Will was amazing with me- he kept making  sure that  I had  the information I would possibly need , I learnt so much and feel I am now a much better driver . I  had Peter the morning of my test who very patiently went over everything with me especially those rotten cones!

Kevin taught my husband , which is not an easy job but he did it and  my husband has learnt a huge amount from him.

The trainers you have are brilliant and make you feel at ease from the start . We can’t thank you all enough . We have had a great experience and we really appreciate all you have done for us .

Thank you 

Sam and David Dean

The Commercial Vehicle (CV) Show, now just over two months away, will provide a golden opportunity for hauliers to see a wide range of new equipment for their vehicles.
This includes add-ons such as tail lifts, several different types of which will be on display. Manufacturers at the show will include US specialist Maxon, which has had a UK arm based in Peterborough for five years.
The company will be displaying three different tail lifts at the show, two of which are new models. Maxon will be on stand 3E64 in hall 3A at the show, which runs at the Birmingham NEC on 24-26 April.
Maxon’s product manager, Kevin Woods, says that the CV Show gives the firm the chance to meet the potential installers, bodybuilders and manufacturers who mostly make up its customers.
It doesn’t generally sell directly to hauliers, although Woods says it still welcomes them at its stand and values their support.
He said: “Sometimes it is a driver’s preference which can lead to one tail lift being fitted rather than another. The backing of the people who actually use the lifts is very important.”

Everyone remembers when they were learning to drive for the first time and we all have contrasting stories about our instructors. Some of us might have failed first time and blamed it on the teaching methods of the particular instructor, while others will go through life praising how well their instructor taught them and made sitting behind the wheel a breeze. With our team of friendly and experienced training professionals who are dedicated to your success, you will most definitely fall into the second category as you hold that licence and send off your first applications.

Each instructor will take each phase of your training programme step by step and at your own pace to ensure that you are becoming a safe and competent HGV driver. The refreshing thing about our service here at Surrey and Hampshire HGV Training is also that we do not stick to a single, rigid training plan and offer training for Category C HGV Drivers, Category C+E/Artic Drivers and even LGV Training if you are hoping to gain your LGV licence Hampshire as you have your eye on a used truck.

Whichever training you are looking for, our dedicated trainers can get you through your HGV training London in a matter of days and make it an enjoyable process instead of a daunting one. Make sure to contact 01276 537 400 today to get started.

Disclaimer of Endorsement: Reference herein to any specific commercial products, process, or service by trade name, trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise, does not necessarily constitute or imply its endorsement, recommendation, or favouring by Surrey and Hampshire HGV Training. The views and opinions of authors expressed herein do not necessarily state or reflect those of Surrey and Hampshire HGV Training, and shall not be used for advertising or product endorsement purposes.

The majority of EU countries charge British-registered lorries for using their roads, whereas foreign trucks can drive for free in the UK.

Transport minister Mike Penning says: “We want to ensure that UK hauliers get a fairer deal and help maintain the competitiveness of our logistics industry. The proposals I have set out today will ensure that all hauliers who use our roads are contributing to their cost, regardless of where they are from.”

The proposed scheme will charge a time-based fee of up to £10 per day for all lorries of 12 tonnes or over using any UK road. The exact level of charges will depend on exchange rate and inflation at the time of implementation – anticipated to be 2015.

By law, the scheme cannot discriminate between UK-registered vehicles and those from elsewhere in the EU, so the road user charge will apply to all lorries, however the government says UK hauliers will not see an increase in costs because they will be compensated for the charge, most likely through a reduction in VED.

There are seven proposed bands applying to HGVs, which align with existing VED levels, as set out below:

The proposed road user charge will be enforced by DVLA records, automatic number plate recognition cameras and via VOSA checks at the roadside, with fixed penalties issued on the spot. Non-payment of the charge would be a criminal offence, which could result in a fine of up to £1,000.

Hauliers are encouraged to take part and provide feedback on the full consultation, which will run until 18 April 2012.

Penning adds: “I want UK hauliers to get involved and respond to this consultation to make sure that the final scheme works for them – helping level the laying field with foreign hauliers, boosting their market share and increasing employment and promoting growth in the UK.”

Under the stipulations of the ten year longer semi-trailer trial all specifications of trailer must meet the turning circle requirement set out in regulation 31A(1) of the Construction and Use regulation 1986 – meaning the tractor (either 4×2 or 6×2) and trailer must be able to turn in a 12.5m circle.

SDC models meeting the VCA mandatory requirements for Vehicle Special Order are:

• 14.65m self steer rated for 44-tonnes

• 15.65m self steer rated for 44-tonnes

• 15.65m single Tri Dec command steer rated for 44-tonnes

• 15.65m single Muldoon command steer rated for 44-tonnes

• 15.65m twin Tri Dec command steer rated for 44-tonnes

SDC managing director Mark Cuskeran says: “We are delighted to be the first manufacturer to achieve our LST Model Report which makes our range of trailers road legal. 

“We were quite confident that our trailers would pass the physical testing carried out by the VCA as we have currently 70 longer semi-trailers in build.”

A road crash involving 10 cars and three HGVs put around 60 fire-fighters from across Greater Manchester and parts of Lancashire to the test  in a huge training exercise.

Held in a recovery depot in Horwich, ‘Exercise Trucker’ saw crews from Rochdale, Wigan, Bolton, Bury and Chorley deal with a pile-up which put the Heavy Rescue Partnership to the test.

The partnership which has been in place for a year and has never been tested before provides a heavy rescue vehicle able to lift HGVs.

Seventeen volunteers acted as casualties in the exercise which helped crews prepare for a genuine mass pile-up involving heavy goods vehicles.  With one of the cars trapped underneath a tanker on its side, 12 fire engines and two special appliances were joined by the heavy rescue vehicle.

The exercise, put together by Station Manager Geoff Thornley, also involved the Highways Agency, NHS HART team and the police.

He said: “It was a really successful day.  It helped our crews prepare for a big incident as well as test the Heavy Rescue Partnership.  It was nice to work together with our partners and everything went really smoothly.

“A crowd of onlookers were kept safely back and it was good for family members of our volunteers to see the training our crews undertake.

“The Partnership worked really well, the wrecking truck did its job. It was great too to work with Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service colleagues, with everyone able to learn on the day.”

Receiving deliveries

• Re-time non-urgent deliveries – retime non-urgent deliveries to happen before or after the Games, when the transport network will be less congested.

• Reduce deliveries where possible –work with your suppliers to ensure that deliveries are consolidated into the minimum number of deliveries possible, to reduce the overall number of journeys.

• Talk to other businesses – start speaking to other businesses in your building, street or Business Improvement District to see if you can work together during the Games. For example, if you use the same supplier can you coordinate deliveries and get essentials delivered on the same day? Do you have a space (e.g. in the basement parking area) which you can all use as a shared storeroom to stock up on essential items, such as paper or toner?

• Stock up in advance – non-perishable goods, such as stationery, can be delivered and stored in advance of the Games.

• Keep a record of your 2011 deliveries and collections – keep a diary of deliveries and collections you make. This will give you a better idea of your requirements and how to plan for next year. These can include couriers, stationery orders, tea and coffee supplies for the office, etc.

• Create and test an action plan – start preparing now by creating an action plan and testing it ahead of the Games to ensure it is effective.

• Out-of-hours deliveries – many businesses may want to carry out deliveries, collections and servicing activity outside normal working hours. Check with your suppliers and local authority to see if you can receive deliveries out of hours when the roads are less busy.

Making deliveries and collections

• Change delivery times – push delivery times forward or back to avoid peak spectator times or try to re-time deliveries to less busy days altogether. For example, in the Wimbledon area, the Olympic Route Network will only be in place during competition days. Try to re-time deliveries to avoid those days.

• Communicate effectively with customers, suppliers and employees – a number of industry sectors, including catering and retail, are anticipating large increases in demand during the Games period. Work with your customers and suppliers to ensure they are aware of how the Games will impact their deliveries and how you plan to operate during the Games. Drivers in particular will need to be aware of the temporary changes to the road network in place during the Games.

• Explore different delivery options – seek out other options for getting goods to customers, such as using secure drop boxes for smaller deliveries, if appropriate, or walking and cycling part or all of the journey.

• Plan your routes – review postcode data to check whether individual postcodes in London will be affected by the Games. The data highlights what areas will be affected by the Olympic Route Network (ORN), Paralympic Route Network (PRN), Central London Zone (CLZ) or road events. This will allow you to produce a list of both clients and locations that will be impacted, acting as a timesaving tool when planning deliveries.

• Help your customers work together – if you have customers in the same area or building, encourage them to work together by sharing delivery time windows or consolidating supplies.

• Carry out maintenance now – if you work in the servicing sector, recommend your customers schedule preventative maintenance for their equipment before the Games.

• Freight forum events – attend one of the upcoming freight workshops where you will receive advice and speak to other companies about how they are approaching the task.

• Walk or cycle where possible – look into walking or using bikes for small, local deliveries. For example, if your usual loading/unloading location is not available, consider whether the driver can park nearby and deliver on foot.

• Re-route delivery vehicles to specific areas – if you have multiple depots, you might be able to avoid congestion by re-routing vehicles from different depots to complete particular journeys, avoiding temporary road restrictions.

• Use driver’s mates to reduce delivery times – employ a driver’s mate on restricted routes. The mate could be dropped off with the delivery and collected afterwards, to negate the need to stop for longer than necessary in restricted areas.

• Manage customer expectations – make customers aware that deliveries are likely to take longer and factor these extended times into your estimates for deliveries

Both of the bodies’ chief executives announced their plans to foster further cooperation and understanding between their respective organisations.

The main thrust of the MoU is to help both parties develop relevant and helpful transport initiatives, such as creating clearer transport warnings for snow and ice in case of severe weather conditions.

Theo de Pencier, chief executive officer of the FTA, said the two organisations shared the aim of making life easier for freight professionals.

“With closer collaboration and a sharing of intelligence we look forward to effecting real change for the better,” he added.

The FTA recently expressed its support for Transport for London’s scheme to reduce pollution in the capital city by reducing carbon emissions through the Clean Air Fund.

But you can have too much of a good thing. London is set to grow by around a million people in the next 20 years. There is a real prospect that, without effective intervention, the capital’s aged arteries, already desperately clogged, will simply seize up. And congestion is not just inconvenient. It comes at a heavy price, exacted in decreased productivity, wasted leisure time, carbon emissions, localised air pollution and road accidents.

In the long run the solution may be “pay as you go” road pricing – the extension of the congestion charge. But the London public are a long way off seeing things this way.

In the meantime, one obvious solution is staring us in the face. If our roads are packed from dawn until dusk, they are relatively little used from dusk to dawn. Instead of restricting night-time deliveries to shops and other businesses, as at present, the Mayor and local councils should be encouraging goods vehicles to deliver at night and during what the road lobby calls, with unexpected poetry, the “shoulders of the day” (late evening and early morning).

The arguments in favour of letting lorries out after dark are overwhelming. Lifting the current curfew would significantly reduce congestion and lower carbon emissions. The number of goods vehicles entering London has more than doubled since the 1970s. It would also lessen the price of freight transport. Current restrictions on night-time deliveries mean lorries spend much of their working lives sitting in lay-bys and lorry parks on the edge of the city. It could even reduce bike accidents and deaths – more than half of bike deaths in London involve goods vehicles.

The major objection to night-time deliveries has always been noise. But banning freight from our roads at night is a very blunt way of reducing noise pollution. For a start, the freight fleet is much quieter than it was. Existing lorries can be retro-fitted and new ones made quieter – and the saving freight companies would make on night-time deliveries would quickly cover the costs of vehicle-quietening.

Remember too that the noise cars and lorries make can now be recorded as they move around. It wouldn’t be too hard to penalise noisy offenders.
You don’t have to believe me or the freight lobby. Ask the Noise Abatement Society. Even it is broadly supportive of night-time deliveries, partly on grounds that they will lessen congestion and the pollution associated with it, partly because they see it as an opportunity further to improve the fleet.

That’s why many European cities, including Paris, don’t just allow night-time deliveries: where larger lorries are concerned, they insist on them. HGV drivers are now allowed out only at night.
Of course, the effects of moving to out-of-hours deliveries will need to be monitored. We’d need to know its impact on the city’s most vulnerable. Once upon a time London’s poorest found shelter in back alleys and inner courtyards. They are now housed, as often as not, along our noisiest, most polluted roads.

But these days blanket restrictions on night-time deliveries belong, like starvation diets, to another time.

The new secure park, at Brewery Street will provide 32 coach or lorry spaces, be monitored by CCTV and feature a rest room with hot and cold water, showers and toilets.

Since the loss of the Masshouse Coach and Lorry Park in 2002, there has been no dedicated long stay coach or lorry parking facility for the City Centre except for limited non-secure coach parking spaces at some attractions and venues.

The design of the facility has taken on board market intelligence on lorry parking collated by the DfT and the West Midlands Freight Quality Partnership, and coach parking information from Birmingham’s main visitor attractions. The coach park will cost £12 for up to 12 hours parking and £15 for 24 hours

RHA Director of Policy, Jack Semple said: “This is good news for the industry, because it meets an urgent need. Safe and secure rest areas are essential for truck drivers who must take regular breaks by law and in the interests of road safety.

“Birmingham has been very poorly served in terms of suitable truck parking, with good driver facilities and also security – crime against the industry is a serious problem, which we are discussing with the police and government.

“The RHA has worked closely with the West Midlands Freight Quality Partnership over the past few years to identity suitable sites. We applaud Birmingham City Council for taking the issue seriously and hope many more drivers will be able to rest easy.”