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6th April 2000
6th April 2000
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Page 1, 6th April 2000
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EWE MBES All hauliers employing more than five people are required to carry out fire risk assessments of their premises.

NEW ROUTE Stena Line is to launch a ferry service between Larne in Northern Ireland and Stranraer in Scotland from September....

CPC agency failed to pass on tachograph charts

• by Charles Young A company which offers to act as a transport manager for small hauliers is failing to check their tachograph...

Penhale goes for 10.5m

A Derbyshire haulier which went bust owing half a million pounds is being investigated to find out why it showed a loss for its...

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Used trailer in need of repair

III A trailer dealer in Northern Ireland sold a supposedly "Al condition" trailer which in fact needed more than £2,000 worth...

Minister says Brit-disc' toll plan is a non-starter

II by Miles Brignall Roads Minister Lord Whitty has told MPs that the Government does not plan to introduce a "Brit-disc" toll...

Drivers caught with stowaways in their trucks face fines of £16,000

The first two drivers to be caught under the Home Office's new "civil penalty" scheme for carrying stowaways face fines...

Another firm calls it a day

• Worcester-oased PV Dew Transport is to cease trading at the end of next week after 32 years in general haulage. Director...

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Why blame the driver?

Picture the scene if you will. Tony, Cherie and the kids step ashore at Dover after a fortnight's holiday in Tuscany. "Just a...

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Loophole in EC drivers plan

in by Karen Miles European Commission plans to ban the use of East European drivers could be thwarted if these drivers apply...

Delivery delay led to court

• A haulier used a Scania antic with defective brakes and no test certificate because he was fed up with waiting for a new...

• A new system will be introduced next year to make number plates easier to read and remember.

From August 2001two letters will denote the city and county in which the vehicle was first registered, followed by two numbers...

blame after death crash

• An owner-driver has been cleared of causing the death of a car driver who crashed into an artic which was reversing across a...

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Hauliers gamble on a fast-track protest

• Birmingham haulage firms have gone to the dogs to protest at high road and fuel taxes. Members of the Birmingham branch of...

Boss who 'saved hospital money' faces cash probe

• by Charles Young A transport boss for an NHS trust who boasted to Commercial Motor how he was saving his hospital money is...

Get online or face a struggle, operators told

• Once again hauliers have been warned to embrace e-commerce or face being sidelined by their more forward-thinking...

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Cab choice for ERF tractor launch

by Brian Weatherley ERF plans to launch two brand new tractive units by September: one with a steel cab, the other made from...

• A plan to base five trucks on a farm

near Gloucester is being opposed by English Nature because vehicle movements could disturb swans on nearby meadows. Bewick...

• A Department of Transport cabotage survey indicates that the

"cabotage penetration rate of foreign operators in the UK" is just 0.06%—a figure which some British hauliers are bound to...

Car-Rac set to move cars on rails

• Nationwide trials are under way to test an ,ntermodal car transportation system. Freightliner subsidiary Autoliner is...

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£1bn Scania stake snapped up by VW

by Colin Barnett As CM predicted two weeks ago, the blocking of Volvo's intended takeover of Scania by the European...

Home and away from Southfields

• Bodybuilder Southfields has launched a collection of products for the domestic and export markets. The BusyBody, for trucks...

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Cummins mid-range duo will beat Euro-3

by Toby Clark Cummins launched two new ranges of engines at the CV Show, covering the mid-range market for Eure-3 and beyond....

Transit warranty will match best in sector

• The new Ford Transit will have a three-year, 100,000-mile warranty as standard. This puts it on a par with the best in the...

LDV launches dual-fuel Convoy to suit green operator demand

• LDV launched a dual-fuel version of the Convoy at the CV show. The BI-Fuel, powered by LPG or petrol, will go on sale this...

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Future

• by Brian Weatherley Daf Trucks' US parent, Paccar, is pushq ahead with its research into trucking technology At last week's...

"Front" brake lights Tired of being carved up by lunatic

car drivers? Kenworth has added a clever wrinkle to its hi-tech tractor in the shape of front brake lights. When a vehicle...

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Customise your dashboard configuration

• Fed up of looking at the same old gauges every dayP In its T2000 demonstrator, Kenworth showed a flat-panel LED dash which...

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MD REMIND A bid for a licence for eight vehicles

and 20 trailers by Cushings Transport Fakenham has been refused. This followed the revocation of the licence held by Amanda...

Operator gets final warning

A West Yorkshire company which operated illegally for up to four months after its licence was revoked must wait until midApril...

Licence cut for 'pulling the fuse'

The falsification of a tacho graph chart by a partner in Whitiand, Dyfed-based Lyn Davies et Partners led to the firm's...

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An owner-driver from Bolton was fined 21,290 1 after pleading

guilty to two offences of falsification and five offences of using a tachograph chart with intent to deceive. Manchester...

restricted licence whose operations were said to have been "in

considerable disarray" has had its licence suspended for a week. Huddersfield-based Deluxe Beds, which holds a licence for two...

Two-week ban over tachos

• When Bagilt, Flintshire-based tip per operator Clifford Corbett appeared before Welsh Traffic Commissioner David Dixon at a...

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WHAT'S NEW AT THE NEC?

Having read the SMMT preview of the "exciting new products" which were to be exhibited at the NEC, I decided to scrap my travel...

CHANGES IN THE ACT

I would like to enlighten your readers about changes to the Hydrocarbon Oil Duties Act 1979 resulting from last month's...

THE PERILS or DIESEL THEFT

After worrying about how to pay for diesel at its present level, we now have to worry about how to stop people pinching it. We...

EXPRESSING CONCERNS Following your article in last week's edition (CM23-29

March 1,1 have written to the following people and organisations expressing my concerns that Willi Betz should be allowed to...

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HAZARDOUS SPILLAGES

A plea to all commercial operators: please, please check your diesel tanks regularly and warn drivers of over-filling. Friends...

WHAT'S GOING WRONG?

I have been an international driver for 30 years. In this time, I have seen many changes. But on reading CMthis week I ask...

WHO'S GOT TUNNEL VISION?

Having read the letter from Chris Veasey headed Tunnel Vision (CM 23-29 March), I fear this is what he is suffering from! His...

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A STELLAR PRIZE WINNER

"Absolutely delighted!" was how Peter Hunt, of Darrell Couriers based in Fife, summed up his feelings on learning that he had...

KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK VAN MAN

HGV Class 1 driver Martin Stamps (right) is celebrating his 10th anniversary with Relief Driver Services of Wolverhampton....

In many years of happy motoring in his trusty Reliant

Robin, the Hawk has from time to time received some unwarranted advice from other motorists along the lines of "get off and...

INFLATIONARY MADNESS

If you were indulging in a past-Budget grumble at the 2p/lit rise in fuel, you should spare a thought for the poor motorists of...

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Tachograp exemptions

I In general, legislation requires tachographs to be fitted and used to goods vehicles over 3.5 tonnes GVW. There are a number...

TACHO QUERIES

MANY QUERIES are raised about the need for tachographs in recovery vehicles. The exemption in the regulations refers to...

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ttem pts over recent years to bridge the technology gap

between diesel engines for heavy trucks and those for somewhat lighter applications have met with varying degrees of success....

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G ordon Brown's third Budget was very much aimed at encouraging

enterprise. The major change was probably the boosting of capital gains tax taper relief on business assets. Effectively, if an...

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y the very nature of their work, hauliers carry, rather

than produce, consignments. No load and a CV doesn't roll. All sectors of the indus try have their share of day-to-day hassles,...

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carry a lot of computer components and mobile phones," he

adds. "Customers like the reefers because of the security they offer. We also carry temperature-controlled hazardous goods,...