Freight transport manifesto for Scotland 04 April 2007

To assist candidates in the forthcoming Scottish Parliament and Local Government elections, the Freight Transport Association has published 'A Freight Transport Manifesto for Scotland' outlining the transport and distribution needs for industry seeking to deliver goods and services within Scotland, to England and beyond, and for goods coming inwards. FTA has outlined twelve key issues requiring either policy development or financial investment. FTA Head of Policy for Scotland, Gavin Scott said, 'Transport plays a major role in growing the Scottish economy and it is absolutely vital that in times of such intense competition our transport infrastructure and operation is as efficient as it can possibly be. 'The points listed in our freight manifesto constitute practical and realistic actions designed to ensure that Scottish industry is able to move goods and services with economy and reliability. Given Scotland's location on the very edge of the European Union, it is essential that we maximise our transport efficiency in order to give our core industries every chance of achieving their sales and performance targets. As the final link in the production process, we must get it right and the FTA manifesto is aimed at doing exactly that.' FTA's manifesto includes calls for increased investment in road and rail infrastructure; increases in speed limits for lorries on good quality single carriageway roads; early attention to ferry problems for the benefit of Scottish islands; and improvements in ports operations. Notes for Editors 'A Freight Transport Manifesto for Scotland' can be downloaded from http://www.fta.co.uk/information/otherissues/scottish_manifesto/index.htm FTA's twelve targets are: - FTA commends the National Transport Strategy and its daughter documents to all parties - FTA calls on all parties to continue Freight Facilities Grant support for both rail and waterborne freight - FTA demands increased investment in the road infrastructure of Scotland - FTA calls for support from the Scottish Executive when campaigning for increased UK investment in port infrastructure and support for the ports industry - FTA calls on all parties to commit to addressing the continuing poor state of many of Scotland's trunk roads to bring them up to a standard suitable for a growing economy - FTA demands an early start to a new bridge over the Forth at Queensferry to replace the current structure before it is closed to goods vehicles - FTA calls for local authority roads to be given the attention they merit given their importance to local economies both by the provision of grant aided expenditure from the Executive and spending by local authorities and transport partnerships - FTA calls for the Scottish Executive to press the Department for Transport to increase the speed limit for goods vehicles on good quality single carriageway roads to 50mph - FTA calls on the Government to investigate how the system of Freight Facilities Grants might be varied to allow the provision of common user sites - FTA calls for the Scottish Executive to ensure its counterparts in Westminster take account of the freight capacity requirements on the East and West Coast Main Lines for the Scottish export and import traffics - FTA calls for lifeline ferry provision to be addressed with the interests of the island populations being at the forefront, particularly with regard to freight costs - FTA strongly supports the use of Freight Quality Partnerships to improve relationships and engender co-operative working between industry and local government. For further information call: Gavin Scott Head of Policy - Scotland dtel: 01786 457503 mob: 07818 450547 Geoff Dossetter External Affairs Director dtel: 01892 552255 home: 01732 842459 mob: 07818 450500

Smoke free trucking in Wales 04 April 2007

Members of the Freight Transport Association are set up for the introduction of the smoking ban, introduced in Wales from 2 April. Members who have attended FTA briefings, which included a presentation on the new no smoking rules, were keen to ensure that they had all the facts to comply with the new rules. Although the general consensus was that the new rules were welcome, there was still uncertainty on the detail needed to comply. The FTA briefing held in Cardiff in March was designed to inform truck and warehouse operators of their legal requirements and the penalties for getting things wrong. FTA Policy Manager for Wales, Ian Gallagher said, 'Many operators already have no smoking policies in place, but may need to reevaluate them now that the smoking ban is in force and applies to vehicles as well. It might mean replacing signs to meet the legal requirement or changing employees' contracts. It is important to ensure that they get this right, because the penalties range from £30 to £2,500.' For further information, FTA has produced a briefing note covering the changes which can be downloaded by members from the FTA website at www.fta.co.uk Notes for Editors The new restrictions on smoking apply to both business premises and to company vehicles including lorries, vans and cars. FTA members can purchase the appropriate premises and vehicle stickers from Shopfta - call 08717 11 11 11. For further information call: Ian Gallagher Regional Policy Manager - Wales & South West England dtel: 01926 884025 mob: 07818 450401 Geoff Dossetter External Affairs Director dtel: 01892 552255 home: 01732 842459 mob: 07818 450500

FIRST VOLVO TRUCKS FOR ARCLID TRANSPORT April 04, 2007

Cheshire-based, Arclid Transport have added two new vehicles to their fleet – their first ever Volvo trucks - which took to the road at the beginning of March. The companies’ new vehicles include a Volvo FH-480, 6x2 artic, specified with a Globetrotter XL cab in ‘Prestige’ trim and a Volvo FM-400, 8x4 tipper, plated for 32 tonne GCW with Day cab in ‘Fleet’ trim. After operating other marques for over 30 years, Operations Manager Mark Goodwin has decided to try Volvo. “After testing a number of marques, Volvo were the right choice for Arclid Transport” he commented. “The two vehicles are ideal for pulling the dense commodities that we carry, plus my drivers and I thought Volvo were very extremely comfortable and very easy to drive.” He added that, “Thomas Hardie Commercials have a reputation for providing an exceptional support service and are situated conveniently to us. These were the two main reasons why we purchased the vehicles from them.” The two vehicles will be serviced and maintained at Thomas Hardie Commercials in Middlewich, where they were purchased from Area Sales Manager, Mark Lingard. The vehicles will be based at Arclid Quarry in Sandbach, but will be seen across the UK as they assist with the company’s main services - the carriage of a wide range of bulk powders, granular raw materials and minerals.