It’s been an eventful New Year so far, with the usual number of companies getting into trouble in the post-Christmas letdown: Amtrak Express parcels went into administration last week, and were sold on Saturday, while trailer rental and financial services firm Transrent collapsed owing £65m.
Still, one man’s poison is another man’s meat, as Northgate posted results which showed a 48% boost in turnover.
And other people are optimistic enough to be on the lookout for new purchases. DSV – formerly DFDS – bought Frans Maas last year and is on the lookout for more, while Turners (Soham) has just bought bulk powder specialist CRW for “a rumoured £7m”.
The widespread fears of higher inflation rates in the UK will only increase the pressure on operators to trim their costs – good luck with that, particularly as the average hourly pay for class C+E drivers has risen by 9.4% over the last year. The Transrent boss, too, blamed his firm’s collapse on low rental rates.
And you can perhaps expect a tougher enforcement regime as far as the Working Time Directive is concerned – according to Transport Minister Stephen Ladyman.
Well, at least you can order yourself a new Iveco Stralis, or console yourself with the thought that we don’t drive as badly as some people…

How important is being green to UK businesses? The UPS Europe Business Monitor says very, while research by Leaseplan suggests just the opposite.
Another product launch, this time from Renault. The new Maxity will be available as a 3.5-tonner in the manufacturer’s UK line-up.
There is concern over driver jobs at Yearsley – but some good news for Glasgow-based Albion Automotive.
And the World Trucks Blog has been bursting with news and rumours, not least regarding the future of Renault Trucks. On the other side of the world, Dongfeng Motor Group is in talks about a possible Volvo AB investment in its vehicle venture with Nissan Motor.

Breaking the law can be an expensive activity. Next month, the penalty for using a mobile phone while driving is to rise to £60 and three penalty points – and operators may soon face a hefty fine of up to £5,000 for failing to download and store digitach data. But this pales in comparison to the £29,000 one freight boss has been ordered to pay for health and safety breaches.
In better news, the price of AdBlue continues to plummet – which may not be of great benefit to Eddie Stobart, seeing as it has put in an order for 500 EGR Scanias.
The big story of the day has to be manufacturer MAN withdrawing its hostile bid for Scania. MAN makes the headlines again with its statement of “unanimous support” for CEO Hakan Samuelsson – but why is our World Trucks blogger so cynical?

The trade associations have been making their feelings clear. Firstly the Freight Transport Association criticises the latest increase in fees on the M6 toll, then it raises concerns over the proposed London low-emission zone (LEZ) – and the Road Haulage Association has its say too. At least the FTA welcomes the launch by VOSA of OCRS, which scores operators from 0 to 10 to indicate how often they have broken the rules.
The true impact of last week’s storms is now becoming clear, with the Association of British Insurers believing the cost to UK industry to be in the “high hundreds of millions”.
But it's not all doom and gloom - Stan Robinson Group has reported a profits increase and Palletforce has also posted strong results. Lastly, don’t forget to check your water bill – it could save you thousands, as Scania dealer Keltruck discovered. Although that might not compensate you for any trucks blown over in those gale-force winds…

EGR or SCR? Operators are still choosing. Bird’s Groupage Services has gone the EGR route, quoting operational simplicity as the deciding factor, whereas RW Simpson is pleased with the fuel efficiency achieved with SCR Volvo FH tractors. And there is more good news for the SCR camp: AdBlue consumption seems to be considerably lower than originally expected.
There’s trouble at the ports, with container turnaround times rising again at Southampton and Dover running at near capacity. Perhaps a second terminal will help – if it gets approval.
Wednesday’s big news was MAN withdrawing its bid for Scania – although MAN remained keen to exploit “possible synergies” between the two. Now it seems that Scania boss Lief Ostling is pushing for a co-operation agreement.
Finally today, we recommend you check out Tom Cunningham’s coverage of the 2007 Dakar Rally – as seen on Commercial Motor editor-in-chief Brian Weatherley’s own BigLorryBlog.

BRS, the former British Road Services, has a distinctly Continental flavour now, with the appointment of Enrico Odorico as its new managing director. This follows the ‘transition’ of the firm within the Volvo Group from Volvo to Renault Trucks.

And there’s more Continental interest in the UK market in the shape of Schmitz Cargobull, which has just appointed a member of the Schmitz family as its new UK MD. A sign of confidence in the British market, perhaps?

Meanwhile, back on distinctly British ground, it’s worth catching the debate at Trucknet.co.uk as Thorburn Transport regains its operating licence.

And while the US truck industry looks ever more shaky, it seems that there are more overtures for MAN – this time from the Volvo Group. And isn’t that where we came in?

Operators are going to be alarmed by the latest analysis of the new EU drivers’ hours rules – according to a report from Motor Transport, they could mean that some firms have to employ 10% more drivers.
A couple of the more interesting US-based companies have posted results, and they are mighty impressive. First there’s UPS, whose fourth-quarter results show a stunning 11% increase in revenues – the parcels operator is now handling 20 million items on some days.
Then there’s PACCAR, the parent group of DAF. Its 2006 results are even more startling, with sales up by 17% and profits up by 32%. But in his World Trucks blog, Oliver Dixon warns that with its reliance on the fragile US market, PACCAR could be heading for a fall.
Meanwhile, Tesco has bought a fleet of 15 Modec electric vans for home deliveries. Is this a serious move, or just paying lip service to the environment? We’ll see.
And finally… Will Shiers has begun a regular series of blog postings on old vehicles and operators, Will’s Memory Lane, with a piece going by the marvellous title of Old Trannies Never Die.

A big day today – it’s the official launch of Roadtransport.com, and we hope you’ll be as excited as we are about it.

There’s a lot happening in the industry too – the British Association of Removers is calling for ‘green grants’ to offset the cost of operating in London’s proposed Low Emission Zones, while Eddie Stobart has opted to take the EGR route to Euro 4, buying 500 new Scanias. Meanwhile, blogger Oliver Dixon is reliably cynical: he reckons that biofuels are a scam.

The rules on digital tachographs seem to be creating even more confusion, with debate over the procedure for downloading data.

The latest figures show an alarming rise in truck hijacks, part of a rise in truck crime in general, though as some compensation there is more funding for Truckwatch, the highly successful ‘regional freight crime reduction initiative’, to operate in Yorkshire and Humberside.

There’s some good news though: Devon haulier Evans Transport has increased its profits, while the Palletline network is back in the black.

We have been doing a lot of last-minute work to make sure that the site is in tip-top shape, but we know that you will always demand more. If you see something that you think should change, please email me at editor@roadtransport.com.

And don’t forget our free email newsletter, for an update on the week’s news every Monday morning – just click here to subscribe.

‘Green’ is becoming an increasingly important word to operators, as they get to grips with the inevitable tightening of emissions controls and energy reduction. And now the politicians are in on the act, with the Prime Minister himself trying out the latest electric truck from Smith Electric Vehicles. Read more about this on the website.

This week Motor Transport published a short, sharp guide to the rules on the London Low Emissions Zone (LEZ), due to come into force in February next year - find it here on Roadtransport.com. Find out why it could affect your trucks’ resale value and why it will cost the industry “between £65m and £135m”.

After the usual round of post-Christmas company failures and portents of doom, it’s nice to be able to report some good company results: Circle Express managing director Chris Coffey says that 2007 is “looking positive”, while Hargreaves Services managed to boost both turnover and profit in 2006. Even Reed Boardall, which posted a pre-tax loss in the year to March 2006, is optimistic about its prospects for the year, on the basis of increased turnover. All good stuff, but there’s a long way to go in 2007.

And don’t forget our free email news alert, for an update on the week’s news every Monday morning – just click here to subscribe to the newsletter.

VOSA's technical staff could be going on strike soon, if next week's ballot goes the right way. The PCS Union is protesting against a pay deal which gave many employees just a 2% rise.

A reminder about the new rules on animal transportation which have just come into force, replacing the old WATO regulations.

And if you are at all involved in transporting oil or petroleum products, it's worth making a date for the Federation of Petroleum Suppliers' show and conference, in Telford in April. This has become a good niche exhibition, with plenty to see for tanker operators.

Lots of interesting news on the vehicles front, with a spy shot of the next-generation MAN TG-A and the news that Iveco is likely to offer only a Euro 5 version of its new-model Stralis.

The SMMT has just released the January truck and van sales figures, and we'll have some analysis of that soon. While the truck figures are down by more than 23% (as expected, after the rush to buy Euro 3 vehicles) van sales continue to power upward - they are 1.2% higher than for January 2006.

But it's a mixed time for component makers too: while BPW is doing well, some of the huge 'Tier 1' manufacturers (ArvinMeritor and Caterpillar, for example) are approaching a 'tipping point', according to Oliver Dixon.

First of all, drive carefully! With 4-6 inches of snow on the way (snow is Imperial, isn't it?) everybody is offering warnings about what might happen on the roads, and Roadtransport.com is no exception.

Thinking of booking a last-minute test at a VOSA test station? Then you'd better be based in the North-East or East Anglia, where you are only likely to have to wait three days for a test. If you are from the South-East, you will wait an average of 12 days and possibly as much as 39 days, according to a survey published this week in Commercial Motor. And if VOSA goes on strike, you should perhaps give up altogether...

And speaking of giving up.... there's more gloom from the US truck and engine industry.

On a happier note, why not celebrate with Trumac group as they clock up 70 years at the same site.

A fairly worrying day for a lot of people, quite apart from the weather:

there's more disquiet about the new EU drivers' hours rules;

it could be bad news if you work in a warehouse for Wincanton or NYK;

and it's definitely bad news if you work for fruit & veg wholesaler Hurst Parnell Westland.

On the other hand, David Miliband, everybody's favourite pipsqueak Environment Minister, has reassured us that the transport of 160,000 potentially bird flu-ridden dead turkeys is perfectly safe. So that's all right then.

And in similarly reassuring mode, French policemen have promised to protect British drivers. Pardon me while I splutter out my cafe au lait.

And finally... Will Shiers has unearthed a brewery wagon with a rather surprising good-luck charm.

A lot of drivers could be losing the right to drive, after the DVLA classifies sleep apnoea as 'disabling'.

There's a fantastic new product which can check your tyre tread depth as you drive into the yard.

Some DAF dealers are fighting the apparent success of EGR-equipped trucks by offering a year's free AdBlue with every truck.

Our World Trucks blogger Oliver Dixon is on a roll - no sooner does he come up with a marvellous turn of phrase about German motor industry mogul Ferdinand Piech (incidentally, Hafnium Carbide is pretty hard, and it has an exceptionally high melting point) than he also produces another withering blast on biofuels.

Incidentally, if you go to www.findadblue.com, you are quite likely to see an advert for MAN, talking about "A clean future for us all - solutions for Euro 4 and Euro 5". Is this the same MAN which is so dismissive of SCR and AdBlue in the UK?

And finally... check out the "All New Maxus" at this page.

People power has put the road pricing debate on the front pages today, as the petition against road charging on the 10 Downing Street website exceeded 1 million signatures - and caused a transport minister to promise a debate on the subject.

Our bloggers have got themselves worked up about it too, as you can see - with Colin Barnett frothing at the mouth about a potential £25,000-a-year bill (!) and Oliver Dixon extolling the virtues of longer, heavier trucks. He calls them LHVs - will it catch on, do you think?

Elsewhere, Oliver keeps stirring the pot of the MAN/Scania/VW stew, and points out that DAF is massively increasing production capacity at Eindhoven.

And Volvo is making an investment in alternative fuel production - from paper pulp.

Today's big news is the appointment of Theo de Pencier as the new chief executive of the Freight Transport association - exclusively revealed on Roadtransport.com yesterday afternoon. Theo will succeed the retiring Richard Turner on July 1st.

But here's another surprise - the leader of the Conservative party is interested in trucks! The (occasionally) tree-hugging David Cameron* has visited Scania in Södertälje, along with the Swedish prime minister. And what's Scania CEO Leif Östling saying to himself here?

We're not sure, but we think it might be, "All that expensive education, and you still don't know how to tie a tie, eh?"

That road pricing petition won't go away - another 150,000 signatures have been added in the last 24 hours, despite the No 10 website proving difficult to access at times.

* not the David Cameron who tests vans for Motor Transport...

You have a chance to make a real contribution to the debate on longer, heavier trucks, with an online questionnaire for operators. The survey comes from a team of academics including the highly respected Professor Alan McKinnon.

Parcels industry veteran Alan Jones is in typically bullish mood, as he reckons he can turn Amtrak back to profit by the end of this year.

Things are less rosy for tanker specialist Suckling Transport, which faces a strike ballot by drivers.

And Mercedes-Benz' parent company Daimler seems to be rueing its decision to merge with Chrysler.

Oh yes, and Happy Valentine's day!

Lots of contract wins reported in the last few days, from the likes of Kuehne + Nagel, Ryder and Boughey Distribution.

Meanwhile, another firm seeks to rise from administration, as RLC Transport (Wales) is bought by its management team.

Over in our Transport Law blog, Tim Ridyard of Barker Gotelee Solicitors highlights the Court of Appeal's decision in the review of a case of Death by Dangerous Driving.

And Will Shiers celebrates the new series of Life on Mars with a look at a fine example of British craftsmanship from the Seventies.

A really mixed bag of industry stories today:

Yet another organisation makes a stand against Transport for London's proposed Low Emission Zones - and this time it's London's councils themselves.

Commercial Motor has helped to clear a driver of a licence offence.

Yet another significant contract renewal - this time a ten-year deal with Diageo for CERT Group.

Volvo's new FE makes its first appearance in the UK.

If you have apprentices, make sure they enter the national Apprenticeship Awards - but be quick, as entries close next week.

A finance company fits a Citroen Berlingo with three ovens...

...and just for fun, Here's what happens when a FedEx delivery goes wrong...

A really mixed bag of news today, from the announcement that Macfarlane's administrators are being given more time to chase the firm's outstanding debt to the protests over a major traffic light scheme in Dudley.

Then there's trailer manufacturer Cartwright, which has made use of an impressive longitudinal loading system to carry extra-large reels of newsprint while maintaining stability.

Over on our Transport Law Blog, solicitor Elizabeth Caple, a specialist in O-licence law, reminds operators of how important it is to maintain financial repute.

And in his World Trucks Blog, Oliver Dixon shows us the new Hino lightweight truck - and suggests that it might fill a niche for Scania.

Some hard questions for VOSA today, as an investigation by Commercial Motor reveals a distinct split in the agency's enforcement policy.

Volvo has bought Nissan Diesel (makers of the Quon, below) - and as usual Oliver Dixon has something to say about the deal: it gives Volvo access to ND's heavy hybrid technology, and it could mean yet another round of merger and acquisition.

There are lots of new appointments in the industry, with new directors for Scottish Highlands & Islands specialist JBT, a whole new management team for truck dealer Sherwood Commercial Vehicles and more new senior managers at Ryder and Driver Hire.

Don't forget that if you're looking for a new job in the transport industry, there are plenty at Roadtransport.com.

And you must see the first instalment of the "Desperate Van Challenge" - in which three apparently responsible adults get to spend £600 each on a panel van which then has to prove itself productive, driveable and (hopefully) suitable to sell on.

Lots of news from the regions today:
Polish-language road signs in Cheshire;
fears that the new Forth road bridge may come too late for the banning of trucks from the existing bridge in 2013,
the DfT consulting on a deal to share driving bans with Ireland;
and calls from an operator for a significant upgrade to a road on the Scottish/English border.

But more importantly, Commercial Motor's 'Desperate Van Challenge' is well under way. Just to recap: in a desperate attempt to prove that they are not all pampered lightweights, two CM journalists and their counterpart from Motor Transport have no more than £600 each to spend on a real-world van to undertake some serious (and not-so-serious) challenges. First up, it's MT's Will Shiers, who has bought himself a 1994 Leyland DAF 200 series.

There's a flurry of activity on the forthcoming "Driver CPC", due in 2009: Motor Transport's Sarah Dennis looks at the DSA's proposed changes to the driver training system, while Transport Select Committee chair Gwyneth Dunwoody expresses concern over the idea of privatising driver testing and Skills for Logistics chief executive Ian Hetherington comments on the driver CPC's strengths and shortcomings.

In the Desperate Van Challenge, Will Shiers has managed to get his Leyland DAF 200 home.

Commercial Motor reporter Dylan Gray has been gathering readers' views on the use (or abuse) of speed cameras - and he'd like you to add your opinions.

Dylan has also entered the fray of the Desperate Van Challenge - with a Renault Master. Oh, well - at least his attempt is more serious than Colin Barnett's first effort.

And here's another of those "random US truck crash" movies. We can't get enough of them...

Part of the Road Safety Act 2006 comes in to force tomorrow. The area that has received most publicity (largely because the Department for Transport has given it the most emphasis) is the increase in penalties for using a hand-held mobile phone while driving: it will now get you - or your drivers - an automatic £60 fine and three penalty points.

Find out more about the provisions of the Road Safety Act from transport lawyer Tim Ridyard here.

The DfT has also published its annual overview of 'Road goods vehicles travelling to mainland Europe' and the highlights are predictable: in 2006 the number of trucks (and unaccompanied trailers) crossing the Channel went up by 3% to almost 2.9 million, and only around a quarter of these were UK-registered. Most of the rest were French- , Dutch- and German-registered. at least the rate of increase in foreign-registered trucks has slowed...

Today's the day the authorities seriously crack down on drivers using hand-held mobile phones - top transport lawyer Tim Ridyard explains what's in store for them. And what did I see first thing this morning? The driver of a prison van apparently texting as he drove along the High Street.

Elsewhere, Oliver Dixon looks at the possibility that MAN might take over VW's van division - an intriguing idea.

Are you facing a Public Inquiry? In our Transport Law Blog, solicitor Andrew Woolfall of transport law firm Backhouse Jones gives an excellent rundown of what you need to know, prepare and do if you are facing the Traffic Commissioner.

But we don't recommend you go to see the TC in a Leyland Sherpa - not even the rust-free example being admired by Will Shiers.

Roadtransport.com is one month old today! And since we launched on Feruary 1st we have garnered more than 17,000 unique users and more than 150,000 page views. Thanks for visiting, thanks for contributing, and rest assured that the site will simply get better and better.

Today's big news is the speech by Transport Secretary Dr Stephen Ladyman at the FTA's Freight Summit in Westminster today. Dr Ladyman seems very keen on a 'Vignette' for commercial vehicle operators, which he said would be 'cost-neutral' for UK hauliers. Hmmm, maybe...

Ladyman's other highlight was the rather dramatic statement that there would be 'gridlock in every major city' by 2015 if road pricing was not adopted widely. However, some commentators were very sceptical about this timescale.

Is trailer manufacturer Schmitz Cargobull out to take over the world? It looks like it: after all, they already make 65,000 trailers a year. Colin Barnett has more on the firm's plans to increase production at its UK plant in County Durham under the new management of Andreas Schmitz, great-great-granson of founder Heinrich Schmitz.

Is Eddie Stobart for sale? That's the question over at TruckNetUK, where they have picked up on a story that WA Developments is possibly looking to sell some of their stake in the haulier in order to raise money.

Beware the Belgian tachograph inspectors - it seems that they are demanding to see digital tachograph printouts from the past fifteen days' running, and (understandably) few drivers are prepared for this.

Over in our Transport Law Blog, we have a sobering lesson in the need to make manual entries on the back of tachograph charts from solicitor Andrew Woolfall. And on a lighter note, there's a splendid picture of a Multidrive artic tipper.

The government has finally got round to a proper consultation on the use of biofuels, and on how it can meet its obligation to ensure that 5% of oil usage is replaced with renewable alternatives by 2010. Commercial Motor's Louise Cole reports on the consultation at Roadtransport.com, and explains more here on the Road Transport Blog.

There's more on biofuels, as Ireland's Department of Transport offers grants to operators to convert trucks to duty-free plant oil as part of a trial.

And the FTA is claiming a victory against the new EU drivers' hours regulations: they have negotiated a change in the burden of proof for a prosecution, in favour of operators.

The big news today is the departure of Chris Thorneycroft-Smith from Iveco after 14 years.

CTS has been a forceful, ever-bullish managing director - and before that, an impressive sales and marketing director. He has always shown complete belief in the product and support for the industry, and it's hard to imagine that we won't see more of him.

Iveco didn't go long without a managing director: today comes the news that Henk van Leuven is to be the new MD of Iveco in the UK, having come from the heavy truck unit in Turin. Perhaps he's the man to make the new Stralis a resounding success.

Over on the Transport Law Blog, solicitor Elizabeth Caple explains the importance of daily vehicle checks for your O-licence, and on the Truck & Van Blog there are more vintage gems from Will Shiers and further developments in the Desperate Van Challenge. Oh, the humanity!

Meanwhile, on drivers' forum TruckNet UK, Jeremy Vine is coming in for a fair bit of flak; the Radio 2 presenter has ruffled the feathers of truck drivers by launching a poll on the "most hated road users". Not surprisingly trucks aren't coming out too well and the drivers aren't happy. Plans for a "Most hated radio DJ" poll have been mooted, with one member posting "Whine (sic) is a patronising, uninformed git, who would really be best off on daytime TV". No sitting on the fence there, then.

Elsewhere on TruckNet UK, Traffic Commissioner Beverly Bell has come in for some attention, with opinion mixed. Most agree that she is a firm but fair TC, and there is admiration for her knowledge of the industry, although some contributors are debating whether or not she's a 'babe'... Your comments, please.

The debate - or rather war - between the EGR and SCR camps shows no signs of letting up, with both groups of truck manufacturers fiercely defending their engine emissions technology for Euro 4 and beyond. The latest shot came from