AT THE HEART OF THE ROAD TRANSPORT INDUSTRY.

Call our Sales Team on 0208 912 2120

17th September 1998
17th September 1998
Page 1
Page 1, 17th September 1998
Close

Page 6

Irish Ferrymasters threatens pay cut

by Sally Nash • Drivers working for the Irish division of P&O Ferrymasters might face pay cuts of £180 a month unless vehicle...

BRIEFS

• Somerset-based Autologic Holdings has acquired French vehicle logistics company Remorquage Automobile Depenage, in a deal...

Dutch jail for £5m hijack driver

• An Irish truck driver has been sentenced to 18 months' jail in the Netherlands for his part in the hijacking of his...

Page 7

Blue Circle threat to drivers' jobs

• The GMB union warns that 17 drivers' jobs could be lost when Blue Circle Cement closes two of its plants next May. National...

Campaigning for cyclists

• About 100,000 leaflets promoting road safety will be distributed in a new campaign by the National Cycling Forum in a bid to...

Brighter prospects for RTITB's survival

• Administrators Ernst & Young say they are confident they will get the training body RTITI1 Services back on its feet. elle...

Truck drivers are way down the list

by Nicky Clarke • Lorry driving is a "semiroutine" occupation and lorry drivers are losing their class, according to a...

Page 8

Hauliers want to work in Holland

by Sally Nash • Large numbers of owner-drivers are turning their backs on the UK to take up jobs in the Netherlands where pay...

DRIVERS-A CLASS APART?

L orry drivers are now not just second-class but sixth-class citizens, if you please, according to the latest...

Page 10

Reg changes will cause twin peaks

• Government plans to halt the effects of the huge August vehicle sales peak could backfire if the proposed bi-annual...

Pile-up on M25 sets off probe

by Karen Miles • Police are investigating the role of a number of lorries in an M25 pile-up which killed one lorry driver when...

Couple fined £9,000 for electrocution

• A Yorkshire farmer and his wife have to pay £9,000 in fines and costs after a driver was electrocuted on their premises....

Insurance costs bar young drivers

• Insurance premiums for young truck drivers look set for scrutiny at Ireland's new Motor Insurance Advisory Board. Former...

Page 11

Driver freed in Calais

by David Craik II A driver with Dewsburybased Sewell Distribution has been released from a Calais prison after being held for...

Cain is charged with obstruction

• As CM went to press. Chris Cain, the Liverpool haulier who inspired hundreds of colleagues to protest against crippling fuel...

Skip hauliers skipped rules

• Two skip hauliers were warned to change their behaviour or face licence revocation after they told Eastern Traffic Area...

Trevor Davies & Sons closes

• A south-west Wales haulier is shutting his operation with the loss of eight drivers' jobs after deciding there is no future...

Page 12

No word from Sally on port

by Karen Miles • The future of the port of Ramsgate looks unclear, with its owner refusing to quash speculation that the...

Truck drivers stick to M6 works limit

• Lancashire police has applauded HC.N drivers for not following the "shocking behaviour" of car drivers who have been ignoring...

Welsh talk Welsh to TAOs

• A new legal requirement which allows Welsh hauliers to communicate with the Traffic Area Office network in their native...

Costs only for tacho offences

• Cheltenham magistrates let 23 drivers off with conditional discharges after they admitted tampering with their tachograph...

Page 16

Green artic to test incentive

by Robin Meczes • JW Suckling Transport is testing the Government's £500 tax break on environmentally friendly vehicles by...

Daimler Powertrain deal with Daimler

• Daimler-Benz's new Powertrain offshoot has won its first significant order—from another Daimler subsidiary. Freightliner...

Fleet savings in ZF boxes

• ZF GB is offering remanufactured service-exchange Ecomat straight-drive automatic transmissions at a reduced price to major...

K2 sheets automatically

• Ejector and tipping trailer manufacturer EuroEjectors has collaborated with Bywaters (Leyton) to develop an automatic...

Page 17

VW mini artic cuts fuel bills

• The Lightweight Artie Co's XLT, a mini-artic based on the Volkswagen LT, is claimed to use up to 18% less fuel than a...

Securicor saves with more cube

by Bryan Jarvis • Four new Cartwright doubledecked semi-trailers are expected to provide Securicor Omega Express with...

Page 18

Accident-prone self-employed

by James Keeler • Subcontracted and owner-drivers are far more likely to have fatal accidents than their employed colleagues,...

£6-plus is a fair rate

• Truck drivers believe that a fair rate for the job is £6.36 for day shifts and £8.63 for nights, according to a survey of...

Drivers work out at Wincanton

• The biggest risk to professional drivers comes not from accidents, but from their unhealthy lifestyles, claims Wincanton...

Felixstowe sharpens up

• P&O has upgraded the driver's area at Felixstowe port with showers, vending and arcade machines, and a Travelex Office...

1-tests by instalments

• A Peterborough-based training company is offering trainee Class-C (rigid) HU drivers the chance to pay in instalments. Les...

Page 22

lul* Cursor

is up. an running Confidentially, people within Iveco Ford Truck will tell you it's "make or break" time. If it's ever going...

Page 28

Buoyant market in Scotland

With attendance up by almost 11%, you'd think that manufacturers exhibiting at this year's Scottish IRTE Show would be pleased....

Page 29

BRIEFS

• Kalmar claims to manufacture the world's widest range of specialist materials-handling equipment; since bunching its Magnum...

Page 30

Manager must appear

416 • Consideration of disciplinary action against a Staffordshire firm which was granted a licence in March has been...

Operator must be bullet-proof

• A Scottish skiphire operator was told he needed to be bullet-proof against the Vehicle Inspectorate when he appeared before...

Page 31

Operated out of time

• Breaches of a lime condition on the licence held by Bo'ness-based Central Scotland Recycling have led to licence revocation...

Short trips were not tack exempt

• A vehicle on short runs delivering pallets to a customer was not exempt from the tachograph regulations, South Sefton...

Page 32

letters

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

Steering axles are not a new invention

I t was with great interest that I read the report on the Hanover show and of the advances in truck technology, especially...

Page 33

Supply chain

- w hen are Britain's major supermarkets going to realise that "logistics" is of little interest to the average haulier, but...

No chance!

W ith reference to your Comment last week (CM 10-16 Sept) about how the PTA and RI-IA should join forces, I can't help...

Piggyback peril

I t maybe that for the sake of the environment we need to look at other ways of transporting goods to road, but it doesn't look...

Supply and demand

D noes anyone know why there such a mismatch in the industry between supply and demand for drivers? On the one hand, we hear...

Page 34

haulage factfile

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

Page 36

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

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

Cracking pliers Gromit

ci ou've seen the films, you've got the fridge magnet, now you can open the box. Custom Accessories Europe is launching a...

Someone's telling porkies...

a he Hawk is very grateful to G Dean of Blackpool for l bring to his attention a piece from his local paper, the Gazette....

Villains go home empty handed

t's good to know that the miserable little tea leaves of this world don't always get away with it. When its Scania skip lorry...

Page 38

ROADTEST: FIAT DUCATO 14 28 id. ID

Think top Italian siyle and you/11 probably think Ferrari. But the humble Fiat Ducat° offers versatility and style and, with...

Price as tested: £18,175 (ex-VAT), includes £17,485 for the basic

vehicle; £450 for the central locking and electric windows and £240 for the fullheight steel bulkhead. Engine: 2.8 litres,...

Page 58

High xpectations

While some drivers try to squeeze their vehicles under bridges by the narrowest of margins, many miscalculate, causing damage...

Page 60

Fitting tributes

S pot a truck driver wearing a seat-belt, and you've seen something unusual. Many drivers simply don't them. Perhaps the older...

Page 62

Its roots are in agriculture, but offshoots of Joseph Rice

Logistics have sprouted up in many different directions: from transport and logistics to a range of other services. J,...

Page 66

'Add some safeguards to prevent rat-running through the centre'

N otice something about the debate on how the new Mayor will use his magic wand to solve London's traffic problems? Apart from...