• Surprise, surprise, diesel prices are going up again. Respected oil industry analyst John Hall is convinced that the "oil...

industry are more optimistic than the service sector as a whole, according to the latest Manpower survey. Staff increases are...

division with its truck division. The French manufacturer, which now claims to be the world's second biggest commercial vehicle...

a threeyear £1.75 milllion contract with Batley-based Angloco to supply six Volvo 8x4 FL10 fire tenders with Bronto Skylift...

Chertsey and Staine caused a 50km tailback this week. The contraflow results from widening work, but the increased delays could...

• The Swiss authorities are imposing a night-time curfew on HGVs (22:00hrs05:00hrs) from 1 May.

• TNT Express Europe has moved to buy XP, the international parcels subsidiary of Dutch airline KLM. TNT's bid is being...

In price sting • Higher diesel prices are matched by a dramatic change in pricing strategy, says market analyst John Hall....

• Next month the British Technology Group will display a 16-tonne Freighter, two buses and a Ford Sierra car fitted with...

• Dormobile has been bought by Essex-based design and engineering consulatancy, KBD Group. New director and general manager at...

• This week Stagecoach Holdings is taking delivery of Britain's biggest ever bus — a 110-seater on a Leyland Olympian chassis....

• The Freight Transport Association warns all operators to check that their insurance covers losses at sea. Ferry companies...

• Trucker Michael Robinson of P J O'Kane Haulage of Garvagh, County Derry, had a lucky escape when his Scania smashed through...

has passed a resolution that Britain should accept 40-tonne trucks by 1992. The resolution will now be put before the next...

hazardous cargoes last year, compared with 101 incidents in the year 1986/87.

the new road link between the M1 near Rugby and the Al at Huntingdon. Total cost of the 60km link is expected to be 2166 million.

by 4%, reports the Audit Bureau of Circulation. Now the only major paid-for weekly in the UK road transport industry, CM last...

• Friends of the Earth has launched a 'Diesel Alert' campaign to monitor truck emissions in 60 UK cities. The environmental...

• Transport Minister Peter Bottomley has announced plans to upgrade Britain's road system, including a rural network ringing...

• The Hawk will be appearing at Truckfest. Not the Hawk CM readers know and love, but the awe-inspiring "Hawk the Slayer", a...

• A Glasgow industrial tribunal has ordered Scottish Road Services to re-engage a driver sacked after he failed to check he was...

• Police are searching for a driver they believe may have vital information regarding the Nobel Explosives van which exploded...

• Plans to impose a lorry ban on the A642 between Rothwell and the Al have been slammed by Road Haulage Association North...

• GKN has broken the 3.5tonne barrier with its composite leaf springs, and the first production application for the...

• Vehicle insurance policies could cost more if the Lord Chancellor gives the go-ahead for a proposed levy to compensate for...

• Thousands of Transport and General Workers Union shop stewards around the country are being asked to ensure that their...

Veronica Palmer has taken over as director-general of the Bus and Coach Council at a time when the PSV industry faces...

• Foden Trucks has further extended its 3000 Series truck range with the launch of a new S104, 28-32-tonne gross weight...

• Huntingdon-based Papworth Group (formerly Papworth Industries) is launching the Bachomatic curtain-sided body complete with...

• Allison will present its WT (World Transmission) automatic transmission in the UK this summer at its first showing in this...

/ Austrian bodybuilder G Kremen, of Linz, has developed an air-operated side-tipping system powered by a standard HGV air...

• Ethanol and methanol have considerable potential as alternatives to diesel says Volvo, following trials in northern Sweden...

p arc el Munich showground • Britain's bodybuilders are looking closely at their parcelvan designs following the arrival of US...

range at the BAUMA show in Munich on 10 April. The company predicts that European demand in this sector will reach 40,000 units...

• Component manufacturer GKN boosted its pre-tax profits by 21.2% to 2177.6 million last year. Total sales fell slightly to...

• Paul Stapleton of Nottingham-based Z N Traction has won 25,000-worth of free repair and maintenance in the Commercial Motor...

E Heavy transport operator Heanor Haulage is merging with Dennison Transport Services, a company with a base in Belfast which...

• Drivers who were sacked from Cadbury Schweppes-Coca Cola last Christmas have formed two haulage firms in Eccelshall and...

Rockwood issued 500,000 new ordinary 21 shares which were bought by finance company 3i (70%) and Bees management (30%)....

• Tankfreight has won its first overseas order — to distribute Texaco fuel throughout Ireland. The contract will involve about...

• Two new managementowned companies have taken over ICI's distribution operations at Billingham and Severnside. The...

• Refuse vehicle manufacturer Shelvoke Dempster now offers contract hire and shortterm rental options to its local authority...

• Contract hire firm Lex Vehicle Leasing has supplied 32 Bedford Astra vans to Tenco Industries.

• North Sea Ferries is seeking an additional freight berth in Hull which would have six sailings a week to Rotterdam and...

• Troubled American co pony Fruehauf, which formerly owned Crane Fruehauf, is selling its big US truck-trailer operation to...

• Birmingham-based motor dealer Evans Halshaw plans to boost its CV contract hire fleet by more than 40% to 500 vehicles this...

• Drawbars are now being offered on spot hire by Dawson Rentals Truck and Trailer Hire. The company has bought two Volvo F10...

• Hillsdown Distribution's bodybuilding arm, HDL Saxon, has developed a lightweight body called the 7500 series. HDL has won...

• Sales at Cummins Engines last year rose 20% to $3.3 billion (21. 94 billion). Continuing restructuring costs and intense...

• GM Buses, the largest operator awned by a Transport Authority, aims to lose up to 700 jobs as part of a £5 million...

• East Midland has launched minibuses on routes in central Manchester under the fleet name Frontrunner North West. Five Iveco...

• The 500th Dutch Bova integral coach for the UK market has been supplied to Bennett's Coaches of Newbury by the Moseley Group....

• Yorkshire Rider plans to review staffing levels and reorganise its management structure by breaking down its divisions into...

• Optare has reorganised its Leeds factory to boost capacity to more than 400 vehicles a year. To cope with the 100vehicle...

• Spurred on by the prospect of deregulation in 1992, London Regional Transport has split up London Buses into 11 separate...

• Manchester independent A Mayne and Sons has bought the UK's first Scania doubledeckers with Northern Counties bodywork — its...

• A Stoke-onTrent minibus operator who had threatened to sue West Midland Traffic Commissioner John Mervyn Pugh for loss of...

• Wishaw based Scotmove was successful in obtaining the unrestricted renewal of its licence, despite appearing at disciplinary...

Barr Barr head haulage company has had its operator's licence suspended by Scottish Licensing Authority Hugh McNamara after...

at a Leeds public inquiry that a much tougher line was being taken over drinking and driving. He said the Government was...

Il L i_ • Three pro hibition notices endorsed "neglect" have led to the nine-vehicle licence held by Swansea-based Greatone...

• Coach driver Denis Brook of Barrowcliffe, Scarborough was found to be three times over the drink-driving limit when he was...

• Warning that the maintenance record of John Cherry of Aintree Coach Hire justifies the revocation of the company's PSV...

• Dumper truck operator Stoneledge (South Bank) has denied 27 alleged offences of using vehicles without an operator's licence,...

• Ammanford haulier E J Knight has been warned that its licence will be revoked if it commits any more overloading offences....

• A bus driver who pulled away before an elderly passenger could sit down, causing her to fall, was fined £200 with 215 costs...

• Inverness Traction has gone into receivership with debts of 2110,000 — the loser in a bitter 10-month bus war with...

• A staff buyout of Northern Scottish Omnibuses, the biggest bus operation in north-east Scotland, would win full Government...

• Fast-growing independent operator Devaway of Chester is set to expand into North Wales following the gain of four Clwyd...

• North East municipal operator Darlington Transport has expanded its coaching activities by taking over two local companies....

• Bus fares in Scarborough are to rise by up to 5p, as \TED hikes announced in the Budget begin to bite. Eric Boyes, general...

• Capital, the passenger watchdog group, has criticised Paul Channon's requirement for London Reg - lona! Transport to transfer...

III Wembley Stadium has agreed to revise its increase in coach parking charges under pressure from the Bus & Coach Council....

• Volkswagen is now selling a down-rated version of its Transporter van, known as the Transporter 800. Aimed at operators who...

now available through Fiat's new fleet sales initiative. Fifty managers have been appointed to Fiat dealers throughout the...

• The expiry of a technical co-operation contract between Land Rover and Santana, of Spain, has led to speculation on the...

• Plans to import the carderived Citroen AX Enterprise van into the UK have been shelved, but the latest TUD3 diesel engine...

• As predicted by Commercial Motor (CM 6-12 October 1988), Freight Rover has fitted the 2.5-litre Peugeot IDI diesel, in...

of its USproduced vehicles in Europe. GM vice-president John Rhame says that his company aims to sell 20,000 cars and CVs in...

• With Ford planning the launch of its car-derived Fiesta van for April 13 (CM 30 March), other manufacturers are considering...

• A longer load bed, greater load volume, a bigger payload, better brakes, more comfort, and improved economy are all claimed...

After setting off from Dover on 1 March, the seven-truck Armenia relief convoy has crossed France, Belgium, Holland, West and...

NEW HQ FOR TRANSFLEET • Transfleet Services has relocated its main administration base in the Midlands. The new address is...

SENTINEL STANDS UP • The Sentinel Drivers Club will have a stand at the 1989 Enfield Pageant of Motoring, to be held on the...

first annual conference on the problem of road, rail and air congestion will be held on 4-5 May at the Exhibition Olympia...

the paper, printing and packaging industries, will host an Update on Dangerous Goods seminar on 18 May at BAFTA, Piccadilly,...

a seminar on PSV safety at Siegburg, West Germany on 11-12 April. Contributions will be made by police experts and tyre...

the CIT First Annual Conference, a paper on Combating Congestion in London funded by the Rees Jeffreys Road Fund will be...

HDL CHECKING ON TACHOGRAPHS • HDL Engineering is offering a new postal service called Tachocheck which gives tachograph...

KOGAN PAGING THROUGH TRANSPORT • Kogan Page's Institute of Logistics and Distribution Management Yearbook 1989 is now available...

Heinrich Scheffler GmbH as its new agent to develop direct import and export services from the Hanover area. Now the...

HAZFREIGHT COURSE II A Hazfreigbt course for managers will be held on 5-7 June at the CIA/RHA/RTITBapproved training school at...

RED CROSS FROM VOLVO • Volvo dealers throughout the UK are selling a motoring first-aid kit designed by the British Red Cross....

a compact kitchen unit comprising a self-contained fridge, freezer and food heater. The Frarnec 'travel box' is specially...

from 1 April to 31July can win a cross Channel ticket worth £200. The best 15 retailer displays will also win a ferry ticket...

radio with every £30 worth of Lucas CAV filters bought before the end of June. For more details contact Ivor Mart on (0844)...

a synchromesh PTO, designed for tipper pump applications, at Tipcon '89. The system is engaged by a button in the driver's...

of its self-cleaning centrifugal impaction oil filters, featuring improved vibration control. The secret is a "super-soft"...

AA WARNING • Operators tempted to buy electronic rust-prevention devices are warned by the Automobile Association that cathodic...

• Optare's managing director, Russell Richardson, believes in a growing market for single-deck buses in the UK, so why is he...

enough to compete with bargain basement car-derived vans from Eastern Europe: but is it cheap and cheerful, or merely cheap? •...

Coach operators must by law fit their vehicles with speed limiters and although they don't come cheap, specialists like Tappins...

international haulier and a member of his staff brought in the following extract (which she heard on the radio recently)....

(CM 9-15 March). Your review raises a number of points. 0 Sleeper cabs are designed to be used as such, yet some have no night...

the large part of our working lives on our own. Keeping in touch with humanity, informed of what is happening in the world and...

a piece of safety equipment as reverse bleepers — which are also still considered optional by government department experts.

many drivers tie strips of material to support arms is to try to keep a clear view of the rear. In foggy, freezing and wet...

fire resist ance and drivers' survival chances. On a recent hitchhiking trip I had a lift from Steve Clark, a Norfolk Line...

When Jublilee Coaches appeared on the scene it snapped up services and looked set to succeed, but London Country North East was...

BY THE HAWK • Harry Blundred's Docklands minibus launch served as a platform for Blundred to issue a scathing attack on "left...

this country, so it can be very difficult for operators to keep abreast of the law. Frequent changes to regulations covering...

Q For the past three years I have had my 38-tonne tractor based at the docks. I take trailers on the ferry for delivery to...

Q I employ 14 drivers on tipper work in the south London area. My operating centre is in south-east Sussex. On occasions we get...

Section 92(1) of the Transport Act 1968 describes an operating centre as the base or centre from which the vehicles are, or are...

your vehicle on to a British highway with a loaded trailer, you would be liable for the full rate.

Q I am wonderng whether to appeal against a conviction for speeding. I was driving along a dual carriageway at 11.30 one night...

(Si 1487) Part II, Paragraph 4, state that every terminal sign of size 1 or 2 shown in a numbered diagram when erected on a...

Q The Trading Standards officers visited our local quarry weighbridge and took away a large number of weigh tickets, among them...

proof that you contravened the Construction and Use Regulations. If you were tipping the excess, then you have nothing to...

Q How often do we have to check our drivers' tachograph records? There doesn't seem to be any laid-down time and some Licensing...

checking of tachographs except in the context of the EEC Regulations 3520/85 Article 15 (1) and (2) — (2) says: "The...

nI have watched with interest the recent publicity on DTp failure rates. It has been alleged that some operators have used the...

have submitted your vehicles to over 90 MoTs and therefore have a failure rate of just over 1% in four years.

Q We recently applied for an increase in the number of vehicles we operate. We are running 20 tractors and 32 trailers and want...

a matter for the Licensing Authority to consider only if the access to your Operating Centre is a danger to those people who...

Q I have a new tractor unit with the following details on the DOT plate: Weights Design not to be weights exceeded I am...

and 2 can currently do so using axle weights of up to 13.5 tonnes. From October maximum axle weights will be restricted to...

of the four operating divisions of NFC plc, has appointed Neil Stenhouse as financial director, and Theo De Pencier as...

three new sales executives. Sam Mellon, based at Linwood, Strathclyde, has joined from Scottish Road Services where he was...

director of Salserve, the distribution network for Marks & Spencer. He joined the group in 1969 and for the past three years...

Hong Kong office to take up his new position of managing director of Tiphook Rail on 1 May. Michael Barclay will move to the...

of the York Trailer Group, has appointed Paul Floyd as general manager. He is based at the head office at Market Harborough,...

a new Central Midlands Division committee: Don Thomas, managing director of Dimex Transport, is chairman; Les Harris, transport...

manager of BRS Stevenage, responsible for promoting the freight management, contract hire and truck rental operations. He...

director for the Eastern Region is Bernard Sperring. He succeeds Terry Rochester who has moved to the West Midlands Regional...

position of director of public affairs of Vauxhall Motors on 1 May. He joined the company as an apprentice in 1943 at the age...

manager of Mynd Factors and Motor Care, both part of Vincent Greenhous (Shrews bury). His new role follows the promotion of...

Martin Graham has rejoined the company as operations director from Christian Salvesen, taking responsibility for the ASDA...

board of Davies and Robson of Croydon. Before this he was group systems director at the RAC, and marketing director, and...

managing director of Hays Commercial Services. Aitken, a qualified management accountant, previously worked at the Security...

to general sales and marketing manager. After four years' service he is now responsible for the sales teams at Avon and...