AT THE HEART OF THE ROAD TRANSPORT INDUSTRY.

Call our Sales Team on 0208 912 2120

23rd April 1998
23rd April 1998
Page 1
Page 1, 23rd April 1998
Close

Page 2

BRIEFS Police recorded 2,931 offences from 6,411 vehicles examined during this month's naid check Some 655 PG9s were issued.

Customs reported increas es in the amounts of eroin and cann,-.1 found on board vehicles last year. But the amounts of...

Hauliers plan day of action on fuel prices by David

Craik • Trans-Action, the group of hauliers protesting against the recent fuel increases, is planning to get organised and...

Hopes rise for intermodal 44-tonners • The Freight Transport Association

claims there are improved prospects of a 44tonne British limit for transport to ports after Northern Irish hauliers won the...

• Trans-Action members recently met local Road Haulage Association representative

Roger Wrapson and told him "in no uncertain terms" that the RHA should be getting involved. One member, Mike Beer (pictured),...

Chancellor Gordon Brown, urgfor three months "until the value of

sterling has reached a more ing him to suspend the Budget increase in fuel duty on diesel sustainable level".

Page 3

Cabotage threat from Continent by David Craik • A number

of French and Dutch operators have warned Steven Norris, director-general of the Road Haulage Association, that they plan to...

Currie Group acts on driver complaints • Drivers working for

Dumfries-based Currie Group last week wrote to CM claiming they are being exploited and plastered copies of a letter outlining...

French use UK tax loophole • British hauliers may feel

aggrieved about paying the highest fuel and excise duties in Europe, yet thousands of French citizens, including hauliers, are...

Page 4

Liquidators in at West Coast T&R by Ian Wylie •

Cumbrian haulier West Coast T&R has gone into liquidation owing £250,000 and adding another chapter to the eventful history of...

DON'T FEAR THE DUTCH Steven Norris's warning that Dutch operators

plan to attack the UK food distribution market after changes to cabotage regulations sounds a bit like the classic pantomime...

Page 6

P&O acts following chart check by Sally Nash • P&O

Trans European at Hull has tightened up its procedures for recording and checking drivers' hours after the local Traffic Area...

0-licence revoked after drivers rigged tachos • A Scottish haulage

firm which was found to be operating trucks with wires overriding their tachographs has had its 0-licence revoked by Scottish...

Humber toN r a I a • Drivers have been

caught out by changes to the payment system of Humber Bridge tolls, which went up again on 1 April. For a truck over 7.5...

'White van man' targeted in check • South Yorkshire police

checked 1,098 vans and found nearly 1,000 offences in a month-long campaign prompted by a TV show. "White van man" became a...

Page 7

Wheel-loss study soon by Sally Nash • The Department of

Transport is putting the finishing touches to a report on wheel loss, nearly two years after it was criticised for failing to...

Dentressangle driver is disqualified for a year • A French

Norbert Dentressangle driver who was found slumped over the wheel of his stationary artic on the hard shoulder of the M6 has...

Sheerness charges £25 overnight • Hauliers parking vehicles overnight at

Sheerness Docks now face a £25 (ex-VAT) charge or eviction from the site. The ruling comes from Medway Ports, which says:...

Page 8

BRIEFS • TDG Harris has a threeyear contract to operate

Superdrug's distribution centre in Mossend, Lanarkshire. Products trunked there overnight by road and rail from Pontefract will...

Gangs target Europort by Sally Nash • Dartford's Thames Europort

has become the latest target for organised gangs trying to smuggle illegal immigrants into the UK. In a recent two-week period...

London traffic slows down The problem was graphically illustrated during

the recent demonstration in the capital during which the trucks simply joined the traffic rather than implementing their...

More offenders on the road • Motoring offences in England

and Wales reached their highest ever level in 1996 at 9.5 million, or 401 per thousand vehicles licensed. According to the Home...

Page 9

Haulier is hit by insurance dispute by Rob Willock •

A Devon haulier is on its knees after its insurer refused to pay out on a £7,000 claim for damage allegedly caused to its only...

Brake calls for regulation • The campaign by Brake to

get all fitters working in the haulage industry regulated was stepped up last week at a conference organised by the road safety...

Page 10

Name your hourly rate Washroom bu( by Sally Nash •

Agency drivers may soon be able to "name their price" as the driver shortage begins to bite further. That is the opinion of...

lilts two drivers • Doctors have issued an alert after

two British truck drivers contracted a potentially lethal bug from the showers at a Spanish lorry park. The unnamed drivers,...

Page 11

Truck stolen outside chippy III Drivers are being reminded not

to leave their keys in their cabs when popping out for a snack. The warning comes from Stoke-on-Trent haulier Barry Proctor...

Page 14

Weightlifter is spreading out TIPCON EXTRA by Steve Banner •

There's a mood of guarded optimism at Scunthorpe-based trailer maker Weightlifter. The factory is busy, and last December's...

BRIEFS • Marflex has introduced improvements to its Ultimate buckle-less

side curtain design, which is now a fully load-bearing type. The smooth, pocketed design is claimed to improve aerodynamic...

Page 15

Autoclutch for Transit by Colin Barnett • Ford has introduced

an automatic clutch system for the Transit van, and a couple of refinements to the van's ABS braking set-up: Traction Assist...

Twin-door tipper for dual use • Carlisle-based haulier Eddie Stobart

is buying four unusual tipping trailers from Montracon for a dual-use contract. This involves carrying light scrap metal oneway...

• The Transit test convoy was accompanied by Ford's latest

communications vehicle. The self-contained demonstration van includes satellite phones, fax and TV, and a four-way...

Detroit loan convinces Cawley III The first Detroit Diesel-powered ERF

to be sold has gone into service with Cawley Brothers of Llanrwst. Cawley recently borrowed a Detroitpowered ERF demonstrator...

Page 16

Tailor ade for the job After years of telling operators

they could have anything they wanted, Foden has now switched to building "standard" trucks with its new Alpha range. CM is the...

Page 18

Big beasts of Bauma Report: Bryan Jarvis. Photography: Peter Cramer.

• Austrian body and trailer manufacturer Empl has more than 50 years' experience of building tippers for extreme conditions...

Page 22

Reefers head IRHA display The exhibition that accompanies the IRHA

conference might still be small but it's growing. Reefer trailers were particularly plentiful (and all displayed in suitably...

Page 23

Bosch does more for CVs • Bosch has introduced its

first CV-specific starters and alternators catalogue to support its BX Factory Exchange Programme. The new 282-page...

Al!mark has a bright • idea to boost safety lighting conditions. instructions.

current truck/trailer marker material. material, the supplier reports kits are also available. that night-time accidents were...

Filter aims to cut costs • CyberFILTER uses plastics and

micro-fibre elements to create an oil filter intended for use on all types of vehicle. The new technology enables the filter...

Page 24

B's Appeal over weigh pads The company and driver Alan

Jankunas were convicted of exceeding the permitted first axle and gross weight of a 7.5tonne road construction vehicle by Leigh...

Time restrictions • Local residents succeeded in having conditions relating

to the parking of vehicles, the running of engines and restricting maintenance times imposed on Sheerness-based RW Haulage...

Boss didn't declare convictions • Swansea-based RC Haulage has had

its licence revoked at a Cardiff disciplinary inquiry. The company's managing director failed to declare convictions recorded...

Merit increases • Though given a warning about their maintenance

standards, Alan and Paul Gregg, trading as Merit, of Oakenclough, near Garstang, succeeded in a bid to increase the...

No for Absolute • A bid for a new national

licence authorising the operation of three vehicles by Hayes-based Absolute Logistics has been turned down at a London public...

Local conditions • Representations from six neighbouring residents plus the

Brecon Beacons National Park resulted in a string of environmental conditions being imposed on the twovehicle licence granted...

Page 25

Britvic's moves curbed • Local residents succeeded in having a

string of environmental conditions imposed when Britvic Soft Drinks successfully applied to base 11 vehicles at the Bass...

Director to prove costs were paid He also had to

produce the current tax discs for three vehicles, or face having his company's licence revoked. The company had been called...

Page 29

It's high time we made a stand Iread with much

interest about last week's London Trans-Action truck demonstration. But surely the best way to put across the message to the...

Loose nuts Jam writing regarding an article in CM Legal News, 18-31 December 1997.

Reading various articles published in CM over the past few months, the Vehicle Inspectorate appears to be coming under fire...

Page 30

Guys and hols V our correspondent Steve Gray (CM 9-15

April) rightly defends the decision of the RHA to continue to hold its conferences abroad. After all, he is a member of its...

Follow the French Jagree with Frank Stears of "Kent-based Stears

Haulage (CM 9-15 April). Do as the French do and bring the country to a halt This is the only way of making the Government see...

Vital industry I t was interesting to read letters from

Steve Gray, Paul Frampton and Peter Davies (CM 9-15 April), as in completely different ways they were attempting to defend or...

Page 31

ADR—versions one and two s a new subscriber to Commercial

Motor may I say how much we are enjoying reading such a comprehensive publication on the haulage industry. Two of our drivers...

Page 32

bird's eye view by the hawk African vets Eil he

Hawk is a keen sports fan, but frankly he is more at home on a putting green than on a squash court, where there is every...

Page 34

LOCK UST ER CM tests a lot of artic combinations,

but it's rare for us to get our hands on a drawbar outfit, particularly one that's laden to 38 tonnes. So we jumped at the...

Page 39

All together now Have you ever felt that all hauliers

in an area should band together and form their trucks into a wagon-train circle to fight off the baddies? Well, now you can, in...

Page 42

Keeping tabs on your assets is becoming easier as equipment

comes on to the market which can not only tell you where your truck and driver are, but also how efficiently they are...

Page 44

WAST NT As various taxes conspire to make life harder

for hauliers, the Webb brothers are having to look carefully at saving the pennies where they can in their waste transport...

Page 46

European Union funding is available to areas of the union

which are designated poor areas. Northern Ireland and the Highlands of Scotland have benefited so far but the Objective 1 zone...

Page 49

The documentation calling the inquiry could have been fatally flawed'

Andy Ballard, partner in commercial litigation at law firm Irwin Mitchell, explains how a Traffic Commissioner's decision could...