Driver assault

Employees given compensation after failure to consult on redundancy ‘Protective award’ for ex-Canute staff

By Chris Tindall

The United Road Transport Union (URTU) has won what it terms a ‘protective award’ for staff made redundant when Almtone-owned Canute Group ceased trading in 2018.

Following an employment tribunal hearing last month, the union said it had been successful before a judge in showing that Almtone had failed to consult former employees at its sites in Coventry, Retford, Lancaster and Newport about their looming redundancy.

It added that URTU members had been made redundant between December 2018 and January 2019.

Brian Hart, URTU national officer, praised its legal team, saying: “They had to overcome several difficult legal hurdles during a long-standing and protracted legal process in order to bring this matter before an employment judge.” ■ Redditch-based S Walker

Transport, which entered administration a year ago putting 39 employees out of work, has enough funds to pay them all the money they are owed, the firm’s administrators have confirmed. The company’s unsecured trade creditors should also receive a dividend.

Meachers buys AFS Haulage to boost international work

Meachers Global Logistics has acquired fellow Hampshire operator AFS Haulage in a move it believes will boost its international transport services.

The deal was given the green light by AFS Haulage’s MD, Andy Seagrave (pictured, right), who said: “I’ve been searching for a long time to find someone to take over and look after the business and Meachers is the perfect fit.

“We are both solid companies with similar cultures and I have every confidence that the Meachers team will handle the haulage requirements of our customers expertly as it is incorporated into its main business.”

AFS employees will join the Meachers team and over time it is anticipated that the AFS brand will come under the Meachers banner.

Meachers MD Stuart Terris (pictured, left, with chairman Bob Terris) said: “This allows us to expand our international freight and transport logistics services to offer customers even more industry knowledge and expertise when providing solutions for freight forwarding, supply chain management, UK warehousing, distribution, training, transport and contract management.

“Not only will the AFS Haulage acquisition enhance our quality service, with more equipment such as flatbed, HIAB and groupage, it will also allow us to stay ahead of market demands, particularly after the pandemic.” An HGV driver has been jailed for three and a half years after causing the death of an RAF helicopter pilot who had parked up on the M40 to help out following a collision.

Malcolm Clarkson pleaded guilty to causing death by dangerous driving after he drove into the back of Scott McConnell’s car between junctions 12 and 13 on 19 November 2019.

McConnell had stopped to assist after two other vehicles were involved in a collision.

Warwick Crown Court heard that McConnell, who was 26 and had just qualified as an RAF pilot, was on the phone to Warwickshire police when his car was struck by Clarkson’s Scania at 61mph.

A forensic collision investigation report concluded that Clarkson had been talking on a hands-free kit moments before the collision and he braked just 24m, or one second, prior to impact.

Police staff investigator Liam Ryan said: “This is a particularly tragic case as Scott was trying to protect another driver when he was killed. There is no doubt that being on the phone hands-free moments before the collision distracted Clarkson to the extent that he was unable to react to the road ahead.”

Clarkson was also banned from driving for six years and nine months and must take an extended retest.

HGV driver jailed after M40 crash fatality

Carlton Forest branches into Yorkshire after bolstering its storage capacity

A 3PL provider working with major blue-chip businesses has secured two new sites in just three months.

Carlton Forest 3PL, a privately owned company based in Worksop, north Nottinghamshire, has branched into south Yorkshire, acquiring two units near Bawtry – one of 95,000sq ft and one of 122,000sq ft.

This has taken its overall capacity to over 800,000sq ft of racked and bulk storage.

MD Adam Jones (pictured right with divisional operations manager Alistair Plant) commented: “These additional sites have allowed us to work with even more customers’ 3PL, storage and supply chain requirements across product sectors including furniture, retail, household, and ambient food and drink.”

It is anticipated that further acquisitions will be made in the next few months.

Already, 25 long-term and 50 short-term jobs in the area have been created as a result of the investment.

Asset Alliance heads to Manchester

Increasing demand and a growing customer base has prompted a move by CV supply specialist Asset Alliance from Leeds to an 8-acre site in Manchester.

The location on the Stakehill industrial estate in Middleton offers easy access to the M60 and M62 and complements the group’s existing depots in Wolverhampton and Newmains, as well as its new and used truck and trailer base, Hanbury Riverside, near Ipswich.

Brian Kempson (second from right), Asset Alliance Group’s truck and trailer sales director, said: “We want to have the best possible facilities to serve our customers.

“We have exciting plans for this year and ambitious growth targets and this move has already helped us towards achieving that.”

TPN insists IT strength easing Irish border woes

TPN has claimed it is “considerably ahead” of competitors, with four trailer loads per day going to Dublin and three to Belfast with no delays in service.

The pallet network, part of Eddie Stobart Logistics, said too many logistics operators were underestimating the level of support customers required and its investment in making IT systems “customs-functional” was now paying dividends.

Ian Large (pictured), TPN head of commercial services, said: “We have customs-integrated IT systems and we’ve set up extensive support options for customers, including a dedicated central team and brokerage support.”

TPN said it was working with partners particularly in areas such as SPS [sanitary and phytosanitary] requirements, as they were proving to be challenging for customers who failed to realise their products fell within the rules.

The RHA said hauliers were still facing serious issues travelling to Ireland via Welsh ports, with documentation problems causing a headache for exporters and resulting in long delays.

But Large said TPN consolidated all its SPS products into a specific load, which could be inspected and passed for a smooth clearance with no slowdown in trade.

Witness call over M1 attack that left victim needing hospital treatment

Cops probe racial assault on driver

Leicestershire Police are appealing for witnesses after an HGV driver was allegedly subjected to a racially aggravated assault following an altercation at a red light at junction 22 of the M1.

Officers said the lorry driver was attacked by two occupants of a silver panel van and was taken to hospital with multiple injuries.

A spokesperson for Leicestershire Police said: “Officers are appealing for witnesses in relation to an assault that took place on Monday, March 1, on the junction 22 slip road of the M1 southbound.

“At around 5.30pm, two vehicles were stopped at the red lights on the slip road when an altercation took place.

“The lorry driver was assaulted by the two occupants of the van and suffered multiple injuries as a result.”

Two men, aged 34 and 25, were arrested on suspicion of causing racially aggravated actual bodily harm. Both have since been released while investigations continue. n Galpharm Paracetamol worth

£30,000 was stolen from a lorry parked on Elmhurst Park in Dodworth, near Barnsley, between midnight and 5.30am on 9 March. The unique batch numbers, PYA0050A and PYA0051A, are written on the boxes.

Photo: Shutterstock

Hauliers freed from Manston stop

Services for EU-bound HGVs at Manston Airport are being suspended in what Kent Police describes as a first step towards “business as usual” on the county’s roads, following the end of the Brexit transition.

From Sunday 21 March, freight heading for the Port of Dover will no longer be directed to attend the DfT site at the airfield, nor will the site offer Covid-19 tests or customs checks for hauliers. The DfT said these services could be reactivated at short notice if necessary.

All HGVs will instead access the Operation Brock traffic management system between junctions 8 and 9 on the M20 coastbound carriageway, with one lane being used for Eurotunnel and the other for the Port of Dover. Any HGV drivers trying to avoid the new system risk enforcement action.

Biffa pledge brings electric fleet to city

Biffa has put 27 new zero emission electric refuse collection vehicles (eRCVs) on the streets of Manchester, in partnership with Manchester City Council, which is investing £10m in the initiative.

The move is part of Biffa’s sustainability strategy, dubbed ‘Resourceful and Responsible’ which includes a pledge to cease buying fossil-fuelled vehicles by 2030.

Manchester City Council is one of the first local authorities to transform its fleet with electric refuse collection vehicles following two years of successful trials.

Biffa has already cut its CO2 emissions by 65% since 2002 and is targeting a further 50% reduction by 2030.