Latest Industry news – Page 144
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DVSA head of enforcement to speak at Microlise conference
The first key speaker to be confirmed for the 2019 Microlise Transport Conference is DVSA director of enforcement Marian Kitson.Kitson (pictured) joined the DVSA in September 2018 after 30 years with HMRC and is responsible for all enforcement activities, including roadside checks, counter-fraud and investigations, intelligence and working with the ...
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HSE guidance on the handling of pallet weights could take another six months to finalise
HSE guidance on the handling of pallet weights could take another six months to be finalised and will not set a limit on pallet weights, according to the head of the working group liaising with HSE on the guidance.Richard Smith, RHA operations director, who is chairman of the working group, ...
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Renault Trucks to invest £29m in new R&D centre
Renault Trucks has announced plans for a new 122,000sq ft R&D centre in St Priest, Lyon, France.The €33m (£29m) development, designed to use 25% less energy than the French building standard, is scheduled to open in the first half of 2021.According to Renault, the new centre, one of the top ...
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Daimler to deliver fully driverless truck to market within a decade
Daimler is to invest €500m (£450m) to develop a level 4 autonomous truck, with a view to bringing it to market within a decade.Speaking at the North American launch of the new Freightliner Cascadia earlier this month, which has the same level 2 autonomy as the new Mercedes-Benz Actros, Daimler ...
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Hawk Plant (UK) collapses into administration
One of the largest independent plant hire firms has entered administration, two months after it said the collapse of Carillion had caused it disruption.Restructuring firm EY was appointed to Shropshire-based Hawk Plant (UK) on Monday (14 January), as well as to subsidiary businesses Hawk Plant Hire, Hawk Hire, Safety and ...
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RHA attacks HS2 move to ban non-Euro-6 trucks from supply chain as 'virtue signalling'
The decision to ban all but Euro-6 trucks from working on the HS2 rail project is “virtue signalling”, the RHA said this weekThe criticism follows the announcement this week by HS2 Limited, the public body tasked with overseeing the project, that all vehicles along the length of the 345 mile ...
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Recovery firms call for review of Highway England's statutory recovery scheme over transparency concerns
Recovery firms are demanding a review of Highways England’s (HE) statutory recovery scheme amid concerns about a lack of financial transparency.The Association of Vehicle Recovery Operators (AVRO) said the scheme was being “torn to pieces” because of frustration to do with an apparent disparity between how much recovery operators are ...
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Abandon charging clean air zones for business friendly alternatives, demands the RHA
The RHA has called on councils to think twice before hitting hauliers and local business with the expense of charging clean air zones, after Southampton abandoned the approach.Southampton City Council turned its back on plans to charge vehicles to enter its proposed CAZ last week.The council said £15m-worth of air ...
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Transport jobs to go as part of a wave of redundancies at Ford
Car manufacturer Ford is planning to cut around 150 transportation jobs during the next two years as part of a major restructuring of its European division.The restructuring, announced last week, will also see the loss of 1,000 jobs at the manufacturer’s plant in Brigend, South Wales. The cuts are part ...
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UK hauliers have one more week to apply for EU transport permits
Operators have just one more week to apply for European Conference of Ministers of Transport (ECMT) permits that will allow them to continue transporting goods in the EU in the event of a no-deal Brexit.In December, the DfT extended the deadline for operators to apply for one of the 984 ...
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Fortec Distribution Network to find out if it faces HSE sanction shortly
Fortec is expected to learn shortly if it will need to spend any of a £500,000 contingency fund put in place after a site incident in 2016 that triggered an HSE investigation.Fortec MD Adrian Bradley, confirmed to MT that the incident occurred in October 2016, but added: “There has since ...
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DfT remains fully committed to UK platoon truck trial this spring
The DfT remains fully committed to conducting a lorry platoon trial this year on UK roads, despite Daimler’s announcement this week that the commercial benefits of the technology appear negligible.Speaking at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas this week Martin Daum, CEO of Daimler Trucks and Buses, said that ...
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Hazchem Network looks to the future with confidence after move to new Hinckley hub
The Hazchem Network is looking to boost volumes this year after opening a new 10-acre hub in Hinckley, Leicestershire this week.The move follows the arrival of new MD Rob Symes, replacing co-founder Ali Karim, who left the network in November last year.Karim launched the network with co-founder Jim Scanlan in ...
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Daimler turns back on truck platooning but still sees an autonomous future
Daimler is pulling the plug on its platooning programme after its real world trials delivered disappointing fuel savings due to traffic frequently interrupting the flow of the platoon.The Mercedes-Benz manufacturer’s announcement comes as the UK prepares to launch its first on-road HGV platooning trial this spring using DAF trucks.Speaking at ...
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Truck cartel compensation decision set for June
The hearing to decide whether compensation claims can go ahead against the big six European truck manufacturers for fixing the list prices of certain vehicles will be heard in June.At an initial review meeting in December before the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT), an order was issued to set aside 3 ...
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Search for Microlise Driver of the Year gets underway
The hunt for the UK’s best HGV driver has begun, with Microlise set to analyse more than 200,000 drivers’ records to identify the best of the best.The Microlise Driver of the Year award is based on analysis of Microlise telematics data and will reveal the best short, medium and long ...
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Motor Transport's most read stories of 2018
This year's most read was dominated by the sad demise of national haulier Canute, which never recovered from the end of its long-term contract with retailer Wilko last year. The contract was picked up Wincanton and represented more than 30% of Canute Group's revenue at that time - a staggering ...
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MT takes a look back at the year that was 2018 in UK road transport
By the time the Beast from the East had done its damage and spring was finally making itself known, official figures showed that there had been 574 insolvencies in UK logistics during the first three months of 2018.This number, however, was an improvement on the previous quarter, prompting the Creditsafe ...
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Why the weight? a year of debate and unilateral action over pallet deliveries
The decision of Palletways member Rase Distribution to introduce a 750kg weight limit on domestic tail-lift deliveries has once again put the question of what constitutes a safe pallet weight before the haulage sector.The Lincolnshire firm, which was bought by Hazchem member HW Coates this year, introduced the limit after ...
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UK driver shortage - it's not just for Christmas
The run-up to Christmas always poses serious challenges for operators, often stretching resources to breaking point, writes Simon Jack.But this year the competition to find drivers has become even more intense as the overall shortage within the industry bites, forcing companies to offer much increased rates to attract the staff ...