FAIR CRITICISM? • It's all a matter of perspective. The eyecatching headline in a recent copy of the Daily Telegraph read:...

• Contributions to Commercial Motor's Wheel Loss Fund continue to come in — but we've still got a long way to go before we can...

• The industry is putting solid support behind Commercial Motor's Wheel Loss Campaign, with cheques arriving daily at the CM...

• The campaign to persuade the Government to use tax payers' money to improve lorry park and rest facilities on trunk roads has...

• Transport and General Workers Union leaders in the London area have dropped calls for London weighting in annual pay...

• Production of the Ford Transit at Southampton has been halted by industrial action in support of a wage claim. Ford says it...

• More than 10,000 trucks were found to be running overloaded in 1988/89, says the latest Licensing Authorities' annual...

• Redundancies among British livestock hauliers are feared following an EC ban on the export to the Continent of live cattle...

Wilcox Engineering Group for £10 million. Former Blue Circle director Malcolm Llewellyn and James Ross led the successful...

in protest over delays by the French government in reviewing sub-contracting laws. The trade union Unostra is behind the...

with three operators in Central Germany: Emons Spedition near Frankfurt, Intertrans in Ludwigshafen, and FJ Meyer in Koblens.

• Insurance premiums for hauliers look set to rise following vehicle damage caused by the recent storms. Motorways were closed...

The Western Traffic Area under John Carpenter (who is expected to become the first Senior Traffic Commissioner under the Palmer...

• A cache of over 1,000 Second World War bombs and shells was uncovered on a Lancashire haulier's land last week. The bombs...

• Exel Logistics has won a five-year 820 million distribution and warehousing deal with Cadel, a leading UK supplier of...

▪ LEP-Swift has signed a 82.5 million deal with General Motors to distribute spare parts throughout Luxembourg and Belgium.

• Rockwood Holdings, which recently closed several transport depots, has sold its subsidiary Leasing Principals to NMB Lease of...

• Locomotors has expanded its specialist engineering business with the acquisition of Worksopbased GD Engineering's municipal...

• Dal aims to raise 300 million guilders (t100 million) through a commercial paper programme.

• DEUS has acquired Chelmer Cargo Services (Shipping) of Colchester, which will now operate as DFDS Chelmer. It will run...

• Truck driver Norman Kelly has won 840,000 compensation in the High Court from his former employer, P&O Roadways, following an...

18,000m 2 parts distribution centre for the UK at Magna Park, Lutterworth, Leicestershire, close to Volvo's new parts centre.

• Carriers of hazardous waste face a ban on mixing different loads in a Government crackdown which also puts the onus on...

• Home-study courses on the transport of dangerous goods by road came under fire again this week. Last week they were attacked...

• 'I'he Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders has called on Chancellor John Major to bring the UK's Vehicle Excise Duty...

• Vanguard Engineering of London moved a 55-tonne Chieftain tank for the Army last week, when a five-axle trailer was needed...

• Transport Secretary Cecil Parkinson has rejected calls to speed up the bridge strengthening programme. "The Department...

• In an effort to iron out national differences in fuel costs, the European Commission wants all EC states to adopt a...

• United Rentals sales director Gerald Wavell (centre) presented a 12.2m, air-suspended trailer to Steetley depot managers Tony...

• Shell UK Exploration and Production has invested nearly £100,000 in a self-powered, mechanical pipehandler for its Aberdeen...

• The first two Multidrive Seddon Atkinson Stratos proved their versatility this week when they were the only vehicles capable...

• Flatbed trucks might be barred from carrying hazardous loads, Transport Minister Robert Atkins has warned. Following an...

• A combination of a cut in retail prices and the introduction of a free-fit engine exchange programme has reduced the cost of...

• An American invention which has the potential to reduce heavy haulage operators' tyre and running costs is currently...

• Willhire has added a 17tonne bucket loading tipper to its rental fleet. Built on a Ford Cargo 1718 chassis, it has a 7.6rn 1...

• Leyland Daf has developed a slim version of the Roadrunner for operating on Jersey. Europa Freight has ordered two for its...

• Dennison Trailers, Lancaster, is adding tipping trailers to its product range. The first ones will be shown at TipCon.

• The ZF Group has bought Italian components manufacturer Pai-Dernm. It has strong exports and its turnover last year was more...

• Following the news Last week that Daf is to offer satellite communications equipment, a German company is teaming up with US...

• Seddon Atkinson has followed in the footsteps of ERF and Foden by specifying the 8.3-litre charge-cooled Cummins C Series...

• Refuse vehicle manufacturer Laird of Anglesey has installed an 'environmentally-friendly' spray system on the rotating drums...

by fitting a Granning air-sprung mid-axle with air lift to raise the truck's GVW to 22 tonnes. The conversion was made on...

has bought its 100th Leyland Daf, an FT 95.350. Sam Ostle has been buying its tankers from Solway Leyland Daf for 13 years; the...

body order with Croydon, Surrey-based Thompsons (UK). The 41 tipping and non-tipping bodies will be mounted on Iveco Ford...

week. The Redditch-based firm is now handling nationwide distribution for PVC manufacturer Weston Hyde, operating seven rigids...

been introduced by Exel Logistics Temperature Controlled Services using 12m temperature-controlled semis.

Wardle renews • Plastics firm Wardle Storeys has renewed its contract hire agreement with BRS Northern for 11 tractor units and...

• Rail freight operator Transfesa UK is expanding its intermodal swapbody service to the north of England and Scotland. The...

• Two UK water companies have clinched separate deals with the French water company SAUR to tender for local authority...

• TNT's latest offshoot, Contract Distribution — Europe, has won two more major Continental contracts. This follows TNT's move...

• Transport Development Group is launching a new livery for its three distribution companies — Albany, Beck and Pollitzer, and...

• Up to 60 jobs are to go at Bolton-based lveco Ford dealer Harper Gordon Trucks. Servicing work will be transferred to sister...

• French forwarding firm Franco Allemand Transit has launched a daily service from Paris to the UK, in collaboration with...

IN United Transport Contract Services has changed its name to United Transport Logistics which, the company says, reflects its...

Highway Vehicle Leasing, plans to set up joint ventures with 20 UK contract hire companies in the next three years, under the...

• Freight forwarder International Express Company has gone into receivership, after almost 90 years in business. Most parts of...

• Australian transport and distribution giant Linfox is looking to buy an established UK distribution firm. It already...

• Liverpool-based tank container specialist J E Hardisty is set to diversify into the tanker and dry container market after...

III Harpenden-based transport and freighting firm Star Cargo saw pre-tax profits rise to 2507,000 for the year to September...

• West Midlands'hautier Renwick Group's plan to finalise a deal with a "European division of a worldwide group" is unlikely to...

• Hermes Joinery of Litchfield has taken two contract hire 17-tonne Leyland Daf curtainsiders from Transfleet Services and has...

• Continental breakdown and recovery help is now being offered to international truck operators by AA-BRS Fleet Rescue. The...

• Yorkshire Rider has placed the first major order for Volvo BlOM single deck buses. A total of 10 51-seaters with Pluton...

• A Welsh bus operator is running non-emergency ambulance services for West Glamorgan Health Authority as the ambulance pay...

• Caldaire subsidiary United Automobile of Darlington splits into two operating companies this weekend as part of a...

• Cambus of Cambridge now has four Optare Fast. Flow StarRider vehicles on the road. The 29-seaters have a wide front entrance....

• Independent operator Armchair Passenger Tram port of Brentford has won its first London Regional Transport contract. Three...

• Trent Motor Traction has bought a dozen more Volvo double-deckers following "impressive" results with its first batch of 12....

• Van Hoof has won an order from Algeria to supply 150 midibuses as part of a government replacement programme for 500...

• Public transport in Dortmund, West Germany has been made more efficient by automatic traffic lights at interchange points...

• Production of Dal Delta single-deckers is set to exceed 100 in the first year of production, thanks to orders for another 36...

• London Buses has picked the Cummins C Series engine to extend the service life of its 264 Routemaster buses by up to 10...

• Greater Manchester Buses has revamped its structure, and is appointing depot managers to run its 13 depots, which will now be...

• Former chairman of Scottish Transport Group, Sir Patrick Muirhead Thomas, has died, aged 86. He served three terms as the...

• Main South Humberside Mercedes-Benz dealer H & L Garages has been fined £45,000, plus up to £6,500 costs at Grimsby Crown...

• Girvan haulier Robert Robertson is awaiting sentence at Ayr Sheriffs Court for offences involving vehicle excise duty fraud....

• Overloading a sheep transporter cost Alan Thompson Haulage of Camforth, and one of its drivers, £525 in fines and costs,...

• A Federal Express driver was given a sixmonth suspended prison sentence and was fined 2250 plus £415 costs after trying to...

6 • The Court of Appeal has slashed the amount of compensation to be paid by former Payauto director Patrick Owen who was...

been adjourned by North Eastern Licensing Authority Frederick Whalley, after he received information from two police forces....

has been given permission to use an extra six vehicles and 10 trailers, provided all authorised units use a particular route to...

• An operator who wrote to the Traffic Area surrendering his international licence before the South Eastern Licensing Authority...

How will the controversial new tachograph legislation, which came into force yesterday, affect the operator? Commercial Motor...

• The Bedford Midi is set for the first major revamp of its five-year life, including the adoption of a European engine and...

• Commercial versions of Dacia's new diesel-powered 4x4 Duster are on their way priced at 26,799 (ex-VAT). The van should be...

• lveco Ford is experiencing serious supply difficulties with its revised Turbo Daily range, which debuted at last November's...

Only 8% of the vans on Britain's roads are contract hired, compared with 26% of the nation's car fleet. Lex Van Contracts is...

the raw material of the future which helps power the Knights of Britain's roads. According to the latest Department of Energy...

Toleman Group (see page 10) represents the pinnacle of a 42-year career for the company's director of engineering Alan Cooper....

ROBA CORRECTION • In Commercial Motor dated 18-25 January, we announced that haulier Roba has moved. The telephone number...

HAZCHEM SYMPOSIUM • Cleveland Constabulary's International Hazchem Symposium takes place on 4/5 April in Wynward Conference...

museum, has announced its programme of open-air events beginning with a steam road-roller demonstration on the weekend of 21/22...

a rally to mark its 75th anniversary at Amberley Chalk Pits Museum in Sussex on 16 September. Vehicles dating from 1914 will be...

OLD AND NEW ERF • The first Scottish ERF gathering is to take place at Inverness on 8/9 September and is open to all ERF...

holding its 22nd world congress in Rio de Janiero on 14-17 May. The problems of international road transport is on the agenda....

running a conference in Newcastle Civic Centre on 16/17 March with the theme: Are privatisation and profit compatible with...

Contact Public Transport Information Unit, 308 Gray's Inn Road, London or telephone 01837 4053.

COVERING COSTS • Hamilton & Wellard Underwriting Agency is offering an insurance scheme to recover the cost of rectifying...

a reconditioning cell at its Wolverhampton assembly plant, for the company's complete transmission range. Contact Barry...

has extended product warranty on all equipment from one to two years. Contact (0752) 225429.

LORRIES IN THE COMMUNITY • A publication outlining ways of reducing environmental impact called Lorries in the community has...

four monthly factsheets on export procedures on the West, the East and Africa, called FacVinder is available from export...

GRASS ROOTS RUNNING • Fleet Audits has launched a course in basic fleet management, aimed at staff responsible for day-to-day...

Contact Eddie Pargeter on (0372) 6618367200.

Grau has opened a technical training centre in Blackburn offering courses in anti-lock systems, air brake systems and...

MORE HORNS • Lucas Automotive has extended its commercial vehicle horn range. Corrosion-resistant air horns with chrome-plated...

SLIPS SHOD Maintenance on the M2 slip roads at junction 5 begins on 29 January and continues until May. At times both lanes on...

Crossing, linking the Royal Docks and the Isle of Dogs, begins this month in London. Crossing the River Lea, the 11an road runs...

• LONDON AND THE SOUTH EAST M1 London: Overnight closures between J2/4 (North Circular Road/A41) with slip road closures at...

Debts can be sold to create finance for expansion. Specialist factoring companies will buy your debts, take over their...

FOUR"' Despite t e furore over alle•edly unstable Japanese 4x4s, Daihatsu's short-wheelbase Fourtra has acceptable handlin.,...

CHOICE • "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times." It was the bicentary of the French revolution, it was the end...

SHORTLIST Bedford Astramax 560LD Citroen C15D Fiat Fiorino D Ford Escort 55 1.8D Subaru Sumo 4x2

• Last year was a good one for carderived vans, with a bumper crop of nine corning our way for evaluation. Microvans were...

SHORTLIST Bedford Brava diesel pickup Ford P100 turbo-diesel pickup Leyland Daf 400 Series tipper Mazda B2200 diesel pickup

of the pickup. Ford's re-entry into the market with its Sierra-based P100 had spurred other manufacturers into life. New...

SHORTL1ST Ford Transit 80D Ford Transit 120L Leyland Daf 200 2.5t D Renault Trafic T1400D Toyota Hiace D

• Panel vans below 3.0 tonnes represent a valuable market sector, and we have representatives in our shortlist from three of...

SHORTLIST Leyland Daf 400 3.5t D Leyland Daf 400 3.5t turbo D Mercedes-Benz 308D Renault Master T35D turbo

IN The 3.5-tonne panel van market was busy last year, with the three manufacturers chasing the Transit all introducing revised...

SHORTLIST AVVD TL 17-18 lveco Ford Cargo 1718 lveco Ford Cargo 1721 Leyland Daf Freighter 17.18 Steyr 17S21

• As stated, it was a vintage year for four-wheelers. We tested seven, of which five made the shortlist. Considering, the...

TESTERS' CHOICE ERF ER 11 It's never easy to group different types of vehicle together for comparison, but in this case we...

Leyland Dal 95 Series Leyland Daf Roadtrain Mercedes-Benz 1735 Scania P93 Volvo F12 400 TESTERS' CHOICE MERCEDES-BENZ 1735 •...

Steyr 13S18 Reynolds Boughton Brigadier • Some of the vehicles we obtain for test either have a very special application or...

of a truck dealer's strategy to sell more lorries, by wooing drivers rather than simply owners. • A truck dealer is hoping to...

I am pretty sure that every driver on the road can by now tell you that the major cause of congestion, and lost tempers, at...

(CM 4-10 January) was in my view, undisputed, clear cut evidence that the Eagle 325TX is the best engine available today for...

I hold the CPC certificate, both national and international, and also PSV national and international. After my letter was...

Could you respectfully point out to your readers that Wilson Truck Services has been manufacturing an open-top curtainsider...

headed "Chunnel plans" (CM 18-24 January), we wish to advise the following points: The new agreement between Eurotunnel and...

parts division of Volvo Trucks (GB). He will be based at the company's headquarters in Warwick, Formerly the managing director...

Managing director of the Rover Group, George Simpson, has been appointed a director of its parent company British Aerospace.

Cohn Norris has been appointed director of sales (replacement market) for Pirelli in the UK. He has also joined the management...

Richard Genochio has been appointed general manager, public and government affairs, of Texaco. He will also be responsible for...

IMS of Loughborough has taken on Dave Curtis as OEM sales engineer for SAF products. He will specialise in serving trailer...

Diederik Blom has become general manager of Laros By, part of Norfolk Line's newlyformed refrigerated transport division. Blom...

Tyreservices Great Britain has appointed Tony Ward to the newly-created position of manager of purchasing and quality...

manager for BRS Western. He will oversee the company's sales force under a new tiered structure where 14 sales consultants will...

Via Truck Rental, the Birmingham-based contract hire and rental company, has appointed Trevor Archer area sales manager for...

of the GRP Massey Group as a non-executive director. He was previously managing director of Hunslett Holdings. Tony Daniels...

Former management consultant Carel van Leeuwen has been appointed managing director of United Transport Tankcontainers, part of...

Procter, Nolan & Partners, publisher of the Black and Red books of used vehicle prices, has appointed Dennis Beverley research...

managing director of Lex Vehicle Leasing. He is the former assistant managing director of Lex subsidiary, Volvo...

• While British equipment manufacturers are improving the quality of their products, more now obtaining BS 5750. and helping...

• BEWARE when considering buying imported air tools, warns UK manufacturer Ingersoll-Rand. Not only have first-time buyers been...

• AIR BRAKE and ABS manufacturer Grau has responded to the growing concern over skills in the industry by opening a new...

• WORKSHOP ecuipment features among 1990 British Design Awards announced py the Design Council. One reflects the efforts of...

• CAMFORD DESIGN, a new company, has been launched by the Bedford-based Camford Croup, to provide a product design and...

• WORKSHOPS being built in I lolland by the end of 1990 at a Moerdijk business complex will be able to handle work from...

• THE Factoring Services Group is mounting a letter campaign to MPs to contest Government proposals to slash the amount a firm...

• SCAN IA has launched its own lubricants in order to provide a complete Vehicle Care Programme. The new products are Scania...

• GARDNER is improving its parts service under the name Gardfast which will include service kits, remanufactured assemblies and...

• TOLEMAN fitters are to undergo art intensive training programme to coincide with the 127.5 million introduction of its Mark V...

• Bill Krueger (above), who becomes marketing manager, fleet finishes, Europe, at PPG Auto Refinish, has been with PPG since...

• Greg Norris, Sykes-Pickavant managing director, becomes director and general manager of Engine Test Technique of Lancaster,...

Overhauling an engine can be a daunting and frustrating task: Running around getting the parts you need when you need them...

virtually all of its range. The latest models to be introduced are the new Midliner range, which covers the 8.5 to 13 tonne...

If top-up oil is entered on job sheets it can be charged to the customer. Colin Sowman looks at Alentic Orion's method I One...

Compared with the cost of major failures, cleaning chemicals and equipment are cheap — so you know it makes sense to provide...

• The Arcos Lincoln MinimId 190DC generator has been improved with an electronic current limiting system to provide auxiliary...

work of night repairs • Illumiboard (patent pending) is a clipboard with a difference — it has its own light source....

• Kew Cleaning Systems has introduced a washer designed to clean parts such as brake assemblies and clutches without...

g • Tuthill UK is now making Cablecraft push-pull cables and controls at its Ilkeston factory. The range includes replacement...

• A gear fluid supplement claimed to reduce temperature and friction in the gear unit is now available from American company...

• An improved version of its gear oil dispenser is available from Baelz Equipment. It is still coded the G6 and, with a...

• Two portable ventilators. suitable for garage and workshop use, and developed by 0 N Beck & Co, are capable of blowing fresh...

• To prevent loss of balance weights from lightweight wheel rims and hide the weights, Autotechnik Geiger has developed a rim...

II With the advent of the COMM regulations, DeVilbiss has revised its full-visor and half-mask breathing air outfits. The...