Truck & Driver articles from February 2005

Truck & Driver archives from February 2005

A PERFECT DRIVER.(Phil Tallon)(GHT Logistics )(Brief Article)
February 1, 2005... Phil Tallon of Dover is a 'perfect' truck driver - and that's official. Tallon, who passed his truck-driving test at his first attempt with Eurosafe Training, was told his drive had been perfect with not a single minor fault. Tallon was with...

A mixed bag on pay.(truck driver shortages and wage survey)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2005... Talk of driver shortages pushing up pay rates gets mixed backing from the latest survey published by Income Data Services (IDS). It shows that the average basic hourly pay for C+E drivers is just over [pounds sterling]7. Pay rises this year...

Beam me up, Scotty.
February 1, 2005... Some of the excuses given by motorists for breaking speed limits include 'seeing UFOs', according to the Northumbria Safety Camera Partnership. The organisation has compiled a top 10 list of the most far-fetched claims. Some of them are: *...

Brit driver honoured.(Jon Owen Thomas )(Brief Article)
February 1, 2005... The International Road Transport Union has awarded Welsh driver Jon Owen Thomas a Diploma of Honour for his outstanding services as an international driver - the only UK driver to receive the honour this year. Thomas, who has worked for TDS...

Clear run for car transporters.(Ron Skinner & Sons)(Bridgewatch)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2005... Ron Skinner & Sons has fitted Bridgeclear's early warning system, Bridgewatch, to its car transporters with the financial support of insurer Allianz Cornhill. The Bridgewatch unit alerts drivers that they are approaching a bridge that is too...

Estate's minor Ruck.(Dennis Cookson planning to start a daycare children's nursery )(Brief Article)
February 1, 2005... A retired RHM depot manager who got bored fishing is planning to run a daycare children's nursery as part of a new logistics business in Winsford, Cheshire. Dennis Cookson has bought a [pounds sterling]1.2m warehouse to run his new...

Fancy a trip to Ireland?
February 1, 2005... Considering changing your job, or just keen to know if the grass is greener elsewhere? Each month our Fleet Focus insider guide sets out to discover what transport firms are really like to work for by asking bosses and (confidentially) the...

Feline frolics in Flint.(kitten ended up beneath a lift door )(Brief Article)
February 1, 2005... A young Italian ended up in north Wales after hitching a lift in the back of a lorry in Milan. The six-month-old kitten crawled beneath a lift door that was being transported across Europe from Milan by Global Lift Equipment. Three days - and...

Flushed with success.(Moto motorways awarded )(Brief Article)
February 1, 2005... Moto has been crowned king of the motorway loos. In the annual Loo of the Year awards, Moto's facilities were voted top in England, Scotland and Wales in a new category for motorway service areas. Moto also clinched the title of Best...

French-style rest areas soon?(United Kingdom Department of Transport to introduce provisions on motorway rest areas)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2005... After a lot of foot-dragging by the government on the provision of motorway rest areas, it seems that the Department of Transport could be making progress. As part of the Road Safety Bill, current law is to be amended so that French-style...

Grand award at Junction 14.(Junction 14 Trans-port gives John Hibell his holiday benefits)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2005... A part-time driver with Junction 14 Trans-port has been awarded [pounds sterling]1000 after he complained that he had been treated less favourably than his full-time colleagues. A Birmingham employment tribunal ruled that new regulations,...

Inconvenienced but 'Not Company Policy'.(Total Home Entertainment)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2005... Total Home Entertainment insists that it 'never' turns away a driver who needs to use a toilet (Letters, T&D January). The response from THE comes in the wake of the experience of a Coventry driver who was in agony because he needed to use...

Justice for Drivers contacts.(Brief Article)
February 1, 2005... Justice for Drivers, whose aim is to help UK drivers held in foreign prisons, has posted a list of contacts on its website. It includes all British embassies and consulates relevant to countries where UK-based drivers may be sent during the...

MAN cosies up to Navistar of US.(MAN Nutzfahrzeuge AG forms strategic alliance with Navistar International Corp.)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2005... MAN is to link up with financially strug-gling US truck maker Navistar to form a strategic alliance on design, development and the manufacture of diesel engines. Although an independent company, Navistar has strong links with Ford (which sold...

MIND THE GAP SAYS ED.(Truck & Driver's editor Dave Young shows quality standards at Roadchef Holdings Ltd.'s motorway service area)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2005... Motorway services operator RoadChef has 'expressed regret' after T&D editor Dave Young found substandard hygiene standards and expensive yet indifferent food at its Watford Gap motorway service area. Young stopped at the site in November and...

No trucks? Chaos will ensue.(economic effects of trucking)
February 1, 2005... Research by Professor Alan McKinnon from Heriot-Watt University has con-cluded that if trucks stop running, the UK will face economic collapse and a commencement of anarchy after a week. The work, carried out for T&D sister publication...

ONUS ON BOSS TO AVOID MANSLAUGHTER CHARGE.(Brief Article)
February 1, 2005... Transport companies will have to make sure that their drivers are alert and fit for work in order to avoid a possible prosecution for corporate manslaughter if the drivers have a fatal accident. That is the opinion of lawyers following the...

PAT OF THE pda SAYs.(Driver Transport Training supports Professional Drivers Association)
February 1, 2005... Some good news to kick off the New Year: Driver Transport Training has decided to continue its sponsorship and support of the PDA for another year. Brian Hewitt has always been sympathetic to our aims and ambitions and has supported the PDA,...

Paddle Steamer.(Product/Service Evaluation)
February 1, 2005... An agile, lightweight, supermini body, Formula 1-style 'paddle' gearshifts behind the steering wheel and an eager yet impressively frugal little turbodiesel powerplant add up to an enticing package. Chris Turner road tests Citron's C2 ...

RHA SAYS VOSA ADVICE ON WORKING TIME DIRECTIVE IS 'RUBBISH'.(Road Haulage Association)(United Kingdom Vehicle and Operator Services Agency )(Brief Article)
February 1, 2005... The Road Haulage Association has hit out at the Vehicle and Operator Services Agency for publishing 'rubbish' on the Working Time Directive. The RHA says that guidance from the agency on the directive is full of 'major errors'. The mistakes...

STOBART BEARS ALL.(D E Kavanagh's novel 'Grizzly Money' has spots of Eddie Stobart Ltd.'s trucks)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2005... Eddie Stobart is no stranger to publicity but the company's management might be surprised to learn that one of its trucks makes an appearance in a new novel. D E Kavanagh, who has written Grizzly Money, apparently has a soft spot for Eddie...

Scania threatened after fags find.(Haulier ABW International to lose trucks after smuggling investigation)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2005... Haulier ABW International, based in Westbury, Wiltshire, may lose one of its trucks after Customs discovered large quantities of cigarettes on board. The vehicle was stopped on three separate occasions with the same driver and a total of...

Silvey Service.(automotive service stations)(Cover Story)
February 1, 2005... Eats-seeker Dick Flute finds a hidden culinary treasure that lies deep within the Wiltshire countryside and gives it a double thumbs up - as well as extra points for a secluded location Are we blowing the cover on one of Britain's...

TO THE POINT.(road transport survey)
February 1, 2005... Big it up for Commercial Motor and its recent National Truck Week (see page 6, News). Armed with a survey from Heriot-Watt Uni-versity, our sister title set out to demonstrate to a wider public just how dependent on road transport the UK has...

Unions form united front.(Transport & General Workers Union and United Road Transport Union show their concern over Working Time Directive)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2005... In a surprise move, the Transport & General Workers Union is standing shoulder-to-shoulder with the United Road Transport Union to voice their joint concern over the Working Time Directive. General secretaries Tony Woodley (TGWU) and Bob...

WTD 'self-employed' confusion.(Working Time Directive)(self-employed and truck drivers under regulation)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2005... Owner-driver Jimmy Sturdy, who has worked for Tarmac for many years, is incensed about the definition of 'self-employed' for the purposes of the Working Time Directive because it turns out he may not be regarded as such. Confusion is mounting...

Alpha better.(Product/Service Evaluation)
February 1, 2005... Aimed at fleet sales in the distribution sector, Foden's Alpha equipped with the excellent, automated AS-Tronic transmission brings out the best in its driver - in this case, Dave Young he AS-Tronic-equipped Foden Alpha tractor unit is...

Anyone for dennis?(truck)(Product/Service Evaluation)
February 1, 2005... In one of the least glamorous sectors of the transport industry, Dennis - the last remaining UK-owned truck manufacturer - goes from strength to strength. Reader Craig Macho looks for rubbish but, in the new Elite 2, finds nothing of the sort...

diary dates 2005.
February 1, 2005... Truckfest series, 2005 Dates have been confirmed for the 2005 round of Truckfests: Truckfest 2005, East of England Showground, Peterborough, May 1-2; Yorkshire Trucking Spectacular, Driffield Show-ground, June 4-5; Truckfest South West, Bath...

East, west, which is best?
February 1, 2005... Alan Craig makes sure Bob Tuck sees the best of both worlds by letting him drive the Craig 1969 ERF and Alec Anderson's 1975 Seddon on the third Scottish East to West Coast Road Run hink of Scotland and, whether you visualise the glorious...

Liquid asset.(transportation of bulk liquids)
February 1, 2005... The development of the ISO tank container has transformed the national and international movement of bulk liquids. Old salt Jim Glew of Isotank Services shows veteran landlubber Bob Tuck what it's like to work with this form of transport ...

Multiple choice.(transportation of liquids)
February 1, 2005... Why carry only one liquid in bulk when you can safely carry a variety at once? TDG's Multisol driver Jim Rowlands shows Bob Tuck what life is like with a seven-section tanker lthough it would be enough to give a general haulier an...

not all plain sailing.
February 1, 2005... Embarking at Hull for Zeebrugge beats using southern ports if you're heading for eastern Europe but sailing on the P&O ship Pride of Bruges is not as smooth as it should be, reports Dick Flute fast facts that will keep you on the move ...

Early Call.(truck driver recalls memories)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2005... Two photographs in the January issue of Truck & Driver recall memories of the late Fifties and Sixties. First is the rather sad photo of the BRS eight-wheeler. This vehicle was at the Derby depot and the fleet number, I think, was 5E145. At...

flour power.
February 1, 2005... Graded grains may make finer flour but the watchwords at Heygates are that quality will tell. Bob 'Tuck-in' Tuck rises to the occasion as driver John Randall reveals how his latest 385hp Foden Alpha makes light of earning its daily bread ...

shift work required.(Product/Service Evaluation)
February 1, 2005... Updated and improved versions of the lightweight Atego and medium-weight Axor are decent trucks, writes Dave Young, but with more competitive 'boxes they could be even better ollowing the launch of its updated Actros 2 heavy CV range,...

'Treated like scum' at Tesco.(discrimination of truck drivers )(Brief Article)
February 1, 2005... Owner-driver Dave Jenkinson has slammed supermarket giant Tesco after two bad experiences while waiting at its RDCs - including one where he was not allowed to use the canteen and 'treated like a second-class citizen'. Jenkinson, fed-up with...