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9th July 1998
9th July 1998
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Page 1, 9th July 1998
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BRIEFS

• Securicor Distribution has bought Hays Express Services for £16.7m. • Trucks are likely to be exempi from plans to ban...

Lost-wheel surveys spark industry row

by Sally Nash II A damning Government report on wheel loss, which shows there could be as many as 2,000 incidents a year, has...

Drug running haulier gets 15 years

• An owner-driver was jailed for 15 years last week for smuggling £1.8m-worth of Ecstasy into the country. Raymond Miles was...

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Drivers' jobs go as Exel closes a Belfast depot

• Exel Logistics is closing one of its two depots in Belfast with the possible loss of up to 30 drivers' jobs. The warehousing...

HGV examiner fined for hours

• An HGV driving test examiner has been fined £300 with £55 costs after pleading guilty to two hours law offences. Alan...

British Steel o ts for rail

by Karen Miles • Plans by British Steel to switch the output from three South Wales plants from road to rail will not be...

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COMMENT

WHEEL LOSS COSTS LIVES ompare and contrast the following sentences, both of which relate to the latest DOT analysis of surveys...

Trucks not wanted on Surrey bridge...

by David Craik • Hauliers are putting lives at risk by defying the recent imposition of a 7.5-tonne weight limit on a bridge in...

...or on roads through two villages in Wales

• Hauliers running through two Welsh villages are under pressure to take a seven-mile diversion following moves by Plaid...

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CONTRACTS

• NFT Distribution has won Iwo new contracts to move chilled foods. The first, worth £500,000, involves distribution for The...

Second 'runaway' claim

by David Craik • A Middlesex haulier has re-ignited the controversy over the runaway Scania which hit the national headlines in...

Recovery faults

• Up to half the UK's recovery trucks could be running illegally, if a survey by Be ordshire police is representative. Led by...

Major tipper operators relinquish quarry rights

• ARC and Aggregate Industries say that tipper drivers will not be affected by their decisions to give up rights to several...

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Output cut hits hauliers

• The future of Dawson International's in-house truck fleet looks uncertain this week, following a decision by the textiles...

Carrier loses in dismissal case

by Sally Nash • Former United Carriers employee Gary Fawcett has won a claim for unfair dismissal—but an industrial tribunal...

Driver held after attacks on women

Leeds lorry driver Clive Barwell, of Clyde Chase, Wortley, appeared at Leeds magistrates court last week charged with 17...

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British fill Irish driver shortfall

by Ann Marie Foley • Irish road hauliers are recruiting British drivers in a bid to cope with a shortage blamed on long waiting...

Car use rises 10-fold in 40 years • With only

days to go before the release of the Transport White Paper, which is designed to unclog UK roads, the Government has...

Defective tachographs cost firms £300 fines

• TA Anders & Co of Salford was fined £300 with £65 costs by West Bromwich magistrates after pleading guilty to having a...

Livestock ferry delayed

• International livestock hauliers waiting to resume their trade face a further delay over the starting date of a new livestock...

TNT returns to its traditional post

• TNT is returning to its transport roots following last week's partial split from its Dutch telecommunications parent. TNT's...

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BRIEFS

• Nisson has confirmed the prices of its new Pickup range (CM 2-8 July). The entry-level single-cab 4x2 costs £10,725 (ex-VAT)...

Aston Martins travel in style

by Bill Brock • Delivering cars in the six-figure price range calls for equally exotic transporters—like this drawbar outfit...

VW looks for truck partner

by Toby Clark • A Volvo senior management team has met with Volkswagen boss Ferdinand Piech, fuelling rumours that the German...

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Green solutions from Mercedes

by Toby Clark • Mercedes-Benz has unveiled its strategy for the future of alternative fuels, from low-sulphur diesel to...

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Prolific Paneltex keeps its cool

by Steve Banner • Supermarket giant Asda has placed another order for refrigerated semi-trailers with Paneltex, and its...

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Top Cat gives punch to ERF

by Bryan Janis • ERF's first 550hp Catengined tractor is aimed squarely at the owner-driver, which doubtless explains why it...

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SHOW REPORT: LAS VEGAS

• One of the biggest attractions at the show was a long-nose Peterbilt 379 conventional with a Caterpillar 3412 engine. That's...

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New models are joined by a remanufactured Phoenix...

• The big news from the major Stateside truck manufacturers is waiting in the wings, with new Peterbilt and Mack models...

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Non-attendance leads to licence suspension

• The three-vehicle licence held by David Foster, trading as Long Eaton Express Transport, of Swadlincote, was suspended when...

Final warning

• Convictions and a number of missing tachograph charts have led to Aberdeen-based Bucksburn, Davidson & Wilson being given a...

Judge throws out tipper axle fine

• A fine imposed on a tipper operator for overloading an axle has been quashed because the vehicle's gross and train weights...

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Green light for operator on greenbelt

• A company has been given the go-ahead for a vehicle operating centre on greenbelt land because planning development control...

Overload convictions upheld

• Oldham-based Rachelfield and one of the company's drivers have lost their appeals against convictions for overloading...

Haulier hit with six-month penally

rill • Paisley haulier Thomas Miller ip le git i Junior was disqualified from holding or obtaining an Operator's Licence for...

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haulage factfile

CM'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 be stories in Commercial Motor? Does someone in the industry deserve a pat on the back—or a...

Phoenix rising

J am writing with reference to your article headed "Try for a conversion" (CM 25 June-1 July). I found it most informative, but...

Theft prevention

T he worrying subject of increasing lorry theft is being grappled with by the Crime Prevention Agency within the Home Office...

Real results

I t was good to read Tim Blakemore's description (CM 25 June-1 July) of our EC11.380 4x2 Fuel Duel vehicle as an "impressive...

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Unprofessional call

W e were very disappointed to read the article "Owner-drivers slammed" (CM 4-10 June) and think that CM'S readers should know...

Other routes

Y our article entitled Storm Warning (CM 2-8 July) gives, we believe, the impression that P&O European Ferries only carries...

Urgent appeal

I T t is rare for me to write to supporters other than to thank them for a donation. This is partly because people do not like...

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bird's eye view by the hawk Commercial Motor takes road

haulage very seriously. However, once a week our quirky correspondent, TIT Hmk, steps off his perch to take a humorous look at...

Are von a topnotch manager?

O f you consider yourself to be top-notch management material, now's the time to show the industry what you are made of. Simply...

Gearing up for the future

ere at Commercial Motor we aim to please. So H when 14-year-old Lewis Bowman from Otley in Yorkshire wrote extolling the...

A touch of class

o rs not what you're thinking; yet another public servant with a hand in the cookie jar. The Rt Hon Glenda Jackson MP Minister...

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IJJJI ROADTEST: MAN 26264 DFK

Big tippers can't always get into tight corners—which is where smaller 26-tonne rigids come into their own. They're more...

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For a medium-sized, family-run distribution business to walk away from

a contract offered by a company the size of Birds Eye Wall's took some courage. But any fears of foolhardiness on the part of...

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Fares up by a third and fewer sailings are among

the dire predictions if duly-free is abolished within the European Union. W hen ferry workers brought the French Channel ports...

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DRIVER SHORTAGE

As the alarming fall in HGV applicants continues, one Midlands-based retailer has been forced to import drivers from the West...

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A single union lobbying with one voice could provide the

answer to many of the road transport industry's problems, says David Higginboftom, leader of the United Road Transport...