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17th December 1998
17th December 1998
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Page 1, 17th December 1998
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The truth hurts...

LIKE THE BLEARY-EYED MAN who sees his face in the shaving mirror morning, the road transport industry has had to face some...

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Pressure mounting on freight fowarder

by Charles Young • Commercial Motor has uncovered further allegations against North London freight forwarder Federation...

• F. has won a £3.75m contract to supply BP with 56 spirit tank trailers starting in February.

• A van driver from Porthmadog died after his vehicle collided with a minibus on the A498 at Nant Gwynant. • Some 63% of small...

No time for debtors' lifeline law

• Hauliers facing financial difficulties are to be thrown a lifeline by the Government with more time to solve their cashflow...

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Director banned for maintenance

• A director of a Turkish - run UK haulage company has been banned from holding an Operator's Licence by South Eastern Traffic...

Stobart is fla

ng oi by Nicky Clarke • High-profile haulier Eddie Stobart is to flag out part of its international fleet to the Continent,...

Racist hauliers are warm

• A white receptionist has won a case of racial discrimination against her bosses, Gwentbased truck and van rental firm...

Fined for spillage

• Lillyhall-based Alco Waste Management has been fined £2,000 for polluting a West Cumbrian stream with acid. The conviction...

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Dealers back the Euro

by Ian Wylie • Truck dealers are urging the Government to enter the single European currency as soon as possible to bring an...

Scania sticks to NEC and Truckfest

• Scania has pulled out of the TipCon show at Manchester, IRTE at Telford and the IWM show at Torquay. Scania spokeswoman...

MP condemns Stack system

• An MP has slammed Kent Police's truck management system Operation Stack after the M20 was closed to cars for the third time...

Big fine for hours conspiracy

• Anthony Myers, director transport manager of BJ Haulage, trading as Myers Transport, of Purfleet, has been fined ,E9,000 with...

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Magnum bill battle

• A Welsh owner-driver who had nothing but problems after buying a second hand Magnum is trying to get Renault to admit that...

Death-crash firm loses its appeal

• The South Wales plant hire firm ordered to pay £175,000 after a crash in which five people died has lost its appeal against...

Roadside checks lead to charges

• At least 30 drivers will appear in court to face charges relating to 163 alleged offences found in a recent roadside check of...

Actros recall over braking

• Daimler Chrysler and WABCO have issued a recall on Mercedes-Benz Actros heavyweights for a precautionary inspection of the...

ummomill■ Free training in French driving • Kent-hosed HGV drivers are to get free training on Continental driving.

The Transmanche Passport Project offers a week's driver training in France on work experience with a twinned French company. It...

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Jones stands ground on tax

by David Grant • A Welsh haulier is refusing to back down in his battle to win a 1:2,000 dispute with the Inland Revenue over...

Tunnel security fears Russian 'walks thrm

• Questions over security in the Channel Tunnel were raised last week after a Russian man was discovered walking through it....

Shoebox appeal on its way

• Hundreds of sick, homeless and abandoned Romanian children will get a little Christmas cheer thanks to a convoy of trucks...

Hours rules confusii

• A driver was given a conditional discharge by West Bromwich magistrates for exceeding his hours after he became confused over...

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Driver is jailed for fatal crash

• A soldier who was moonlighting as a truck driver has been jailed for threeand-a-half years after he crashed into a stationary...

Second appeal is rejected

• Peter Hobbs and John Mills, the truck drivers sentenced to seven-and-a-half years in a Bulgarian jail for smuggling heroin,...

Hi-tech tools can beat truck crime

• Security cameras used in depots and distribution centres will soon be able to detect crime automatically, says a leading...

Get us off the escalator!

• The Freight Transport Association is urging hauliers to lobby their MPs against the fuel duty escalator in advance of next...

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Fighting for a piggybac

There are good arguments for moving freight from road to rail, including cutting congestion and pollution. But, as so often,...

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Building for the future

The well-deserved reputation that British bodybuilders and equipment suppliers have for technical innovation will not guarantee...

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ERF/Isuzu venture I; will safeguard jobs ;

• ERF's new joint venture with Isuzu to build all the N-Series trucks for Europe (CM 10-16 Dec) will safeguard existing jobs at...

Cranes scaled to suit panel vans

• Fassi has launched three "micro-cranes" to suit Transitsized light CVs. The Micro 1 0, 20, and 30 are rated at 1.1, 1.5 and...

Export dive sinks Nene

• Trailer manufacturer Nene Trailers of Wisbech has closed its factory with a loss of 16 jobs. A creditors' meeting is set for...

Semis chang up by degree

by Bryan Jarvis • Major UK reefer manufacturer Gray and Adams has further enhanced its specialist trailer building reputation...

Movano moves in with 11 variants

• Vauxhall has set specs and prices for its Movano van range, which goes on sale on 8 January. The mechanical warranty is for...

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Low down in tight spots

Access Equipment of Ipswich needs to deliver cranes and the like into busy shopping streets. Raven Trailers has built a...

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Finance OK III No action was taken against the international

licence held by Fakenham-based Amanda Cushing, trading as Cushings Transport, after Eastern TC Geoffrey Simms was satisfied she...

12ft trees part of the deal

• A South Wales haulier has been allowed to change his operating centre despite objections from neighbouring residents, but...

'llE" Overload law queried

• Liverpool sl ipenclary magis trate Stephen Firth convicted a driver employed by Tuffnells Parcel Express of a front axle...

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Short-lived licence for Scots firm

• Dundee-based East Coast Transport (Scotland), which was granted a new national licence in March (CM 2-8 April), has had it...

After-hours rule broken

• The Transport Tribunal has up held Scottish Traffic Commissioner Michael Betts' revocation of Central Scotland Recycling's...

Poor maintenana led to vehicle cut

• A Lancashire catering supply company's licence, which was granted in September 1997, has been reduced from four vehicles to...

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haulage factfile

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

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the hawk's christr s crackers

Commercial Moto( takes road haulage very seriously. However, once a week our quirky corespondent, the Hawk, steps off his perch...

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letters

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

Diabetics' licences

A s we are all aware, the As in its infinite wisdom decided to discriminate against its own people by taking away licences to...

No pressure

I n a recent edition there is an article headlined "DOT takes five on 44t" which implies that pressure from Brussels is...

Hours horror

I have just read Geoff Houghton's letter (CM 3-9 December) and it has prompted me to put pen to paper. As an international...

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For this test CM left the Kent light vehicle test route far

behind and took to to the highways of Arizona, Utah and Nevada, starting and finishing in San Francisco. readers can now have...

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PHOTOGRAPHY by STEVE BROOKS

T he sun cracks the horizon like an oxy torch through steel. Soft, glowing at first, until a sudden blast of brazen red splits...

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1111IW

TO GO With the Mercedes-Benz badge so often associated with quality, the launch of the Atego 815 disappointed. Several months...

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RECENT AND IMMINENT LEGISLATION

The Road Vehicles (Construction and IA. , 117,, , ni? Regulations 1997. CIF 1 October 1997. Require cab notices where the...

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One helped forge Volvo's reputation in the UK, the other

is the truck on which Volvo is pinning its hopes of regaining some of that reputation. In a burst of indulgence CM pits one of...

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IJUDGMENTS

Iveco's EuroTech has a good track record, with satisfactory fuel returns and good payload capacity. Early problems seem to be...

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When the fleet focus falls on operational economy, double-decked trailers

are increasingly being selected as a fleet option. Steve McQueen assesses the benefits. T hey used to be an exception, used by...

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Fleet hauliers are always looking for even the tiniest reduction

in fuel consumption—it can add up to hundreds of thousands of pounds a year. One answer is to become smooth operators —by...

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tales

THE FISHING COMMUNITIES in Scotland's North-West Highlands provide a living for hardy hauliers, although the operations have...

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VANS

IMPRESSIONS SPRINTER 312D 4x4 GVVV: 3,100kg. Engine: 2.9-litre turbo-diesel, 122hp (90kW). Payload: 1,375kg. Load volume:...

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The kania/Krone Concept rig seeks to prove that ultra-heavy trucks

can boost efficiency and help the environment. But is this really the future of European road haulage—or a 60-tonne white...

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TIC KET 1 1 1

The vision of 45 policemen driving 38-tonne trucks on a racetrack may seem a little out of the ordinary—but that is exactly...

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any questions

Trailer trouble I drive for a company running a fleet of 17-tonne rigids which tow two-axled 16.7tonne drawbar trailers. The...

Which records ?

Usually a driver takes his weekly rest on Saturday/Sunday. If he is asked to produce his tachograph records the following week...

A Article 15(7) of EC

Regulation 3821/85, the Community Recording Equipment Regulation, requires that a driver should be able to produce his record...

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'Road congestion is estimated to cost the nation Ll9bn per year'

Transcendental Meditation can reduce the stress caused by driving and is pivotal to the Natural Law Pariy's transport policy,...