MHW Magazine News and stories from the Materials Handling Industry
Some Euro 1 and Euro 2 engines may meet London LEZ standards
Transport for London says some the Euro 1 or Euro 2 trucks registered before 1st October, 2001 may have sufficiently low particulate emissions then they meet the LEZ emission standards in 2008 without modification.. TfL a says it is working with vehicle makers to identify engine models which meet these emission standards and aims to list them on its website. Even those engines which did meet the standards when there were Type Approved will need a Vosa inspection and smoke test to ensure that they are still up to the mark. Vehicles that pass the test will be eligible for a Low Emission Certificate, but no vehicle with a Euro 2 or earlier engine can meet those standards without a Reduced Pollution Certificate or LEC from Vosa. Equally an operator with a vehicle that has an engine on that Eligible Engines list will need this certified by someone approved by TfL. RPCs and LECs will need to be renewed annually, too. The advice is to check that Eligible Engines list on the TfL website at www.tfl.gov.uk and if an engine isn't listed, talk to the engine maker.
More from Nick Fairholme on + 44(0)8456 070 009 or lezlondon@tfl.gov.uk
£25m London bus deals for Alexander Dennis
Alexander Dennis the says that it now has orders for 168 buses to go into service in London in over the next six to eight months. The orders are shared amongst Arriva, Metroline, and Go-Ahead London, First London and others. The orders are for a combination of Enviro 400 double-deckers and Enviro 200 and Dart single deckers.
More from Bill Simpson on + 44(0)1483571271 or bill.simpson@alexander-dennis.com
First ERF and last Foden on show
The British Commercial Vehicle Museum in Leyland says its ERF and Foden roadshow will be on Sunday 22 July. The event will include lots of visiting trucks, representing each brand. Exhibits inside the museum include the world's first ERF truck, built in Sandbach in 1934 and the last Foden truck. The show opens at 1000 and closes at 1700 and the museum is in King Street, Leyland, Lancashire. The British Commercial Vehicle Museum says it is the largest commercial vehicle museum in Europe, with the UK's only national collection of historic collection of vans, trucks and buses. Entry costs £4.00 for adults, with deals available for children, families and pensioners.
More from www.bcvm.co.uk
Cutting casualties
The Parliamentary Advisory Committee on Transport Safety says it will run a conference on cutting casualties involving driving for work. Road safety data shows that one in three road deaths involve someone driving while at work, either professionally or simply between meetings. Robert Gifford, executive director of Pacts says the conference “offers an opportunity to take stock of progress in cutting work-related deaths and injuries.” It will be on 9 October at the Royal Society of Arts, in John Adam Street, London WC2N 6EZ, with registration from 0930, a start at 1000 followed by a keynote speech from the minister of transport.
More from Robert Gifford on +44 (0)2 072 227 732 or info@pacts.org.uk
Hybrid Hino wins award
A Hino hybrid diesel electric truck has won the Truck of the Show award at the 2007 Queensland Truck and Machinery Show. Hino says the truck is the first production hybrid commercial vehicle to go on sale in Australia. The light and medium duty truck a 23kW electric motor for urban work with a four litre diesel engine for long distance work. Australia Post took the first two trucks.
More from www.hino.com.au
Lombard wins AA deal
Lombard Vehicle Management says it has won an order for 750 roadside assistance and recovery vehicles for the AA. The deal includes 300 Vauxhall Vivaros, 300 Ford Transits and 150 Renault Trafics. All are on a four-year contract hire deals.
More from Mark Carbery on + 44 (0)7 968 317 962 or mark.carbery@m-comm.net
Department for Transport wants bids for Motorways of the Sea
The UK Department for Transport says it just invited bids for funds to finance projects in the North Sea region as part of the EU's plan to establish “Motorways of the Sea”. These will be key routes between European member states and some neighbouring third countries. The aim is to encourage a regular services that can be combined with other transport modes to give efficient options to road-only transport. The opportunities to bid in this first stage close on 15 October, 2007.
More from www.dft.gov.uk
MEPs want transport emissions cut
The European Parliament has passed to a draft resolution the asking the European Union to cut transport C02 emissions by 20% by 2020
More from Jennifer Huckstep on +44(0)2 073 449 217or jhuckstep@smmt.co.uk
Don't raise fuel duty
The Road Transport Association says it has written to Alastair Darling the new UK Chancellor of Exchequer, asking him to postpone the two pence a litre fuel duty hike announced by his predecessor, Gordon Brown in his last Budget in March this year.
More from Kate Gibbs on +44 (0)1 932 838 917 or kate.gibbs@rha.net
MEPs get more power
The European Parliament has approved a deal with EU governments to give MEP commitees more power. One of the areas where this will have an effect is the oversight of the directive on End of Life Vehicles, the routines for recycling used light vehicles.
More from Jennifer Huckstep on +44(0)2 073 449 217or jhuckstep@smmt.co.uk
Airport deal for Renault trucks
Plane Handling Ltd has taken 10 Renault Premium tractor units and six Midlum rigids with a further 13 Midlums on order. The new trucks will join the company's 66 strong fleet. The Premiums will do nationwide cargo collection and delivery work, while the Midlums will be used for loading and unloading cargo to and from aircraft at Heathrow. Their specialist cargo handling bodywork was designed by MTHL Fleet Services and built by Transload Ltd. All the new trucks are on a financial engineering package that includes a three-year and buy-back option from dealer Renault Truck South. “This means that our running costs are predictable, making budgeting easier,” said Kevin Hutchins, transport business manager.
More from Penny Randall on +44 (0)1 582 479 619 or penny.randall@renault-trucks.com
Citroen wins duel fuel deal
Interserve Facilities Management just ordered 20 Berlingo dual fuel vans as part of a plan to improve its environmental performance and cut operating costs. The Nicholson McLaren engines converted Berlingo vans have 1.4 litre dual fuel power plants, runing on petrol and LPG they can cut 180% of nitrogen oxide, 50% of carbon monoxide and 24% carbon dioxide. The firm is also taking another 22 Citroen vans including Enterprise, Berlingo, Dispatch and Rrelay models. Citroen City, in Whitechapel did the deal, with all the vehicles on a four year 50,000 mile no maintenance contract hire deal through Arval UK Ltd
More from Phil Reed on +44 (0)2 086 684 048 or leadingpr@aol.com
Thorneycroft-Smith joins Eclipse
Chris Thorneycroft-Smith just joined database marketing specialist Eclipse Marketing Limited as associate director, with a brief to help the firm develop and increase its market share.
More from Louise Esplin on +44 (0)1 235 834 277 or louise.esplin@loudgroup.com
First Maxus ambulances
LDV says its dealer Channel Commercials has won an order for 50 Maxus ambulances from M&L Ambulance Services. The new vehicles will be the first factory-built Maxus ambulances from LDV's Birmingham plant. The firm says the deal is worth £1.25m at recommended retail prices.
More from Steve Miller on +44(0)1 213 223 089 or smiller@ldv.com
Truck & Bus Builder China
Jim Gibbins, editor and publisher of the monthly industry newsletter Truck & Bus Builder say he plans a quarterly supplement, Truck & Bus Builder China. “The aim is to report on commercial vehicle industry developments in China,” says Gibbins. “The industry there rivals western Europe and North America and its bus market is three times as big as Europe's and its medium and heavy truck market is more that twice as big, and growing.” The new report is available for £60.00 a single issue or “£200.00 for all four quarterly issues.
More from Katie Molyneux on 44 (0)1 984 639 300 or katietbbp@virgin.net
Teleroute aims to improve truck freight parking
Teleroute, which says it is a reading pan-European provider if electronic services for the transport and logistics industry, says it has joined an international consortium to develop a network of reliable, secure parking sites for truck drivers across the European Union. Called Secure European truck Parking Operational Services, the project aims to deliver secure truck parking areas over the next two years. The organisation says the project's first step will be to develop security standards for rest areas across the European Union. The next stage will be to build a series of secure parking areas in trans-border regions and upgrades some of the existing rest places to meet these standards.
