Commercial viability is the name of the game. Today on Roadtransport.com we ask: are Suffolk plans for lorry parks being bogged down by concerns over potential profitability? And when it comes to consolidation centres, who should pay for them and how can they be made a success?

Supermarket giants Tesco and Sainsbury’s both hit the news with Yorkshire-based goings on – the former has appointed Scania to manage vehicle maintenance at its new Goole regional distribution centre, while the later is claiming that its new Selby distribution centre could create 500 jobs when fully operational.

In other recent developments, TK Maxx takes delivery of its first electric vehicle, logistics giant Wincanton reveals its intention to make an offer for TDG, and Stobart Group gets the go-ahead from Carlisle City Council to revamp the local airport.

And, as promised, BigLorryBlog has some photos from the launch of the new Iveco Eurocargo.

Lots of manufacturer and bodybuilder news today – Kässbohrer becomes the latest company to offer an aerodynamic curtainsider trailer, Czech firm Kobit announces plans to move into the UK market for sweepers, and, of course, Iveco’s new Eurocargo makes its official debut.

For more pictures of the Eurocargo, navigate over to BigLorryBlog later today – or, if you can wait that long, BLB hopes to have a driving impression up on the blog tomorrow. In the meantime, have a look at BigLorryBlog’s photos of some classic ex-British working wagons still going strong in Malta.

So the effects of the credit crunch are still revealing themselves, and in the latest development analysts are "surprised" by the level of market slowdown. It appears that as many as one in seven haulage firms could go bust if things don't improve.

But some firms are defying the current tough trading conditions, among them the finalists of the MT awards. The winners will be announced on 2 July at the Grosvenor House Hotel, in London, so don’t forget to book your table.

So TransAction 2007 has set a date for another Park Lane fuel price protest – I wonder what new London mayor Boris Johnson’s take on it will be. At least the change of mayor seems to have been welcomed by the industry.

And talking of fuel prices, it seems more operators are considering ‘hedging’ fuel prices – that is, paying an upfront premium to a financial institution to lock in a rate for a set amount of time.

UPDATE: And a Goldman Sachs analyst is warning that the price of crude oil could hit $200 a barrel by 2010 - in what he (rather alarmingly) calls a "superspike".

Over in the blogs, BigLorryBlog is sharing some photos from the recent Lake Goldsmith vintage and classic commercial rally in Australia, as well as – somewhat closer to home – Truckfest Peterborough 2008. Moving across to the World Trucks Blog, you'll find Oliver Dixon's analysis of ArvinMeritor’s proposed divestment of its LVS business.

Making up the rest of today’s news: well established third-party logistics firms give their backing to multimodal freight movements; M-B’s Sprinter van gains an Electric Sliding Load Door (ESLD) as a £595 option; and Nightfreight presses ahead with expansion of its two-man delivery network despite a “difficult” 2007.

Safety is the name of the game today. Insurance giant Norwich Union is urging operators to fit blind-spot mirrors to their trucks now instead of waiting for mandatory fitment under EU law, and the Trussed Rafter Association has issued guidelines for truck drivers delivering rafters following a string of accidents and one fatality.

The number of trucks on the road has gone down since 1990, and longer, heavier vehicles could be one way to reduce this further. In today’s news the DfT denies The Times’ suggestion that it is sitting on the results of a report into LHVs because it disagrees with the findings. And there will be more trucks – at least foreign ones – come 2009 when operators from the Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Slovakia are granted access to the UK haulage market.

Over in the blogs, BigLorryBlog learns that composite axles are still alive and kicking, and Oliver Dixon considers a report suggesting that the US heavy truck market is poised for growth. Perhaps unsurprisingly, he disagrees...

So another fuel price protest makes the news – this time a peaceful blockade at Stanlow oil refinery, carried out by around 100 hauliers and farmers. Over in the blogs, BigLorryBlog has some photographs from the Park Lane protest earlier in the week.

Environmental issues figure strongly in today’s stories – a book of green ideas (including the banning of daytime truck deliveries) is dismissed as nonsense by the trade associations. A rather more sensible step forward is the use of hybrid vehicles; supermarket giant Tesco is of the belief that hybrids are “way ahead” of electric vehicles operationally. Consolidation centres also bring environmental benefits, although one consultant warns that they are likely to fail unless the financial model is given proper consideration at an early stage.

Also today, P&O Ferrymasters explains why it has set up a new commercial base in Poland, and RT.com continues to look forward to the SED show at Rockingham Speedway.

Today’s biggest story is probably the warm welcome the trade associations have given to the new scenario-based statutory charges for vehicle recovery – however they are seeking clarification on some of the terminology.

Elsewhere today, there's good news for a number of industry players. Pre-tax profit and turnover are both up at temperature-controlled haulier Langdons, while another temperature-controlled expert, Reed Boardall, has announced its green intentions by taking delivery of 12 new 40-pallet double-deck trailers fitted with solar panels. Also in an expansive mood is general haulier Daily Nationwide Distribution (DND), which is openly on the hunt for acquisition targets.

Over in the blogs, BigLorryBlog checks out Volvo’s new Euro-5 fire appliances and travels the A9 up to Orkney.

Oh, and don’t forget about the upcoming fifth Motor Transport Fleet Management Conference, where Eddie Stobart chief executive Andrew Tinkler will be revealing the keys to success in transport.

We have more news on yesterday’s fuel protest in London, with comment from the co-organiser as well as some of the hauliers who took part. From direct action to strike action: union Unite says “the dispute still exists” between workers at Grangemouth oil refinery and the refinery’s owner, Ineos; perhaps this is why the DfT is canvassing Scottish hauliers’ views as to whether drivers’ hours rules should be relaxed for fuel delivery drivers.

Some interesting vehicle developments as well today: Hino is pushing ahead with further additions to its 500 Series range, including a 7.5-tonner, while supporters of longer, heavier vehicles (LHVs) say they will continue to fight for on-road trials of the concept in the UK.

Over in the blogs, BigLorryBlog hits countries in three continents – looking at truck manufacturing in Iran, an old bonneted LP 1418 Mercedes tractor in Australia, and FedEx’s commercial hybrid truck fleet in North America.

Probably today’s biggest news story is the London fuel protest, in which two convoys of trucks converged on Marble Arch to call for the government to help operators with the high cost of diesel. For information on all such instances of direct action past and present, see the special RT.com ‘fuel protests’ page.

There's good news for manufacturing giant Paccar, which announces strong turnover and forecasts further growth in western and central Europe. It’s a very similar picture at Jost, with markets outside the US “buoyant” and demand for its vehicle connection systems growing worldwide.

Congestion and emission charging schemes also feature heavily in today’s news: no decision has yet been made as to whether trucks will have to pay Manchester’s planned congestion charge, and Frigoblock has questioned why TfL does not consider emissions from truck refrigeration units entering the London LEZ. For the background on this latter scheme, see RT.com’s ‘London Low Emission Zone’ page in the Hot Topics section of the site.

And over in BigLorryBlog, Clutchslip focuses on heavy haulage with a look at the transportation of the 70-tonne Soviet Buran space shuttle to the Technik Museum in south-west Germany.

RT.com is always full of interesting vehicles with unusual applications, today especially so. Utility company National Grid is using modified Daf LF45s and a technique known as ‘core and vac’ to reduce the disruption caused by road repairs; over in the blogs, BigLorryBlog checks out some articulated forklift trucks as well as a twin trailer combo in Melbourne, Australia.

Moving blogs to the Operators’ Voice, Prestons of Potto MD David Preston suggests some unusual ways of coping with the current high cost of fuel. This is an issue affecting many, not least Lincolnshire-based Geoff Gilbert International, which may sell off its transport arm “due to increasing competition from European operators, tough legislation and increasing fuel prices”.

Those fuel prices make it ever more important for operators to achieve the maximum efficiency possible – Freight Best Practice is currently looking for operators to take part in an online benchmarking pilot. Rounding off today's stories, Rikki Chequer writes about the state of the industry according to TruckNet UK, and looks forward to Truckfest.

Cabotage changes may undermine government plans
The government's decision to drop plans for a vignette system and invest more money in Vosa staffing could prove ineffectual if cabotage rules are changed.

TruckView lens focuses on UK
The TruckView anti-side-swipe lens being offered by VOSA to foreign hauliers is now being promoted heavily to UK transport businesses.

Brian Hill O-licence decision postponed
A decision on the application for a new O-licence for 21 vehicles and one trailer by Brian Hill Waste Management has been reserved after arguments over whether a moratorium on legal processes exists once a company enters administration.

TfL's plan to raise operator standards in London
Transport for London claims 400 operators have already registered to join its Freight Operator Recognition Scheme (FORS).

Scots haulier fined for fatality
A Scottish haulier has been fined £3,750 after a mechanical loader broke free from a lorry and smashed into a car killing the front-seat passenger in July 2006 on the A9 in the Highlands.