Haines is new FTA President 18 April 2007

Andy Haines, Head of Logistics at Tate & Lyle Sugars Europe, is the new President of the Freight Transport Association, succeeding John Russell of John G Russell (Transport) Ltd of Glasgow. Haines has been a Vice President of FTA for the last twelve months. Andy Haines joined Tate & Lyle in 1979, and as an area manager for United Molasses looked after a number of trading and operational interests in the Middle East, Eastern, Southern and West Africa, and in Brazil. In 1991 he moved to another Tate & Lyle division, United Storage as Managing Director, a bulk liquid storage business with interests in the UK, Africa and North America. During this time he was an active member of the Tank Storage Association, and eventually its Chairman, representing UK storage interests to government and industry. He took up his current role in 2001. Andy Haines' whole career has involved the supply chain in some form or another, never far from trucks, trains and ships in various forms, and by virtue of his roles he has travelled extensively. His association with FTA began in the early 1990s in the North West, and he has subsequently played an active role on the Greater London Freight Council and has been a member of the FTA National Executive Board since 2004. Andy has an Honours Degree in Business Studies and Dip. Inst. Marketing. He is 49, married with two sons. His interests include music, photography, badminton and long distance running.

RHA gets the message over in The Independent 17 April 2007

The Road Haulage Association is pleased to be included in the special commercial vehicle supplement to be published in The Independent newspaper on Wednesday 18th April. Delivering the Economy will include articles on the vital importance of commercial vehicles to the UK economy, the advances in vehicle technology and the great strides being made in making vehicles cleaner, greener, safer and more efficient than ever before. The role of light commercial vehicles and the case for allowing both more night-time deliveries and longer, heavier trucks are all issues to be covered. "The UK road freight industry plays a vital role in the success of UK plc," said RHA Communications Manager Kate Gibbs. Our contribution to Delivering the Economy presents us with the perfect opportunity to get this message over to the 'unconverted'. This is an industry taken for granted by the majority of the general public. We may never make them love us, but we will certainly make them aware of how difficult life would be without us!". Copies of Delivering the Economy will be available from the RHA Stand (002 / Hall 4) at this year's Commercial Vehicle Show at the NEC from 24th - 26th April 2007.

SPANNERS MIXER HIRE HAVE IT LARGE WITH FIRST FH TRUCKMIXER IN UK 16 April 2007

Spanners Mixer Hire of Peterborough is operating the UK’s first Volvo FH 6x4 truckmixer. The Globetrotter-cabbed Volvo FH-400 is equipped with ‘Prestige’ trim including full leather upholstery, climate control and CD player. According to Spanners owner Peter Spooncer, the FH delivers a 6m³ payload and, at 3.81 metres high front and rear, access to batching plants is not compromised. He made the decision to specify the full-sleeper FH on a 26 tonne GVW truckmixer chassis to give the driver the best possible working and living environment. The company operates a one man, one truck policy with the 14-strong Spanners Mixer Hire fleet working all across the UK, often necessitating up to four nights out a week for the driver. Annual mileage is around 45,000 kms and the FH is expected to have a 10-year working life. Currently on-hire with driver to all the major ready-mix concrete suppliers, the FH is often engaged on 1000m³ a day pours such as new shopping centre floors, footings and civil engineering projects. The 6m³ mixer drum, which is driven by a rear engine mounted Volvo PTO, was manufactured by Liebherr and fitted to the chassis at their plant in Germany. Cont/….. Peter, who has operated mixers for the last 15 years and has a career in transport that stretches back 33 years, specified the FH with straight front axles for optimum ground clearance and Volvo’s automated I-Shift transmission with the ‘Construction’ software package, which he describes as ‘excellent’. He also praises the I-Shift transmission for its ability to maintain very low speeds smoothly during specialist mixer operations. “The I-Shift is very good for kerbing, particularly when we are working alongside an Extrudakerb machine, as the truck can be moved forward at speeds as slow as one foot per minute without stalling or baulking. Manoeuvring in reverse is also helped by the I-Shift as the truck is sometimes reversed for up to a mile just to get to the delivery point.” The Globetrotter cab, which is kitted out with additional light bars and stainless steel stone guards, makes the truck a high profile advertisement for the image-conscious firm. As Peter says, “The Volvo certainly stands out from the crowd and it ensures that customers remember us.” The truck was supplied by Volvo Truck and Bus Centre East Anglia with back-up provided via the Dealer’s Peterborough depot.