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5th March 1998
5th March 1998
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Page 1, 5th March 1998
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Strike threat hits Scottish Courage

by Sally Nash and Nicky Clarke • Drivers at four Scottish Courage depots are threatening strike action over job losses caused...

BRIEFS

• Applications for HGV and PSV driving licences last November were 20% below the September forecast at 4,357. The 1997/98...

New boss aims to boost Eurocargo profit

• Danzas' road transport division, Eurocargo, has admitted it is not making enough money and has brought in a new manager to...

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Jailed driver appeals to UN

• A letter has been sent by Essex owner-driver Steven Bryant (pictured) to the UN Commission on Human Rights, on the fourth...

M-B, Renault and Volvo aim to slug it out in UK

• The new men at the helm of Mercedes, Renault and Volvo have all promised to come out fighting in the UK truck market. After...

Heli rescue for trapped driver

• A Woolworths driver was trapped for five-and-a-half hours in his cab after his truck crashed through a barrier and toppled...

EU hours limit for transport

by Miles Brignall • The Government wants UK transport workers to be covered by the EL: Working Time Directive. This could...

Dispute flares over lost wheels

• A dispute over responsibility for two lost wheels has flared up between an owner-driver and a second-hand truck dealer after...

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comivIEN - r

DEATH BY HAULAGE his week CM received a phone call from an owner-driver previously profiled in the magazine. After launching...

Greeks logged in over 40 UK trucks

by Sally Nash • Commercial Motor is receiving reports that the scourge of UK transport firms using cheap foreign labour abroad...

Irish spend tax on roads

• The Irish Government has decided that from next year increased road taxes are to be spent exclusively on upgrading the...

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Channel routes merge

by Ian Wylie • P&O and Stena Line will merge their cross-Channel ferry services next Tuesday (10 March) after their joint...

Calling time on drink-drivers

• Random roadside testing with tougher penalties for truck drivers found guilty of drink-driving should be part of the...

Prohibition rate tops 20%

• More than 20% of the vehicles spot-checked in the Vehicle Inspectorate's Fleet Compliance Check carried out last year...

Stress levels are rising

III A union official who returned to the haulage industry after a 12-year absence says the attitude of employers has worsened...

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TR Transport resists BP call for bank guarantee

• A Liverpool haulier is accusing BP of bullying tactics for insisting he has an expensive bank guarantee in place before it...

Web site for trucks old and new

• New and used trucks can now be bought at the touch of a button. More than 20 companies are listing their vehicles for sale on...

Smoke fines start in London

• Westminster City Council became the first local authority to fine drivers for emissions last week when it began a programme...

Small hauliers lose out on IT

by Miles Brignall • Small haulage firms are set to lose out to larger competitors as the industry becomes more reliant on...

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TOPE appeal is likely

by Sally Nash • Suffolk-based Taylor Barnard says it may appeal against an industrial tribunal decision which ruled in...

CONTRACTS

• Lane Group has won a £6.5m, five-year contract with label producer Raflatac. Lane will have 1 2 vehicles based at Raflatac's...

Call for VAT-free purchases

• International haulier Brian Yeardley is calling for a change in the way VAT is reclaimed on goods bought on the Continent....

Summer decision on 10-lane A8

• A decision will be reached this summer on whether an ambitious plan to convert the A8 dual-carriageway between Baillieston...

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Renault vans debut

by Charles Young • Renault has launched its new Master and Kangoo vans in the UK; they will be available from 15 March. The...

Skiplog weigher for rear loaders

• RDS Technology of Naiisworth, Glos hos adapted its Skiplog onboard weighing system for use on rear-end loaders. Hauliers of...

Volvo to push FL12 harder

by Brian Weatherley • Volvo looks set to quietly drop the long-serving 9.6-litre engine in its FL tractor range in favour of...

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Lassa adds three tyres for light CVs

• Turkey's main tyre maker Lassa has added three LC/T, LT/1' and LT/A tyres to its UK/European range for light commercial...

Extended lveco Ford packages

• Iveco Ford has extended its EuroTech and EuroStar repair and maintenance packages. The standard Millennium package now...

Mll promises more

by Steve Sturgess • Cummins has unveiled its next generation M11 engine due in April. It borrows technology from the Signature...

Mini Sevels carry more load

• Citroen has announced a variant of the Dispatch van with a nominal payload of 900kg-100kg more than current models. The...

Dual cool fridge zones

MI Fridge specialist Hubbard has introduced its Splitt dual temperature system. This con sists of an evaporator which fits...

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RiE" Tax and test: two weeks

• An Essex international haulier admitted not taxing his vehicle because he felt that the taxation system was unfair as his...

City Fruit fails • The licence held by Mohammed Ashaf,

trading as City Fruit, of Swansea, was revoked when he failed to turn up at a Cardiff disciplinary inquiry. Ashaf had been...

Too early for representations

• West Midland IC John Mervyn Pugh is considering calling a Sutton Coldlield company to a further public inquiry after...

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Poor start for Grandfield

• A Pontefract scaffolding firm, said by North Eastern Traffic Commissioner Keith Waterworth to have had a rocky relationship...

Hindle warned to pay fines at once

• Disciplinary action would be taken against operators who did not immediately pay fines in full, because it was an indication...

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Bodies show their cool

This year's Commercial Vehicle Show was a definite step up from last year's, both in presentation and in the quality of the...

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haulage factfile

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

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letters

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

Drink-drive law is over the limit

A nylaw which is based on common sense, which is logical, and which does not contradict the laws of science is likely to get...

CV show lament

T wenty-eight years have I passed since I went to a commercial vehicle show. As a wide-eyed lorry mechanic in my final year of...

Raw deals abroad

I was totally appalled to see two news I items following hard upon each other in recent issues of Commercial Motor. The...

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bird's eye view by the hawk Commercial Motor takes road haulage very seriously. However. once a week our quirky corre

spondent, , steps off his perch to take a humorous look at the industry to keep us all sane. If you have any off-beat yarns...

Lottery winners a ike the rest of the male population, the

question on the Hawk's mind is what does such a fragrant Welsh rose see in the Right Honourable William Hague MP, leader of the...

Weighiv matters

a he Hawk was hard pressed when it came to figure out the use of this curious hybrid. At first he thought it might be a...

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HAULAGE

BULLETIN VOLUME 2 NUMBER 6 MARCH 1998 Health and safety and haulage depots How user-friendly is your traffic office? Do your...

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Transport: Test fees, emissions

Driving test fees The Driving Standards Agency is proposing to increase driving test fees from 1 April 1998. The following...

Employment: Data Protection Bill

The Home Office has now published the Data Protection Bill, which will implement the 1995 EU Directive on Data Protection...

Health it Safety: Hazchem list

Drug misuse guide The USE has revised its Drug Misuse at Work: A Guide for Employers which provides information on identifying...

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Taxation: Late selfassess ment forms

The Inland Revenue says it will allow certain self-assessment forms which were sent in on time, but with the odd oversight, to...

The Law: Anti-fraud confidential hotline

n The DSS has launched a new freephone Business Anti-Fraud hotline (Contact: 0800 788887) enabling employees and legitimate...

Consumer: Unfair contract terms

The DTI is consulting* on proposals to improve consumers' rights over unfair contract terms. The proposals would empower...

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Cabotage: gain or pain?

Freedom to drop and pick up loads within the EU makes good economic sense—but is it as straightforward as it sounds? FROM JULY...

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2112 ROADTEST: HINO FY2PUKA

STRONG APP EAL European manufacturers seem to vie with each other to come up with the longest options list. Judging by Hino's...

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TECHNOLOGY UPDATE

For years scientists have been working on environmentally friendly refrigerant gases. Ironically they could have bought the...

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PROFILE HE PAYNE

Next time the jam from your Tesco doughnut drips down your chin, don't blame HE Payne (Transport)—the Wyboston,...

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11-141:VT

on the trail__ ..... Private investigators don't just work for suspicious spouses. Operating out of Liverpool and Hull, two...

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Dousing the flames

Phoenix companies continue to be a source of irritation to road hauliers. The irritation for the trade creditors is in seeing...

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Martyn Pellew, customer services director of Railpart (UK), says if

hauliers bury their heads in the sand and don't seek to work with rail operators, they will miss out and may even go to the...