Commercial Motor articles from December 2006

Commercial Motor archives from December 2006

NONE FOR THE ROAD.
December 7, 2006... The approach of Christmas is a good time for operators to review their procedures to ensure the misuse of alcohol and other substances is correctly managed - and for drivers to remind themselves of the perils of falling foul of the law. As well...

HEAVY GOING.(JB Rawcliffe and Sons)(GCS Johnson)(Industry overview)
December 7, 2006... Abnormal/heavy haulage is one sector of road transport that can still take your breath away. Moving things that normal mortals simply wouldn't have a clue how to handle is something that specialists in this game take in their stride. However,...

Driven to the limit.
December 7, 2006... Pray silence for the director-general of the British Vehicle Rental and Leasing Association (BVRLA), John Lewis. He tells us: "These are over-complicated and difficult regulations that all operators will find difficult to implement. But they...

Transport 'winners' boosted sales by 12.3%, says survey.(Brief article)
December 7, 2006... A study into 2,000 of the UK's leading haulage companies by Plimsoll Publishing has named 510 "winners" in 2006 in terms of sales growth and profitability.According to senior Plimsoll analyst David Pattison, the 510 companies averaged sales...

DfT denies second thoughts on M6 plan.(Department for Transport)(Brief article)
December 7, 2006... The Department for Transport (DfT) insists it has no intention of going back on proposals to widen the M6 north of Birmingham, despite distributing surveys that reveal it is looking at "alternative plans".The government announced in July that...

S&S increases profits by 14%.(S&S Distribution)(Brief article)
December 7, 2006... Kent-based haulier S&S Distribution has boosted its annual pre-tax profits by 14% and its turnover by 8%. According to its latest accounts the Tonbridge firm's profits rose to ?356,952 in the financial year ending 31 July, up from ?313,099 the...

Frenni trials biodiesel.
December 7, 2006... WELSH HAULIER Frenni Transport is trialling biodiesel following the opening of a local processing plant in Pembrokeshire.Frenni, with depots at Swansea and Crymych and 25 LGVs, is the first customer for the Celtic Biodiesel plant in Pembroke...

English truck drivers face ban on in-cab smoking.
December 7, 2006... Most truck drivers in England will be banned from smoking in cabs from July 2007, the government confirmed last week. The ban is similar to those already operating in Scotland and the Irish Republic, and to those proposed for Wales and Northern...

Cash boost for fragile Argyll timber route.
December 7, 2006... More than ?1m is to be spent on improving roads for timber hauliers in Argyll. The money, which will come from the ?13m Strategic Timber Transport Fund (STTF), will be used to upgrade the Tarbert bypass and improve nearly 10km of forest road on...

It's all go at Trans Haul.
December 7, 2006... Bedfordshire haulier Trans Haul (UK) has capped a successful month with the acquisition of two new Scania R420 tractor units.The firm has also topped the list of fastest growing hauliers in the sub-?10m turnover category compiled by our sister...

Family fleet wiped out by arsonist.(Paul Cott)(Brief article)
December 7, 2006... A family-run haulage company has been almost put out of business after arsonists torched its fleet, destroying three trucks and five trailers.Now Paul Cott says he is struggling to continue running his Spalding, Lincs-based haulage operation...

Revamped Corsavan for spring 2007.(Brief article)
December 7, 2006... Vauxhall WILL launch a new version of its diminutive Corsavan early next year with improved loading characteristics. Based on the three-door Corsa car, it is available with two engines - a 1.3-litre 74hp turbo-diesel and a 1.2-litre 79hp...

City Link wraps up Target Express.
December 7, 2006... Parcels delivery firm City Link, part of Rentokil Initial, has acquired its rival Target Express for ?210m, creating a firm with 108 depots and a turnover approaching ?400m.City Link started a franchise buy-back programme in October last year...

FTA congestion warning.(Freight Transport Association)(Brief article)
December 7, 2006... The Freight Transport Association (FTA) has warned that freight vehicles will be "swamped" by the rise in other traffic long before road pricing and the other policies discussed in the government-commissioned Eddington Transport Study take...

TAL Logistics Group snaps up abnormal loads haulier.
December 7, 2006... The acquisitive TAL Logistics Group has expanded further into the specialist logistics arena by snapping up County Durham-based abnormal loads and general haulier Gallacher Brothers (Haulage).TAL, which bought David Park Transport in Gateshead...

Pall-Ex wins CBI's technology award.
December 7, 2006... Pallet network Pall-Ex has won the Technology in Business category in the Growing Business Awards.The awards, organised annually by the Confederation for British Industry, were presented last week at the London Hilton. The Technology in...

Transport firms in the Fast Track.
December 7, 2006... Prohire and Clipper Group Holdings have made it into this year's Sunday Times Fast Track 100, which lists the 100 fastest-growing private companies in the UK.Staffordshire-based leasing company Prohire reached 97th place with a ?12.2m turnover...

DRIVING RANGE.(Jim Harkins)(Driver Training Centre)
December 7, 2006... Jim Harkins continues to juggle three balls: running separate CPC, tachograph, and even tram-feasibility services from his base in Warrington, Cheshire.Harkins is managing director of Transport and Training Services Group its Transport and...

The future is a foreign country.
December 7, 2006... Paul Mercer, sales director of Britcom International, has good reason to take the export market seriously.Sitting in the comfort of the firm's new premises[see panel], he tells us that exports ishow Britcom got its start:"We'd buyCommercial...

Getting a grip.(Ireland. Road Safety Authority)
December 14, 2006... Launched at the beginning of September, Ireland's Road Safety Authority (RSA) is now responsible for all aspects of safety on Irish roads. It has taken over functions that were previously shared by the Department of Transport, the National...

Big prices for small CVs.(commercial vehicles)(Brief article)
December 14, 2006... The average price paidfor used vans rolling through British Car Auctions hit ?3,914 in October -up no less than 12% over the third-quarter average.At the same time nearly-new pricesrose11% to ?10,384, but averagepart-exchange prices slipped?63....

Traditional virtues.(James Harrison)(Company overview)
December 14, 2006... The third generation of family-run Iveco dealership TC Harrison is celebrating 75 years in the CV trade. James Harrison talks to Kevin Swallow about history, training and profit. In TC Harrison's Peterborough office ImeetJames Harrison,...

Artic licence was four years out of date.(Severn Transport)(Brief article)
December 14, 2006... AN OPERATOR who allowed an employee to drive a 40-tonne artic on a licence that expired four years earlier has been ordered to pay ?900 in fines and costs by the Hertford magistrates.Raymond Severn, trading as Severn Transport, had denied...

Repute as transport manager lost over sone_SSRqs hours offences.(Robert Whittaker)(Fastchill)
December 14, 2006... A TRANSPORT manager has lost his good repute as a result of taking part in his son's operation which, a disciplinary inquiry heard, had featured "wholesale abuse" of the drivers' hours regulations.Robert Whittaker had been nominated on the...

Transport Tribunal finds tale of two test drives hard to swallow.(Terence Wigzell)(Brief article)
December 14, 2006... Claims by the owner of an impounded truck that it was being driven by a potential buyer when it was stopped have failed to convince the Transport Tribunal that it should be returned. Eastern Deputy Traffic Commissioner Timothy Swan had refused...

Brothers who ran 'front' for their father win cut in ban.(Nigel Vince)(Gregory Vince)(VIT)
December 14, 2006... Two brothers who ran a 'front' operation for their disqualified father have had their own disqualification period cut from five years to two on appeal, but the decision to revoke their company's O-licence has been upheld. Eastern Traffic...

LEGAL BRIEFS.(Nicholas Anderson's CSC Skip Hire not to get back its impounded vehicle )(John and Alistair Davidson fleet cut on maintainance grounds)(MTV Removal & Delivery gets warning from Scottish Traffic Commissioner)(Brief article)
December 14, 2006... Plea failsCranbrook, Kent-based Nicholas Anderson, who has twice had O-licence applications refused, has failed to regain an impounded skip vehicle. South-Eastern & Metropolitan Traffic Commissioner Christopher Heaps rejected the request for...

Driver crushed between trucks.(Brief article)
December 14, 2006... The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is investigating the death of a driver who was crushed between two LGVs at a haulage yard in Baildon, West Yorks. It is understood that the man, who has not yet been named, was found trapped between two...

Hastings sells its truck park.(Brief article)
December 14, 2006... Eastbourne Borough Council has advised operators to re-route their deliveries and park in Hastings from February 2007 because it has sold its truck park to property developers.The Wartling Road Coach and Lorry Park has been sold for ?4.5m to...

Wincanton pays for bad back.(Mark Elsigood)(Wincanton Logistics)(Brief article)
December 14, 2006... A truck driver forced to give up his job after an accident at work has been awarded almost ?50,000 compensation by the Court of Appeal.Mark Elsigood of Church Stowe near Daventry was originally awarded the cash by Watford County Court in August...

Pressure mounts for new Forth bridge.
December 14, 2006... The Road Haulage Association (RHA) has added its voice to the campaign for a new Forth bridge, arguing that action should be taken now "instead of waiting for years".Pat Glancey, regional manager for the RHA in Scotland and Ireland, says: "If...

Initial Targets parcels sector with its latest acquisition.(Rentokil Initial)(Target Express)
December 14, 2006... Rentokil Initial says its purchase of Target Express has helped it go from being the fifth to the second largest parcels delivery service in the UK (CM 7 December).An Initial spokesman says the ?210m acquisition has also helped boost its...

On the road to rail freight.
December 14, 2006... Freight Systems Express (FSE), which last year topped a list of the fastest expanding small and medium-sized firms in Wales, plans to shift as much traffic as possible onto the rails.The Cardiff-based logistics company, which only began trading...

Dublin warns of regular closures for Port Tunnel.(Brief article)
December 14, 2006... Dublin's traffic authorities expect vehicle crashes to close the new Dublin Port Tunnel once a fortnight on average - and training exercises will shut it every two months.The figures from the National Roads Authority are based on estimates of...

Is there light at the end.(Burns Inquiry)(Haulage Industry Task Group)
December 14, 2006... Turn back the clock a year to 2005's pre-Budget report and the Chancellor was promising a chink of light for the haulage industry. In the wake of the Burns Inquiry he set up the Haulage Industry Task Group comprising officials from the...

Tipping at Harrogate.(Brief article)
December 14, 2006... Harrogate is to host a dedicated tipper exhibition for the first time in a decade. Tip-Ex 07 will be held on 3-5 May it is expected to occupy four halls of the Harrogate International Centre. The exhibition is the brainchild of former Fruehauf...