery contract with Lloyds TSB worth £12m. Lloyds has...

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Driver moved scooter but left victim to die

• by Melanie Hammond Police are searching for a hit - and - run driver who struck a scooter and left the rider to die in the...

Help wanted to find hit-and-run trucker

• Essex Police are appealing for witnesses and informatio following a hit and run involving a truck an 26 October nea...

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they do make them like that any more!

• Just when you thought US truck operators had finally embraced the idea of an aerodynamic artic-50% of all bonneted tractors...

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The great American dream for truckers

• With a relatively modest Interstate gross weight limit of just 36.28 tonnes (80,0001b) on three axles, US truck makers want...

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Power boost

• The van Aaken Developments story goes back to 1992, when it began as retirement project for nuclear physicist Dr David...

Plug-in modules

• The simplest of VAD's diesel offerings is the CPC plug-in module. Designed specifically for the Bosch VP30 CAN-controlled...

Superchips

This approach caters for electronically controlk turbo-diesels. VAD is one of the network of dealers autte rised to fit the...

Optimisation

le Our guinea pig for the optimisation process was a 100h Fiat indirect-irdection turbo-diesel engine with Lucas medlar cal...

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DaimierChrysler to push new buy VeMIS

• Leafield AVM has been bought by DaimlerChrysler, in a move which should extend the use of its VeMIS vehicle monitoring...

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BPW lightweight suspensior reduces axle weight by 251(1

• by Kevin Swallow German axle and suspension manufacturer BPW has developed a lightweight air suspension system that cuts the...

• Hot on the heels of the [CO-Plus axl launch

last year comes the all encom passing wheel hub design. Standar tapered roller bearing: thrust washers, seal irig bearings an...

AUTO ACMOS

Following atrial of five vehicles, Dodd's Transport has added five more AutoTrans-equipped Mercedes-Beni Actros 6x2 tractors to...

SURVIVING DRIVING A new training operation in Flintshire offers company

drivers instruction in the "behavioural aspects of driving" in a bid to improve technical and psychological skills. Contact:...

NEW BOXES

ICS Black Box in Loughborough has launched three on-board computer systems with Windows-compatible software. Fleet Log is...

BELT UP!

With compulsory seat-belt for !ICUs becoming law early next year, Securon of Amersham, Bucks is offering a seat-belt system...

RENAULT SUE Renault now has a web site dedicated to

its vans. As well as product information operators can find data on approved conversions and used vans. site: www.renautt....

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Put your house in order, warns Bell

Freight forwarder Associated Haulage (Liverpool) has been given until the beginning of the year to put its house in order ur...

DEFECTIVE UMITER

Using a vehicle with a defective speed limiter cost Liverpoolbased TJ May & Sons (Carriers) £285 in fines and casts when the...

NO SHOW

North London-based CHB Transport had its licence revoked after the company failed to attend an Eastbourne disciplinary inquiry.

CROWN CASE

Barry magistrates decided charges of the theft of £4A00 from M&G Haulage, which arose after former driver James Tindal was put...

LICENCE LOST

Airdrie-based Robert Elliot has had his licence revoked and has been disqualified from holding or obtaining an 0-licence for a...

II RAT

Glasgow-based John G Russell Transport escaped with a warning about future maintenance standards and convictions when it...

Haulier `couldn't recall VI advice'

A South Yorkshire haulier which has collected a series of prohibition notices since being granted a licence 12 months ago has...

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Farming crisis hit trucks

Breaches of the drivers hours and tachograph rules and problems about maintenance led to Sheppey-based Burden Bros' licence...

Truck was inherited with the company

_ Stuart Badley's _1 . ' single vehicle was described as "an _accident waiting to happen" when he appeared before West Midland...

Haulier 'falsified records for police'

An owner-driver re ed said si chograph fi records while acting as a police informant has lost his licence and been...

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LET'S CALL OFF CHRISTMAS!

The government appears to have gained some public support against the hauliers with its reduction in road tax and 3p/lit on...

LICENSED NOT TO DRIVE!

Havingjust read the driver recruitment article (CM16-22 Nov) I felt I had to write to you about how misleading it was. There...

EXPERIENCE SPIRAL

Having read your article in CommorcialMotor on recruitment (CM16-22 Nov) I thought I would let you know of my experience as a...

CIRCULAR TRAP

Having just read your article "in short supply" ( CM 16-22 Nov) I felt compelled to write in reply. I am 51 years old, and...

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MAN'S PLANS

Although he has a tight grip on that wreath, MAN's retiring boss Dr Klaus Schubert is determined that the celebrating MAN...

MYOPIC MAN

The Hawk's mission to advance the image of Reliant Robin drivers has suffered another setback. A bespectacled grandad set off...

CARTOON TIME

If you're still clutching your sides in agony from the last cart printed, here's another that will have you doubled up. They...

LADYTRUCKEll ON-LINE

The Lady Truckers Club has good news for its members. quit ally. Along with its newsletter, the LTC has launched an on-lini...

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ince the arrival of the Renault Premium in 1996 the

4x2 tractor version has proved something of a revelation, snapping up a tenth of the heavy truck market. Major fleet operators...

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TEST ROUTE

CM'S used truck route is shorter but no less demanding than the tried and tested Scottish route we use for new vehicles. The...

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GRIPPING

• TYRE SELECTION was simple once. Specify drive, steer or trailer axle, negotiate hard on price and monitor wear rates. True,...

Ultra-low-profile tyres

• Bridgestone, along with Continental, has been the main pioneer of ultra-low-profile tyres. Interest in these tyres for UK...

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Day one

Not the best of starts, I grant you. keep instructor Graham Gregory and co-learner Keith "Cowboy" Turner waiting as I turn my...

What to do

• If you passed your car test before 1997, you can drive up to? tonnes on that licence. if not, you must first take your Cl...

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Bridge to employment

A new initiative in Northern Ireland si In Northern Ireland, government agencies have worked with the Road Haulage Association...

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n today's climate, the name of game for small operators

is sun Bob Grant, a veteran haulier w: business spans three decades, ha back from eight trucks to three, w spare for when...

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After four tortuous days November's fuel rally reached London. Were

the protesters outflanked by a canny Chancellor and washed out by inclement weather? Steve McQueen reports. A s campaign...

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The ones that went before

• The timing of the September protests was perfect. Thousands of British holidaymakers returned home at the end of August...

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L ast month the Chancellor answered the prayers of international hauliers

up and down the country. Or did he? For as far back as most CM writers can remember. British hauliers have railed against the...

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WHAT WILL IT COST?

• Although this is one of the key points to be decided by the consultati exercise, early indications suggest that it will cost...

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d Constant pressure on profit margins has led to

increased numbers of mergers and takeovers, with big operators growing even bigger, leaving less room for the traditional small...