RIGHT OF REPLY • The following is a digest of a letter sent by editor Brian Weatherley to the BBC following last week's...

• A leading official of the Road Haulage Association has warned transport unions that pay claims of over 5% could put up to...

• The Willhire Group, which has been in receivership since September (CM 13-19 September) has been sold to Willcliffe Holdings,...

• Royal Mail has increased its use of road over rail from 40% to 70%. It believes this has contributed to a more than 8%...

consignor liability • The Department of Transport has taken the first step towards agreeing to a consignor liability defence...

• The Government has made it harder for drivers with medical conditions to hold an HGV or PSV licence. Rules published this...

• The RSPCA is awaiting a High Court verdict on its attempt last week to stop the export of live sheep to France while the...

• Bus Parts Eastleigh and Hampshire Body & Paint, the two remaining parts of Bus Engineering Group which went into receivership...

• With all members now working normally, the National Hauliers Association executive meets this week to consider the next move...

• The Road Haulage Association's new quality assurance manager wants to set up an accreditation company within the RHA which...

• The BBC's Watchdog programme, which slammed aspects of the transport in dustry last week, sacrificed balance for viewer...

• Daimler-Benz is investing over t2bn in its truck operation over the next five years.

• The European Commis sion is to cut red tape at borders by freeing internal imports worth less than ,C3,360 from the need for...

• British truck drivers Dennis McGrath and Geoff Guy have been freed after being trapped in Baghdad for two months. They are...

• Following dery price cuts by Shell and Texaco (to 44.9p/lit) and Esso (to 43.9/lit), the other oil corn panies are expected...

• All new four-lane motorways will be equipped with overhead lighting, including the entire M25, and parts of the M1 and M6.

• The National Owner Drivers Association plans to lobby the Government for fixed minimum terms and conditions for its members...

• The M1 was blocked near Junction 9 for most of Tuesday morning, when a tanker carrying chemicals overturned.

• At the bar beside old Vitoria airport in northern Spain on Saturday, the only English voice was from the record on the...

I/ The dispute which has been stopping hauliers at the ItalianAustrian border looks set to continue, at least until the...

• A Wolverhampton-based HGV driver agency, formed three years ago on a £40-aweek Government enterprise scheme, has been...

• The Government is considering proposals to reduce noise levels of trucks. Junior Environment Minister David Heathcoat-Amory...

tippers, tankers and international, have been told to come up with "objectives and targets" as part of an internal RHA...

£10m, was found among a load of carpets on a Turkish truck at Dover last week. A Turkish driver has been remanded in custody...

• Europe's transport ministers could be on the brink of harmonising the weight limit for six-axle artics at 44 tonnes. When...

• Truck Hydraulics of Pershore has developed a singlearm hydraulic tail-lift to suit the dairy industry, that can cope with...

to stop trucks rolling backwards without the use of brakes or gears, is working on a version for vans. ATs launched Translock...

• Bodybuilder Southfields has built eight 4.82m-high curtainsiders for tyre giant Goodyear. The trailers, over 600m higher than...

• Rules forcing manufacturers of artics to fit anti-lock brakes from April 1992 have been formally laid before Parliament. The...

• BP Oil is using 1,000-litre GKN Blue Box plastic containers to take some of its products to the West Country, allowing...

IN US engine manufacturer Detroit Diesel has taken the first step in its return to the European market by installing its...

MEight weeks after the collapse of MIL the importer of Mahindra and Dacia vehicles, a new importer for the Indian built...

Scania will decide by Christmas whether to introduce a bonneted tractive unit to the UK, following a survey which found that 94...

NRecovery equipment manufacturer Brimec says it has come up with a way for breakdown operators to avoid damaging the front of...

• Toleman Automotive has lost its plum 22m/50,000vehicle contract with Vauxhall Motors at Luton after drivers and ancilliary...

sold partner Alan Wharrier's 50% share to coal hauliers R & A Young.

• York Trailers has begun talks with Russian truck firm Moldavian Refrigerated Truck to explore the possibility of a joint...

• Tankfreight has won a three-year .22m contract with Interox Chemicals to handle bulk UK distribution. As part of the deal...

• ERF Trucks has concluded a two-year pay deal with its 500-strong workforce which includes a reduction to a 37-hour week,...

• Trailer rental company TIP Europe boosted its year-end turnover to £92.6m from last year's £54.9m. Net profit, which was hit...

• The first BRS HGV temporary driver agency is now up and running, prior to the official launch of a national network early...

• MAN's truck division increased its year-end net profits up 45% to £55m and vehicle Production rose by over 11%. El...

• Dieter Merz, the head of Renault Truck Industries, has resigned after 18 months, to join Scania (GB) as its managing director...

• Whitbread has placed an order worth over Km with Volvo for 24 FL617 lowloaders. The brewery is putting all of its HGV driv•...

• Securicor has signed a contract with Basingstoke and Deans Borough Council in Hampshire to handle its poll tax collection...

• The bid by management and staff at Bluebird Northern to buy their company as part of the Scottish Bus Group privatisation has...

• Wadham Stringer's bus sales have fallen by 20%, but its ambulance business has come to the rescue to boost predicted 1990...

• Slingsby-based j S Perry Sr Son has taken delivery of its first rear-engined Scania K93 Plaxton 3200 lowdriver Paramount coach.

• London Transport is launching 11 wheelchairaccessible mobility bus services in Barking, Havering and Redbridge from 27 October.

• Cardiff-based bus operator National Welsh is expected to be sold by the end of October — Stagecoach Holdings of Perth is a...

III The Coach Operators Federation, which has about 80 members, mainly in the South West, hopes to more than double its...

▪ Metrobus of Orpington, Kent, has taken delivery of its first Plaxton-bodied vehicle — a 57-seater Plaxton Duple 321 on a 12m...

• City Vehicle Engineering has launched a larger tri-axle version of its Omni minibus. The prototype six-wheeler can carry 40...

• I veco plans to launch its new Turbo City double-decker next year — just as the UK full-size bus market is expected to drop...

• Leeds-based Optare will be adding a new lOrn single-deck Citybus to its range early next year, following the 45-seater's...

a three-year contrct for West Yorkshire Metro's Access Express A new network of services, designed primarily for the disabled,...

• Transport Minister Roger Freeman has asked for industry feedback on problems facing London's bus and coach operators. The...

• The two companies which form the Shearings group are being reunited as part of a management reorganisation, following the...

local bus fares by 5p for fares of 50p and above, to cope with increased dery prices resulting from the Gulf Crisis.

£6m worth of orders to supply 35 high specification double-deck coaches to Turkey.

costing it about ,E4m a year. It operates a fleet of 900 buses in South Yorkshire and parts of Derbyshire and West Yorkshire.

ON THE LAW CM's legal correspondent Jonathan Lawton, &solicitor with Aaron and Partners in Cheshire, takes an insider's view...

• Transport manager problems have led to the revocation of the two-vehicle national licence held by David and Annette...

Il Maintenance problems have led to the licence held by CKM (Civil Engineering Contractors) being cut from 12 vehicles to...

• Bloxwich haulier Edgar Davies was granted authority to move his operating centre to a neighbouring site, after an objection...

DENNIS DIVERSION • Dennis Specialist Vehicles is moving to new premises at Dennis Way, Guildford, this week. Contact (0483)...

BIGGER AND BOYER • ERF dealer Sellers & Batty of Peterborough has opened a <£.2m truck centre, after an explosion damaged its...

ENGINE ROOM • A two-day conference on internal combustion engine research takes place at the Institute of Mechanical Engineer's...

FUEL SURCHARGE • Parcels company XP has added a fuel surcharge of 6% on all consignments sent after 22 October.

TANK UP WITH TIP • A four-page leaflet outlining the design specifications of TIP's tankers has been produced by its tanker...

DRIVING SKILLS • A number of two-day training courses on advanced driving skills are being held by West Hertfordshire Transport...

GET LOADED AT FLEXISTORE • Flexistore of Christchurch, Dorset is offering a range of movable loading bays, as UK agent for...

tA3 HOLDUPS / Work on junction 3 of the M3, near Lightwater, has begun and will last until the end of November. Traffic will be...

• LONDON AND THE SOUTH EAST M4 London: J4B (M25) outside lane closed each way. M4 London: Overnight eastbound closed completely...

Gliding World Champion and is about to have the "honeymoon of a lifetime" when she hang glides from the crater of the world's...

the eighties. We haven't seen the last of it yet, but as pressure builds for progressively tighter emission controls, the...

Vaile's Stylemaster conversion was not conceived as an aerodynamic aid — the original idea was to improve the vehicle's looks....

There's nothing unconventional under the cab floor. The Mercedes-Benz sixcylinder, direct-injection 0M366 engine produces 100kW...

The Mercedes is an effortless performer. Although not as quick as some of the more powerful box-bodied 7.5-tonners we have...

The Stylemaster kit might have been designed for looks, but it is clear from the 814's appearance that some improvement in...

The power assisted steering is a delight. It has just the right amount of assistance and provides good feedback from the front...

It's a neat, functional cab, unchanged since the vehicle was launched. Comprehensive instruments are housed in three dials: a...

Mercedes has a reputation for building high-quality products at a high price, and at £20,315, the 814 is among the more...

AND THE SHORT When it was first hinted that longer artics were going to be allowed on Britain's roads, operators were...

VENTRE MEDICINE Demand for new trailers has slumped, but this has not depressed makers' inventiveness. Better aerodynamics,...

ADVANTAGES • Fuel price increases have their positive side in engineering terms. And the Gulf Crisis has again concentrated...

The use of longer articulated vehicles, up from 15.5 to 16.5m, became legal in the spring. CM looks at how legislation has...

• The first commercial vehicles sale at ADT Auctions' new multi-million pound centre in Newport, Gwent, will take place in...

• The first UK auction devoted solely to fourwheel-drive vehicles has been launched by Russell Baldwin and Bright Markets....

• Vans and trucks from large company fleets are achieving the highest residual values, according to BRS Car Auctions at Stoke....

• Sales of light commercial vehicles are holding up well because of the large number of one-man businesses, says Paul Manton,...

• Central Motor Auctions' Glasgow centre has been reopened following a £ 1. 7m refurbishment. The Glasgow centre is part of a...

concerning Environment Secretary Chris Patten's comments about discouraging vehicle use by raising vehicle excise duty (CM 27...

page (CM 4-10 October) to remind people that Pioneer Aggregates (UK) has launched a national policy which means truckers...

Development Group subsidiary Harris Distribution, has bee i ri elected to the council of the Institute of Logistics and...

as group marketing and development director. Before this he spent 10 years at Abels in East Anglia, most recently as the...

WS Atkins Planning Consultants has taken on Peter Atkinson as senior consultant, with special responsibility for bus planning...

on Pat Healy as commercial manager for its southern region. Based in Cardiff, he is responsible for UTT's depots in Avonmouth,...

He has more than 15 years' experience in transport and systems management, including time as transport manager with British Gas.

Truckers' training transformed • The only industry-related qualifications most drivers hold are their HGV licences. But this...