AT THE HEART OF THE ROAD TRANSPORT INDUSTRY.

Call our Sales Team on 0208 912 2120

16th July 1998
16th July 1998
Page 1
Page 1, 16th July 1998
Close

Page 4

Industry steps up fuel duty protests

by Rob Willock and David Craik • The Road Haulage Association and the Transport & General Workers Union shared a platform for...

BRIEFS

The Institute of Logistics' new head office in Corby was opened last week by its patron, the Princess Royal, pictured with...

Swerving 38-tonner in fatal accident

• Greater Manchester police say the scene of a fatal accident last Thursday involving a 38tonne truck "looked like a bomb had...

Page 5

T&G slams United Carriers for U-turn

by Sally Nash • Drivers at United Carriers have "lost their jobs needlessly" over the last few months, according to the...

No link between runaways

• Scania says the Iwo recent runaway scares involving its vehicles are unrelated. This follows an investigation into the claim...

Killed off by steel deal

• Two 100-year-old small haulage operations have closed with the loss of almost 30 drivers' jobs after they lost British Steel...

CPC threat to drivers

• EU legislation designed to harmonise CPC syllabuses could require that CPC examiners have no interest in the candidates'...

Shipping scrutiny will help hauliers

• The dominance of the world's largest shipping lines will come under intense scrutiny in Brussels next week in a move which...

Page 6

Single fleet plan to serve the services

by Karen Miles • As part of the Government's strategic defence review a single transport and storage agency will be created to...

CONIME-N'T

LYING DOWN WITH THE LAMB C onsiclering that it's 10 years since the Road Haulage Association and T&G shared a platform, last...

Lex does more for Spicer

• Lex Transfleet has picked up more work from office equipment firm Spicers as the existing haulage contractor, Exel Logistics,...

Page 8

Cumbrian bypass tolls closer

by Karen Miles • Lorry drivers could see toll booths for the first time on a new bypass if residents of a Cumbrian town get...

Driver in M6 carnage may have 'dozed off'

• A lorry driver may have "dozed off', causing his artic to swerve across the central reservation of the M6 near Walsall,...

. Judge cuts lad terms of duo in bogus HGV licences scam

• Two men who pretended they were qualified HGV drivers so they could get work had their prison sentences cut at the Appeal...

Page 10

Trading status in doubt

by Karen Miles and Sally Nash • The trading status of Derbyshire freight forwarder Midland European Freight Services was...

Fined for lack of a licence

• Stonways Brothers of Marple has been fined £600 by West Bromwich magistrates for using a truck without an Operator's Licence...

No charge for threat

• Eurohaul boss John Heads will not face trial for threatening to kill United Road Transport Union general-secretary David...

Scottish hauliers hit by filling station closures

• Remote Scottish hauliers will face longer journeys to refuel over the next five years as up to 100 rural filling stations are...

Load theft driver faces jail

• A Kent lorry driver has been warned he is in danger of being jailed for stealing Marks & Spencer clothes he was supposed to...

Page 12

Wheel loss report row

Long dismissed as a mystery "phenomenon", CV wheel loss nevertheless causes up to 10 deaths a year. It has finally been moved...

EURO NEWS

*The EU plans to introduce pan-European roadside truck checks from 1 July 1999. *Tramoor+ vaikm , ore set to rise throughout...

Page 16

In gear for automation

The design of the synchromesh gearbox has not fundamentally changed in more than 60 years, and most recent developments have...

Page 18

New MAN and a block

by Toby Clark • MAN has shown the revised F2000 and M2000 trucks it will launch at the Hanover Show in September; they are due...

IP , DRIVING IMPRESSIONS • We first tried a 4x2

M2000 tractive unit, the 18.284, mated to Tridec's innovative low-slung Citycleck trailer. The engine proved very willing at 26...

Page 19

Shell fires up LPG launch programme

• Shell has opened its first Liquid Petroleum Gas (LPG) pump on a retail forecourt as the first stage of a £1 Urn plan to...

Stud mystery solved?

by Charles Young • A haulage firm from Bath. which lost more than 38 wheel studs from an ERF tipper over three years, thinks...

Rubber solution for resin

• Securicor's Omega Logistics has come up with a novel solution for transporting resin. Three of the eight standard...

Renault VI leads 1998 sales surge of commercial vehicles

• Sales of commercial vehicles are up 12.9% for the first half of 1998, compared with the same period in 1997, according to the...

Page 20

Tough lightweights

Lightweight Twaron panels push up the price of Gray & Adams' semitrailers but, combined with some other clever features, they...

Page 21

Drivers' stress levels set to soar

• The RAC has concluded that British drivers are heading for a nervous breakdown, after a survey revealed that 80% feel tense...

Illegal entry case halted

• A lorry driver found to have 14 illegal immigrants in his trailer walked free after the case against him collapsed. The...

Non-stop trip results in fine

• A lorry driver drove more than 16 hours without a rest in a bid to hurry home after an argument with his wife over the length...

Brady offers drivers cash reward for fuel economy

• Barrow-in-Furness-based Brady Distribution has introduced drivers' league tables in a bid to encourage best practice and fuel...

Police seek flatbed information

• West Midlands police are warning truck drivers to be on their guard for children climbing onto flatbeds in the wake of an...

Page 22

Discharged on brakes

• Haulier William Plank of Denny, near Falkirk, was given an absolute discharge for a brake offence after Penrith magistrates...

Less licence

• North Western IC Keith aterworth has cut the authorisation on the licence held by Liverpool-based WST from nine vehicles and...

Tad° fine reduced on appeal

• A Liverpool haulier's £500 fine for using a temporary tachograph head has been cut to £200 on appeal to Bolton Crown Court....

Page 23

Convicted driver wins an 0-licence

• A delivery van driver with a conviction for stealing money from his employer has been granted an 0-licence in partnership...

Operator wants to surrender

• Pontypridd-based All Grades (Metals), trading as AC Iron And Steel, is waiting to see if the new South Wales Traffic...

Firm chalks up multiple fines

• A driver employed by IDS Transport of Honeybourne, Worcestershire, pulled the fuse to stop his tachograph recording after an...

Page 24

haulage factfile

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

Page 26

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...

Lost wheels

I was pleased to read in last week's CM that the DOT's report on wheel detachment from commercial vehicles has finally been...

Page 27

nuts ever thus...

T he story "Court ruling will push up VED bill" (CM 2-8 July) is a splendid example of DVLA chief executive Dr Ford's...

Page 28

bird's eye view by the hawk Commercial Motortakes road haulage

very seriously. However, once a week our quirky correspondent, the Hawk, steps off his perch to take a humorous look at the...

The law is an ass

o f it's in the paper then it must be true. When he tried to convince his family otherwise, American truck driver Cod,,r...

Road hogr

lij his abnormal load from Holland was spotted at Fleet services on the M3. Relatively rare in Britain, the Volvo FL12 grosses...

Grab a granny

Ei I you ore going to be stopped by the police, make sure it's not on a US highway. In Frederick, Maryland, 58-year-old Ester...

Page 40

ROADTEST: IVECO EUROTRONIC

E AS Y RIDE R We may have driven more economical tractors around CM'S Scottish test route, but none of them gave us a more...

Page 46

PROFILE RILEY

Family firms tend to be small and keep to their established area, but N Riley (Haulage) has successfully doubled in size and...

Page 48

VANS

ON TEST Ford Escort 55 TurboDiesel Price as tested: £10,135 (ex-VAT). Includes £9,125 for the basic vehicle; £390 for...

Page 50

I I I Lzri*I411

dirve returns As the end of the EU ban on British beef comes into sight, some British hauliers will be quite appy to start...

Page 53

L 'WV

RECENT AND IMMINENT LEGISLATION The Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) (Amendment) Regulations 1997. CIF 1 October 1997....

Page 54

Gerry VaHely, managing director of Valle ly Engineering, is fed up

with having to attend a myriad of commercial vehicle shows and argues for nr‘i=. big international event to be held at the...