Snap-on Diagnostics has announced the ninth in its series of TechEd seminars – ‘Guide to Component Testing’. According to the company, the first eight of these seminars attracted “well over 30,000 paying attendees” during the past six years.
Snap-on Diagnostics is now producing all of the brake testers in its extensive Sun range with a new dimple roller. The Sun range of roller brake testers cover both car and light commercial vehicles, with the car chassis taking vehicles up to 3000kg in weight (800Kgf brake force) and the light commercial taking vehicles up to 6000KG in weight (1200Kgf brake force).`
This year, Vauxhall is offering a wide range of winter tyres through its MasterFit winter tyre programme. All MasterFit Retailers nationwide will supply and fit tyres for all popular Vauxhall models so that motorists are prepared for the winter ahead.
Following the London taxi manufacturer Manganese Bronze being put into Administration, the Administrators have made 176 staff redundant. Matthew Hammond, joint administrator and PwC partner, said:
"Regretfully, without financial support to overcome the Group's operational issues we have had to make staff redundancies. While the steering box recall remains, there is a voluntary suspension on vehicle sales, and we are now concentrating all resources on testing the solution to the steering fault. We have retained sufficient numbers of staff across the dealership, head office and production network to address the operational, technical and financial circumstances that the business faces."
In its 20th year as a freight forwarding agent, Maritime Cargo Services (MCS) became the first company of its kind to exhibit at Brityrex. Company representative, Emily Shelley said that the tyre industry “is absolutely vital to our success and we welcome the opportunity to meet with potential key customers.” Having been dealing with “some of the most prominent wholesalers in the tyre industry” over its two decade history, MCS “thought it was an exhibition we’d very much like to support.”
September results in the segment of buses and coaches over 3.5 tonnes were diverse across countries, leading to an overall 5.5 per cent contraction of the EU market. While the UK (+43.3 per cent) and Spain (+5.3 per cent) performed better than in the same month last year, France (-22.7 per cent), Germany (-26.3 per cent) and Italy (-26.6 per cent) experienced a double-digit downturn.
The news that a charge will be introduced was also well received by the Road Haulage Association, who said that the planned introduction by spring 2014 is especially welcome. This is a year earlier than set out in the consultation document and reflects strong lobbying by the RHA.
The Freight Transport Association has welcomed the publication of a Parliamentary Bill that will introduce a charge for foreign-registered vehicles using UK roads. Under the HGV Road User Levy Bill all heavy goods vehicles of 12 tonnes and over will be required to pay a levy before being able to travel on UK roads. For UK operators the Bill confirms that this cost will be rebated through an equivalent reduction in Vehicle Excise Duty (VED). Operators of foreign registered vehicles will be required to pay the levy at a daily, weekly, monthly or annual rate, depending upon how long they intend their vehicles to remain in the country.
According to the Press Association, it has been confirmed that Ford is to close its factory in Southampton, where Transit vans are made, plus another plant in Dagenham. Reports say that 1,500 jobs will be lost in total, but it should be pointed out that Ford has yet to make any announcement concerning its plans and a meeting is being held with management and unions.
ATS Euromaster has entered into network partnership agreements in mid-Wales and Northern Ireland; the first of their type to be established by the company. ATS will work in “close partnership” with Huw Lewis Tyres and Modern Tyre Service, of whom ATS-E states that they are well-respected independent tyre retailers which share ATS’ focus on quality, safety and customer service. ATS says the partnerships aim to provide local service to its fleet customers in towns and communities where there is currently no ATS Euromaster presence.
Pirelli took its World MX Championship tally to 58 titles as it won both MX1 and MX2 titles, whilst repeating the double in the British series. KTM factory riders Antonio Cairoli and Jeffrey Herlings powered to MX1 and MX2 FIM World MX Championships ahead of schedule at the penultimate round to give Pirelli their 57th and 58th World Titles. The Italian marque also recently won the notoriously difficult Weston Beach Race to make 2012 a gold medal winning year.
Vacu-Lug has been appointed as the sole UK distributor for all West Lake truck and bus radial tyres. The move means nine product lines spanning a wide variety of operation types and with a choice of 17.5", 19.5" and 22.5" rim diameters have been added to the Vacu-Lug line up.
Despite the name, there is no way that Vortex Exhaust Technology Ltd is getting sucked down by the negative economic environment. On the contrary, according to the Grays, Essex-based business, things have moved quickly since the company relocated from their old premises at the end of 2011. The company can now be found in a much bigger and brighter unit on the Globe Industrial estate in Grays. Having spent the last year organise things at the new facility managing director Barry Mead reports that he is looking forward to the next chapter in the company’s business development:
Hexagon Leasing, the Derbyshire-based rental and contract vehicle management company, has opted to use Bandvulc and Bandvulc Tyre Contracts (BTC) for the management of its tyres across the UK. The tyre policy sees Bandvulc approved first life tyres for steer axles fitted and BTC’s network of tyre partners delivering the service.
Consumers are being urged to fight back against 'clockers' by HPI, as it launches an e-Petition to DirectGov to close down mileage correction firms. Across the UK, these companies are turning back the miles on used cars, helping certain sellers push up the price of vehicles. 1 in 20 cars checked with HPI show a discrepant mileage, and this figure has risen by 10 per cent in the last five years.
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