Industry news – Page 178

  • Article

    Haulage rates continue to stagnate

    2015-08-27T11:06:00Z

    Haulage rates continued to stagnate during the first half of the year, new data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) have suggested. According to the ONS's latest Services Producer Price Indices report, which provides a measure of inflation for a range of service industries including haulage, average rates for ...

  • Article

    TfL stays tightlipped over plans for orbital tunnel route

    2015-08-27T10:07:00Z

    Transport for London (TfL) has promised to provide an update “later this year” on proposals for a new underground ring road around London to relieve congestion. A spokesman for TfL said it was still carrying out detailed work to assess the viability of the plan. He was unable to clarify ...

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    Article

    Transport for the North to create dedicated freight strategy

    2015-08-25T10:27:00Z

    Transport for the North (TfN) is to create a dedicated freight and logistics strategy in a bid to boost freight activity and job opportunities in the north of England.TfN, the body formed of stakeholders and authorities from a selection of northern cities as part of the Government’s Northern Powerhouse agenda, ...

  • Article

    FTA calls for delegated examiners to conduct more driving tests

    2015-08-20T15:45:00Z

    The FTA has called for so-called ‘delegated examiners’ to be allowed to conduct vocational driving tests in the place of regular DVSA test examiners.The call comes after the government agency cancelled all outstanding training courses for delegated examiners at its Cardington, Bedfordshire, training facility through to the end of March.In ...

  • Article

    UK share of international traffic falls to new low

    2015-08-20T10:11:00Z

    UK-registered goods vehicles’ share of the international road freight market has fallen to a fresh low of just 13%, new figures from the DfT have shown. In the year to the end of June, there were 2.3 million journeys recorded from the UK to mainland Europe by powered goods vehicles ...

  • Article

    EC to decide over German minimum wage this autumn

    2015-08-19T15:25:00Z

    The European Commission is not expected to decide until this autumn whether to pursue its infringement case against Germany over the imposition of the German minimum wage on hauliers from other nations, an EC spokesman has revealed.The EC launched its infringement procedure with a letter of formal notice in May ...

  • Article

    European Commission extends deadline for investigation into FedEx-TNT merger

    2015-08-17T11:26:00Z

    The European Commission (EC) has extended the deadline for the completion of its investigation into FedEx’s proposed acquisition of TNT. The new deadline is 13 January compared with the original 7 December deadline. It came after the two operators requested more time.Ricardo Cardoso, spokesman for competition policy of the EC, ...

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    Article

    More than a third of transport managers to quit within five years

    2015-08-14T19:40:00Z

    Around 34% of transport managers intend to quit within five years, a new survey from the FTA has found.The figure, based on data collected from 328 transport managers, is a significant increase compared with last year's response to the same question, when 23% of the participants stated their intention to ...

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    Article

    Exchanging Places celebrates 20,000th participant

    2015-08-10T15:37:00Z

    TfL and the Metropolitan Police have celebrated a milestone in their Exchanging Places venture, which welcomed its 20,000th participant at a cycling festival in London last week. The joint-funded initiative allows members of the public to climb into the cab of an HGV to better understand what drivers can and ...

  • Article

    Longer semi-trailer trial achieves new high

    2015-08-10T15:02:00Z

    The highest recorded number of longer semi-trailers are either on the road or will be soon, months into the fourth year of the government’s longer semi-trailer trial.Latest figures from a report by Risk Solutions show that 91% (1,641) of the trial’s target of 1,800 trailers are registered on Vehicle Special ...

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    Article

    Scotland approves new rail freight terminal

    2015-08-06T15:24:00Z

    Plans for a new international rail freight terminal at Mossend in Bellshill have been approved by Scottish ministers. The new Mossend International Railfreight Park (MIRP) will expand the existing Mossend railhead run by PD Stirling and will be able to accommodate the latest 775 metre-long electric freight trains, said the ...

  • Article

    Government stacks up further problems over Calais disruption

    2015-08-06T13:05:00Z

    The DfT has declined to confirm the contents of a document sent to transport minister Andrew Jones by Kent County Council, which reportedly calls for nearly £300m of extra funding to be put into additional infrastructure to relieve the M20 during Operation Stack. According to The Independent, the taskforce – ...

  • Article

    Trade bodies to collaborate on industry-promoting organisation

    2015-08-06T11:50:00Z

    Industry bodies are to collaborate on a new joint initiative to promote the road haulage industry, with a focus on improving its public image and attracting more employees.The new organisation, to be formed by the RHA, FTA, CILT and Institute of Road Transport Engineers (IRTE), was the outcome of a ...

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    Article

    EC to investigate FedEx's takeover of TNT Express

    2015-08-06T09:16:00Z

    The European Commission has launched what it terms an “in-depth” investigation into the proposed acquisition of TNT Express by FedEx. Announcing the move, the EC said it had “concerns that on a number of European markets for international express and regular small packaged deliveries, the merged entity would face insufficient ...

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    Article

    Hauliers should not receive stowaway fines until Calais situation is resolved

    2015-08-05T13:20:00Z

    Haulage firms and their drivers who unwittingly transport migrants into the UK inside their vehicles should not be fined until the chaos at Calais is rectified, according to a law firm.Moore Blatch said drivers and their employers were facing a health and safety issue fuelled by intimidation, personal violence and ...

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    Article

    Conduct an energy audit or you could face a significant financial penalty, warns expert

    2015-07-31T09:03:00Z

    ShutterstockTransport and logistics firms who have not yet taken steps to comply with the requirements of the Energy Savings Opportunity Scheme (ESOS) Regulations 2014 must act now or face up to a £50,000 fine, an expert has warned.The regulations, brought in as a consequence of the EU’s Energy Efficiency Directive, ...

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    Article

    Supply chain operatives apprenticeship gets green light after HGV driver disappointment

    2015-07-28T13:17:00Z

    The government has given the greenlight to a supply chain operatives apprenticeship just days after it rejected the HGV driver apprenticeship. Both schemes were put forward by an industry-led working group of employers supported by the FTA, RHA and CILT under the government’s Trailblazer apprenticeship initiative.However the HGV Driver apprenticeship ...

  • Article

    "Little or nothing" been done to protect hauliers in Calais from "sheer volume" of migrants

    2015-07-24T11:23:00Z

    A risk management company has warned that “little or nothing” is being done to protect the employees of haulage firms in Calais – and the warning signs are there that violence in the area could escalate.Nathan Monshin, director of international risk at risk management specialist Spherical International, told Motortransport.co.uk, after ...

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    Article

    BVRLA membership surges to 10-year high

    2015-07-24T09:30:00Z

    The British Vehicle Rental and Leasing Association (BVRLA) gained over 70 new members in the first half of this year. Among the 73 firms to have joined since January are Arrow Self Drive, Asset Finance Solutions, MV Commercial and North East Truck & Van.The association’s membership has now reached a ...

  • Article

    DVLA check time goes to 21 days

    2015-07-23T09:58:00Z

    The DVLA has extended the time period that third parties can view a driver’s licence records via an online code from 72 hours to 21 days in a “victory for common sense”.This move has been welcomed by industry, but online licence checking still remains a contentious issue among firms needing ...