Industry News

Stay on top of the latest issues that affect the road transport industry in the UK. Whether you’re interested in clean air zones, Brexit, alternative fuels, earned recognition or the HGV driver shortage, or you want to know the latest in compliance, health and safety and O-licence law to keep your business running legally and efficiently.

Industry News

Ian Jones retires from Mercedes Benz

March 21, 2012 Peter Steele

Mercedes-Benz Commercial Vehicles MD Ian Jones has retired with immediate effect. In a statement the Executive Board of Mercedes-Benz UK says it wants to offer Jones “best wishes for the future”. Under Jones’s reign the Sprinter won the Motor Transport Award for Fleet Van of the Year for four consecutive years. The firm adds that under Jones’s leadership Mercedes-Benz Commercial Vehicles had “a number of notable successes, including putting Mercedes-Benz on the top spot for the UK tractor market”. A […]

Industry News

Own-account operators in NI will need a licence from July

March 20, 2012

Own-account operators in Northern Ireland will need a licence from July for the first time. The Department of the Environment has set the 1 July as the deadline that will bring those moving their own goods by road into the licensing fold. Up until now only those providing hire and reward services were required to hold a Goods Vehicle Operator Licence in Northern Ireland when running vehicles exceeding 3.5-tonne GVW. However from this summer all operators running vehicles above 3.5 […]

Industry News

Olympic Torch Relay route details revealed

March 19, 2012

Operators can now access a street-by-street guide to the Olympic Torch Relay. The London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games has revealed the detailed route the ”moving roadblock” will take as it travels across the UK. The Olympic Flame will complete a 70-day journey, and with a series of events planned around it, local road congestion is assured. For those planning ahead, Transport for London has also published the road restrictions relating to the Games road races in London.

Motorway sell off?
Industry News

Government to sell off strategic road network

March 19, 2012

The government is to part-privatise the roads in a bid to attract much needed investment for the UK’s creaking transport network. Prime Minster David Cameron will announce a feasibility study during a speech at the Institute of Civil Engineers later today. In a bid to raise millions in investment, foreign companies would be invited to sign long leases to run motorways and major A-roads. The model would be much the same that used for the UK’s water and sewage supply […]

Industry News

News Extra: Chancellor ignores the economic case for a cut in fuel duty

March 19, 2012

The Chancellor turned his back on the road transport industry in the Budget, announcing August’s 3.02ppl increase in fuel duty will stay. MT takes a look at the economic case against this decision. The price of bulk diesel has climbed 18.9% in the past 18 months, to reach a record high of 117ppl. Meanwhile, companies have continued to go to the wall, with Hull-based AR Lunn the latest failure. Predictably, rising fuel costs were a main reason why 115 employees […]

Industry News

Longer semi-trailer swap service goes live

March 19, 2012

A website for operators keen to swap or acquire rights to operate longer semi-trailers has been launched by the RHA. The longer semi-trailer permit exchange information board is free to use, and is non-profit making. Jack Semple, RHA policy director, tells MT that companies can make requests either in confidence through the RHA or advertise their identity online. “The RHA hopes the service will enable firms that do not currently have longer semi-trailer allocations to acquire them as well as […]

Industry News

Olympic Route Network fine hike threat defeated

March 16, 2012

An attempt to introduce £200 parking fines on the Olympic Route Network (ORN) and beyond has been defeated. Operators working in the capital during the Games this summer had faced a hike in Penalty Charge Notices (PCNs) from £130 to £200 on the ORN. They had also faced the prospect of the fines being extended beyond the ORN to nearby roads, after London’s boroughs decided it would help tackle congestion adjacent to the route. While trade groups, including the FTA […]

Westminster Bridge will be affected by the London Olympics
Industry News

Olympics road race disruption details published

March 14, 2012

The timings, temporary road closures and parking restrictions that will be in place during the Olympic and Paralympic Games have been revealed. With road events in London scheduled to take place on seven of the 16 days of the Olympic Games and one day of the Paralympic Games, fleet operators will need to plan ahead to ensure service levels are maintained. It comes as Transport for London (TfL)  starts contacting residents and businesses along the road cycling, triathlon, marathon and […]

Industry News

DHL expands Unilever warehousing capacity

March 14, 2012 Peter Steele

DHL Supply Chain has opened its expanded capacity warehouse for long-term customer Unilever, marking the end of a 21 month project. The Cannock, Staffordshire, centre has the capacity to house 100,000 pallets and will handle all of Unilever’s homecare and ambient food lines for the UK and Ireland – including brands such as Persil, Marmite and PG Tips. Expanding the Cannock site – designed specifically to bring both product categories under the same roof for combined customer orders- has also […]

No Picture
Industry News

Labour warns on longer semi-trailer cyclist danger

March 13, 2012

Labour is calling on the government to “reverse its reckless decision” to give the go-ahead for a ten-year trial of longer semi-trailers. In a statement outlining the opposition’s current road transport policy, shadow transport secretary Maria Eagle MP says ministers must “stop being dogmatic” and examine evidence from the Department for Transport (DfT) that the move towards 14.6m and 15.65m trailers could lead to more cyclist casualties. She adds that Labour would use money from the proposed lorry road user […]