• The Department of Transport is the Government's top spender on privatisation advice from consultants. The DOT spent El 24.2m...

by David Harris I Roadside spot checks on trucks in Scotland will be cut even further this year, despite the fears of Scottish...

• Truck testing stations are failing to spot dangerous vehicles because they are only interested in ''taking the money and...

month ago Scottish Licensing Authority Michael Betts stated in his annual report to the DOT:"We appear to be seeing now the...

by Karen Miles • The drugs trial in Spain of British owner-driver Roy Clarke took an unusual legal twist last week as UK...

• The gulf in road taxes between UK hauliers and their European partners is widening further as a result of the vignette road...

• The old-fashioned qualities of job security and a set weekly wage are top of most truck drivers employment worries, says to a...

• The long-suffering Ford Transit remains the favourite target of British thieves, according to police figures. More than...

• The Government's road building programme could be in danger following this week's demand by the Treasury Chief Secretary,...

by Karen Miles • The United Road Transport Union has been challenged to produce a list of supermarkets which force hauliers to...

by Ian Wylie • Heavy hauliers must follow new procedures if they intend to move abnormal loads over disused railway lines....

• Hauliers who make promises to operate under special conditions when obtaining their 0 licence must keep those promises to the...

* Drivers in Albania have been stopped and fined in recent weeks for not carrying an international driving licence. A British...

• Vehicle management firm PHH has signed a fiveyea r/£15m-a -year contract to service and maintain 8,000 CVs and 11,000 items...

by Steve McQueen • Employees of parcels delivery firm Red Star have been offered the chance to become franchisees, as part of a...

• The cost of carrying freight by rail is being kept artificially high because insurers are charging rail freight operators too...

• The Trades Union Congress annual conference is to press Labour to introduce stronger union rights if it wins the next...

• Reflective signs on the back of LGVs will have to be more conspicuous from the beginning of next month when new EU guidelines...

By Karen Miles • Avon and Somerset Police Force is reviewing its LGV enforcement policy after more than a third of the trucks...

• Nottinghamshire-based UCI Logistics has asked the Freight Transport Association to check its tacho records after the...

by Karen Miles • An incident involving Cheshire haulier PE Blake is to be investigated by the Marine Safety Agency after a...

• Two haulage businesses with combined fleets of more than 300 vehicles are expected to ioin forces this week, if...

MI A driver from a Peterborough firm is to be interviewed next week by the British Transport Police after a truck on a railway...

by Bob Morrison • The peace dividend might have cut deeply into defence spending at home but hundreds of overseas buyers came...

• Sainsbury's evaluation of "City Diesel" —its name for Greenergy low-sulphur fuel—has moved on to include the EC 13-mode...

T he first alltruck Paris Show featured the launch of the Volvo Globetrotter XL cab, ERF's entry to the French market and no...

lost truck manufacturers make a big eal about parts availability, claiming ?markably high-sounding levels of tock cover. At...

• Brough magistrates have ordered the defence costs of Mahon, North Yorkshire-based SA Bell, and one of its drivers, be paid...

• British Fuels was held to have unfairly dismissed driver Philip Hopps for spilling oil at a customer's premises, tachograph...

• Maintenance problems have led Scottish LA Michael Betts to suspend the licence held by Kirkcaldy-based Robert Hutchison & Co...

• Leigh magistrates issued a warrant for the arrest of Lancashire operator Leo Wrigley of Burnley Road, Altham when he failed...

• The poor maintenance history of Greenock based HL Friel & Son has led the Scottish LA Michael Betts to cut the authorisation...

• Driving a truck without an WV driving licence, using a vehicle excise licence belonging to a private car in his truck and...

• Bankrupt haulier Stephen Winstanley, trading as S&E Winstanley, of Bury, Lancs, has had his fivevehicle licence reduced to...

0-licence at risk • Birch Plant & Waste Disposal Services' licence has been cut to expire at the end of January and North...

a vehicle before obtaining a licence— and the truck was then damaged by fire. Mervyn Pugh said that Davies' attitude to the...

• A defective speed limiter and using an unauthorised operating centre have cost Thornton Rubber, Manchester £475 in fines and...

y et again. Road Safety Kinister Stephen Norris has demonstrated how totally out of touch he is with the real world of the Road...

T am writing with reference 1 to an article that appeared in Commercial Motor dated 7-13 September under the heading "Prison...

R e Commercial ;171otor 7-13 September 1995. We act on behalf of Laser Transport International in connection with applications...

a former student of Transport Design at Coventry University, who graduated in June. For his final year project Stefan was...

he slow pace of life on the island of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides is baffling the latest in 20th century traffic technology....

D British fi rm has come i to the rescue of hundreds of Swiss motorists whose cars were damaged by the worst hail storm to hit...

af's Trucks In Action event was a showcase for the company's latest products, so why was this Leyland Daf 400 (nee Sherpa) van...

II ave you card the sad tale about the bus driver who got a parking ticket for parking on a bus stop? It can't possibly be...

Greenhous effect • Greenhous Truck Components' Shrewsbury branch is now open 24 hours a day from 07:00hrs Tuesday to 17:30hrs...

• The North Derbyshire area has a new Leyland Daf trucks parts and service dealer, A Herring, of Old Road, Chesterfield will...

Transport debate • Transport Minister Sir George Young will be among the speakers at the TECNECON-sponsored National Transport...

• RA! Commercial Motor Show 96 so far has bookings from 277 exhibitors from 16 countries. More than 30 makers will display...

• RIBCA, the Rigid Intermediate Bulk Container Association, will hold an open day on Wednesday 25 October at the St John's...

• A panel of manufacturing experts will be sharing their knowledge of supply chain development at ICM Marketing's conference...

• Edinburgh-based Wealth in Design is organising a two.day conference showing the importance of design to business performance....

• Deputy Prime Minister Michael Heseltine will open the Black Country New Road, linking regeneration areas to the motorway...

• Automotive '95 is the second annual international trade fair devoted to auto parts, commercial vehicles, workshop and garage...

• Two industry related events have been arranged by IIR Publications for next year. Terminal Operations Conference and...

• Transfrigoroute UK's AGM is scheduled for Thursday 5 October, starting at 11:00hrs not 09:00hrs as previously stated. Contact...

• Road Safety Minister Steven Norris will address a conference on traffic congestion organised by the Institute of Management...

• Leading road, rail and airport organisations will attend a conference on the future of road and rail access to airports. The...

II The IRTE 96 exhibition on 15-17 May 1996 will be held at at Telford's exhibition centre with extra displays at Telford ice...

Rental site • TIP Trailer Rental has opened a three-acre site at Detling Aerodrome Estate, near Maidstone, Kent. Contact...

• Fuel company Bayford has announced further features to improve its Gold Diesel Direct fuel card scheme. Card users will now...

• Parcels delivery cooperative Force 10 Distribution has acquired a new central sorting hub at Woods Bank, Wednesbury, West...

• DFDS Transport has extended its network of offices throughout Eastern Europe and the Baltic States to cope with record levels...

• Lloyds Registar Quality Assurance has launched a freephone advice service to provide technical help for anybody implementing...

• Autoglass has installed an internal communications network to link more than 200 remote branch offices with central offices...

Question time • A questionnaire aimed at monitoring the opinions, trends and attitudes emerging within the commercial vehicle...

Employment law • The RHA Northern region will host a seminar on disciplinary matters and contracts of employment at Pontefract...

Power tools • Partco has introduced a range of Elu power tools; they come with the quick repair Hallmark guarantee scheme....

• Partco, the independent supplier of parts and equipment, is offering a buynow-pay later deal on its range of antifreeze...

London & South East • A406 North Circular Road, East Finchley: one lane will be closed along some section of the A406 between...

• M5 Avon: Roadworks both ways J20-21 for work on the new Severn Crossing: delays, especially at night. • A3027 Taunton,...

• M6 West Midlands: Contraflow between J5-6 with three narrow lanes each way-two overnight-could cause congestion. The...

• M1 J47 Leeds: Roadworks and contraflow reduces traffic to two lanes each way durin g peak-times.

nationwide. According to a survey from the RAC and Road Haulage Association it could be costing the industry as much as 21.6bn...

Against the background of California's stringent forthcoming environmental legislation, Volvo has developed a hybrid-power...

• The M25 Motorway (Junctions 10-15) (Variable Speed Limits) Regulations 1995: introduces the experimental variable speed...

UK • Driver licensing: new measures including staged testing, a limit on car licence holders of 3.5 tonnes gross, theory part...

As usual with our test vehicles, we took the big ERF out on the road and asked some professional drivers to take it for a spin...

! RIGHT TIM Agricultural haulier David Naylor designed his own loading equipment, enabling him to double the number of loads...

In our second article looking at costs, Brian Fish shows you how to establish reliable fleet costs. T he key to building up...

When Sun Valley Feed Mill wanted to improve its drivers' performance it turned to Vemis—a vehicle management system. Along the...

PHIL LANG (pictured) TRANSPORT MANAGER he VEMIS data logging unit sits unobtrusively on the dashboard. As a driver starts his...

4 E ffective vehicle enforcement began its demise in April 1991 when the decision was taken to allow the Vehicle Inspectorate...