Industry news – Page 191

  • Article

    ECO Stars launches website to boost fleet efficiency

    2014-10-01T13:36:00Z

    ECO Stars has launched a new website to help operators understand the environmental and financial benefits they could gain from learning how to improve fleet efficiency and lower fuel usage.Launched in 2009 in South Yorkshire, the fleet recognition scheme has now expanded across the UK as well as into Spain, ...

  • Article

    Driver shortage will force rates up

    2014-10-01T08:37:00Z

    Operators are struggling to find reliable agency drivers as they gear up for the peak Christmas period, with warnings that the shortage will intensify, forcing prices higher.Leicester-based Premier Logistics told Motortransport.co.uk its main agency has been struggling to provide staff. “Because of Driver CPC, there is a clause in the ...

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    Article

    Revised French road tolling scheme to be launched early 2015

    2014-09-30T15:47:00Z

    A revised French road tolling scheme covering parts of the currently free-to-use trunk road network is to be introduced early next year – targeting international hauliers transiting the country.The original Ecotaxe was intended to cover 15,000km of non-motorway national roads, which are heavily used by freight traffic that is priced ...

  • Article

    FairFuelUK concerned by lack of Labour Party interest in fuel price issue

    2014-09-26T13:07:00Z

    FairFuelUK (FFUK) co-founder Howard Cox has said he is “absolutely disgusted” with the Labour Party’s apparent disinterest in the issue of fuel prices, after a fringe event on the subject held at the Labour Party conference in Manchester attracted just a handful of attendants. FFUK spent around £4,000 – ...

  • Mercedes Econic Euro-6 gas
    Article

    Mercedes-Benz confirms 8x4 Euro-6 Econic cab for tipper market

    2014-09-26T10:57:00Z

    Mercedes-Benz has confirmed it is working on an 8x4 Euro-6 version of its low entry Econic cab, which that would be suitable for some urban construction applications where the improved visibility of vulnerable road users such as cyclists is an issue. Michael Kamper, UK MD of Mercedes-Benz Trucks, told MT ...

  • Direct Vision concept LR
    Article

    University unveils cycle-friendly truck concept

    2014-09-25T13:21:00Z

    Loughborough University has unveiled a new design of truck it claims could save the lives of hundreds of cyclists and pedestrians. The Direct Vision concept, based on a previous design from the University of Aachen (FKA), features a cab 80cm longer than normal trucks with a rounded nose, smaller dashboard, ...

  • HighwaysAgencyPA
    Article

    PAC report criticises stop-go approach to roads funding

    2014-09-25T11:43:00Z

    A piecemeal, stop-go approach to funding for road maintenance has made it difficult for highways authorities to deliver maintenance cost-effectively over recent decades, the Public Accounts Committee has said. In a new report on roads maintenance published this week, the committee said the DfT’s “unpredictable and fluctuating” budgets for road ...

  • Article

    Book now to secure your place at Quiet Cities

    2014-09-25T11:28:00Z

    Booking for the Quiet Cities global summit in November is now open.The two-day summit, a joint initative between Motor Transport, TfL, DHL and Route Monkey, and it will take place on 25 and 26 November at Twickenham Stadium.Confirmed speakers include Ian Wainwright, head of freight and fleet programmes at TfL; ...

  • Article

    Mail competition inquiry launched following Royal Mail calls

    2014-09-25T10:45:00Z

    An inquiry into competition in the UK postal sector has been launched, after calls from Royal Mail to protect it from last mile delivery competition earlier this year.The Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) committee yesterday said the inquiry would investigate access, end-to-end delivery of mail, the parcel delivery services available ...

  • Hendy
    Article

    TfL commissioner Peter Hendy picked as Transaid trustee

    2014-09-22T15:12:00Z

    Charity Transaid has appointed TfL commissioner Sir Peter Hendy as a trustee as it seeks to expand the scope of its international work.Transaid aims to improve people’s quality of life in the developing world by making transport more available and affordable. It was founded by Save the Children and the ...

  • AK Worthington
    Article

    AKW Group wins warehousing deal with fashion house SRG

    2014-09-22T14:50:00Z

    Manchester-based AKW Group has won an 18-month 4,000-pallet warehousing contract with fashion house SRG Apparel.Having worked with the menswear specialist for the past 12 months, AKW said the contract, worth £700,000, was a key target for its 500,000ft² warehousing division based at Trafford Park.“This is an important contract for our ...

  • Article

    Cambridge universtity mandates cyclist safety improvements for contractors

    2014-09-18T10:48:00Z

    Contractors working for Cambridge university have been asked to make safety improvements to their HGVs corresponding with the Construction Logistics and Cycle Safety (Clocs) scheme.Based on the London developed Clocs initiative, which has been led by Transport for London, the Cambridge version binds contractors to installing extra mirrors and side ...

  • online job
    Article

    MT teams up with Logistics Job Shop to help operators recruit

    2014-09-16T15:21:00Z

    MT has teamed up with Logistics Job Shop to launch an improved recruitment service for the UK distribution industry.Founder David Coombes said: “Logistics Job Shop has a clear understanding of its customers, providing a targeted arena for employers and jobseekers.“While traffic and job applications may be lower than generalist jobs ...

  • wilson james O2
    Article

    Wilson James awarded gold Fors for London Construction Consolidation Centre

    2014-09-11T13:41:00Z

    Wilson James has been award gold in TfL's Fleet Operator Recognition Scheme (Fors) for its London Construction Consolidation Centre in Silvertown. Bob Dempsey operations manager for Wilson James said: "We are delighted to have been awarded Fors gold standard and to be one of few construction related companies to have ...

  • Article

    Driver CPC exposes recruitment challenge road transport faces, says FTA

    2014-09-10T12:34:00Z

    The FTA has reiterated its warning that with the Driver CPC deadline now reached, the road transport industry is facing not only a short-term driver shortage but a more serious underlying recruitment problem.In a statement issued today [10 September] to mark the Driver CPC deadline, the FTA said that while ...

  • Article

    Driver shortage takes hold

    2014-09-01T15:54:00Z

    RHA research has revealed that the long-predicted driver shortage is now severely affecting operators as they gear up for the Christmas peak.According to a poll of its members, both subcontractors and agency drivers are in short supply: 96.4% of respondents said they had difficulty in sourcing agency drivers, while 85% ...

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    Article

    Pall-Ex streamlines European booking process

    2014-09-01T14:50:00Z

    Pall-Ex has revamped its international pallet services, in a bid to allow customers and members to arrange overseas deliveries easily via a single booking transaction.The revamped Connect Europe service, which makes use of the pallet network’s IT system Twine, has been revised and expanded to make it, in theory, just ...

  • Ryder_Euro6_fleet
    Article

    Ryder takes delivery of Euro-6 demonstrator fleet

    2014-08-28T15:45:00Z

    Ryder has the largest rental, leasing and contract hire fleet above 3.5t GVW in the UKRyder has taken delivery of a multi-marque Euro-6 demonstrator fleet to enable its rental and contract hire customers to carry out their own road trials. The fleet, which is comprised of 13 trucks ...

  • VAM_Dashboard
    Article

    Transport Exchange Group adds more functionality

    2014-08-28T14:17:00Z

    Transport Exchange Group has introduced two features to its freight trading platform to provide greater control of multi-deport activity, as well as improve the accuracy of available vehicles data.The first, Depotlink, allows members of Haulage Exchange and Courier Exchange that operate multiple sites to switch between these accounts, providing a ...

  • Article

    Four weeks left to apply for longer semi-trailer permits

    2014-08-28T13:40:00Z

    There are still 400 longer semi-trailer allocations available, the DfT has said, and operators only have four weeks to apply for them.The ten-year longer semi-trailer trial was launched in 2012 with operators bidding for 1,800 allocations of 14.6m and 15.65m variants. All allocations had been issued at the begining of ...