Recovery Members Update February 2012
Recovery Members Update
Hello everyone welcome to the February edition of the RHA Recovery Member Update.
Policy Update:
- Mike Penning has ruled out giving permission to use red warning beacons on recovery vehicles. Following an approach from the Association, Penning has written to RHA Chief Executive Geoff Dunning saying that there is no evidence to support the use of such lights.
- Transport for London are inviting RHA Recovery Chairman Derek Firminger to attend the next TfL Olympics Stakeholder meeting. This will be an excellent opportunity for recovery issues to be discussed with key TfL personnel, including Transport Commissioner Peter Hendy.
- Plans are progressing for the Scottish Government to introduce statutory recovery fees and RHA is keen to ensure that any scheme north of the border learns from experience gained in England. We are also pressing for the scheme to be introduced by Transport Scotland, rather than under the banner of Zero Waste Scotland, whose interests mainly relate to the removal of stolen and abandoned vehicles.
- The RHA will be meeting Transport Minister Mike Penning at the end of February, with recovery issues prominent on the agenda. Chief Executive Geoff Dunning will ask for further explanation for the refusal to permit red beacons and will ask for an urgent review of the Statutory Fees scheme in England.
RHA News - An exciting new development in our fight for lower petrol and diesel prices
Dear FairFuelUK Supporter
We need your help in our continuing fight to persuade the Government to cut fuel duty on petrol and diesel. Following a meeting with supportive MPs in Parliament last week, we are renewing our call for a significant cut in fuel duty to get the economy growing and to help the millions of struggling families and businesses.
We are asking if you might be able to join us during the afternoon of Wednesday 7 th March in the House of Commons? We appreciate that this request may have come somewhat out of the blue....so here's a bit more about why we're asking...
Last year, with your help, we saw off rises that would have put another 9p per litre on the cost of every litre of petrol and diesel. That was important, but petrol & diesel remain far too expensive. In fact, diesel is at almost record levels!
We know from the reaction of Ministers and MPs that the FairFuelUK campaign has had a real impact on the Government. The thousands of letters and emails, the media events, the meetings with groups of MPs and our presence on the TV and Radio have had an enormous impression. However, sometimes, it's important that the politicians actually get to meet the people suffering because of an issue.
To that end, we are holding a mass lobby of Parliament during the afternoon of Wednesday March 7 th. As a citizen, you have the right to enter Parliament and ask to see your MP. This right is centuries old. When lots of people agree to do this on the same day about the same issue it is called a 'mass lobby'.
All the details are at http://bit.ly/NationalFairFuelDay. Please be reassured, this is easy to do and can make a real difference. Even if you'd never normally come to an event like this, please consider coming and supporting this important day. It really will make a difference. So that we can get an estimate of numbers coming, please complete the registration form at http://bit.ly/NationalFairFuelDay
One MP commented to us that he had passed five cars on just one stretch of Motorway with our 'CUT THE TAX ON FUEL NOW' sticker in the back window. There's no doubt about it that a big showing of these in the cars on the roads of Britain really help to raise the profile of the campaign. The income generated helps runs the campaign. Thanks to all of you who have already bought FairFuelUK stickers. If you haven't done so yet, you can get them at this link http://bit.ly/FFUKStickers.
We only have 49 days to the Budget. If we work together like we did last year, we can make a difference... .
Very kind regards,
Peter Carroll
and the FairFuelUK Team
Charging For Foreign Trucks
The RHA has welcomed the government’s proposals to charge foreign trucks for using UK roads, which were published in a consultation by transport minister Mike Penning this morning. It is a good scheme and the government should press ahead strongly to try to meet its original deadline of introduction by spring 2014.
We have discussed the scheme extensively with DfT officials. Foreign trucks will be charged £10 a day or £1,000 a year. There will be no increase in tax for almost all UK hauliers and no increase in administrative burden.
The scheme should be welcomed by both UK hauliers and also by motorists, many of whom have complained to MPs about trucks paying nothing to use our roads. The scheme does not give us everything we would like but – and this is an important point, worth stressing - it is worthwhile and it is the best possible under EU law.
The RHA wants to make a prompt response and urges members to send their views to campaigning@rha.uk.net
Click on the link for the RHA press release:
RHA welcomes charge for foreign hauliers
LEZ Can I go in? Will I be legal?
Some pointers to clear up a little confusion:
A vehicle that does not meet the new emissions criteria may enter the LEZ:
Daily for a period of 28 days only, a warning letter will be received by the registered keeper, if the unmodified vehicle enters the zone after the 28 day period the registered keeper will receive a Penalty charge notice fining the keeper of the vehicle.
If the vehicle does not enter the zone again nothing further needs to be done but the vehicle MUST NOT enter the zone unless the following steps are taken.
If in response to the warning letter the registered keeper makes arrangements to have the vehicle modified and the modification cannot be carried out immediately then an exemption may apply. The registered keeper must ensure that the company carrying out the modification informs TFL with an expected date of completion. Once TFL have been informed and it is confirmed by TFL the vehicle will then be able to continue to enter the zone.
If vehicle is disposed of that does not meet the new emissions for the LEZ the new keeper must be informed, similar anyone buying a vehicle which does not meet the requirements should ascertain if the vehicle has previously entered the zone and been issued with a warning letter.
Haulage market remains at over capacity says Bank of England
Haulage margins are under renewed and acute pressure, says the Bank of England. It picked out the sector as one in which there remains significant over-capacity.
The Bank of England’s regional agent’s summary of business conditions predicts that having already pared back non-labour costs as much as possible during the recession, many businesses will now think they have no option but to reduce staff numbers.
The report also says that smaller companies are continuing to be wary of approaching banks for finance fearing “re-pricing of existing facilities, or requests for increased security against lending, such as personal guarantees”.
This can only have a knock on effect for the Recovery industry, a futher down turn in the number of haulage companies means a reduced requirement for heavy Recovery.
Now is the time to look at your business and decide what and where you want to be, but do not just look at the once, constantly reviewing your business is imperative to survival, diversity and change are not dirty words. Only those companies with flexibility and vision are going to survive.
Electric Vans Grant introduced
The Department for Transport has introduced a Plug-in Van Grant for in ultra-low carbon vans, on top of the grant that already exists for cars.
Van buyers will get 20% or up to £8000, off the cost of a plug-in van. Manufacturers have already been asked to apply for their vehicles to be part of the scheme.
Over £400 million has been set aside by the government to encourage use of ultra-low emission vehicles, through giving incentives to potential purchasers, supporting research and facilitating the installation of infrastructure such as plug-in points.
Q&A on application of parking charges during the Olympic period
1. What is the first day that the £200 penalty will apply and what is the last day?
Answer: 25th July or whenever that bit of the ORN is switched on (if later) as a start date. And whenever that part of the ORN is switched off as an end date.
2. Would the £200 penalty apply during the inter-games period, i.e. after the end of the main Olympics and before the start of the Paralympics?
Answer No
3. Once a venue had ceased to be operational would that bit of the ORN (or PRN) be decommissioned and the penalty goes back to £130/ £80 even if the games were still on?
Answer Yes
4. What would the penalty be on the Alternative ORN when the Alternative ORN was not in use, i.e. would the £200 penalty only apply to the AORN when the AORN was planned to became operational (i.e. when it became the Road Event ORN) or would it also apply if the AORN came into use in an emergency?
Answer: Only to those parts of the AORN scheduled to be used when the ORN is being used for road events and only on those days.
5. How will drivers know that they are on the AORN / REORN and therefore subject to the higher penalty? Signing it will be tricky as, barring emergencies; it should only come into operation on a few days.
Answer: TfL is only signing Games lanes on the ORN/AORN
6.What would the penalty be in permitted bays on the ORN, Road Event ORN (REORN) and AORN when used in emergencies?
Answer £200 except for AORN used in emergencies
7. Will the penalty on the REORN only be £200 on the days that the REORN is in operation?
Answer Yes
8. Can London Councils produce a map coloured in to show the penalty levels and the days it applies as I think everyone would find this useful?
Answer: There are maps on TfL’s website. There is also a list of roads showing when the £200 penalty applies with the London
Councils TEC report
http://www.londoncouncils.gov.uk/committees/agenda.htm?pk_agenda_items=4723
9. Will the £200 apply to moving traffic contraventions and if so, will they follow the same rules as the £200 penalty for parking contraventions in terms of when and where the £200 penalty for MTCs will apply?
Answer Yes
Pension auto-enrolment timetable for small firms confirmed
Amendments mean all existing employers will be covered by 2017.
Pensions minister Steve Webb has confirmed the dates by which small firms will have to auto-enrol their staff into a pension scheme.
Auto-enrolment, in which employees will be entered into a pension scheme unless they actively opt out, comes in for the largest employers in October this year and then on a staged basis for progressively smaller companies after that. However, last November the government announced it was rethinking the dates for smaller employers in response to concerns about burdening businesses during an economic recovery.
There is no change in the staging dates of organisations with 250 or more employees, which will see their auto-enrolment duty come in between October this year and February 2014. But staging has been pushed back for those with 50-249 staff, who face dates between April 2014 and April 2015; for those with 30-49 staff, between August and October 2015; and for those with under 30 staff, between January 2016 and April 2017. The last tranche will involve newly-created companies and will be completed in October 2017.
"Automatic enrolment will begin on time this October, taking up to 10 million people into pension saving, many for the first time ever, and all employers will be part of it,” said Webb.
"We have done all we can to ease any burden on business the reforms will bring and employers of all sizes now know the date they need to start enrolling their staff."
Rudi Smith, senior consultant at Towers Watson, criticised the delay.
“Auto-enrolment was conceived against a backdrop of rising personal incomes and a growing economy,” said Smith. “It will obviously be tougher for employers and employees to absorb the costs of contributions in today’s environment, but paying for retirement is not getting any cheaper. The government is saying there will be no further delays regardless of what happens to the economy, and employers will have to plan on this basis.”
He added that employers were still waiting for some detailed regulations on implementation, despite many of them having to plan for staging dates which are looming fast.
“The latest delays do not give large employers any more time to work out how they will comply with a panoply of complex rules and regulations, some of which are only now being finalised,” said Smith. “As employers get their teeth into these rules, they are finding that many things do not work quite as they thought. They are also waiting for the government to finalise standards that existing pension schemes will have to comply with. Large employers won’t have much time to firm up their plans after these are published.”
Quartix telematics helps police recover engineer’s £10,000 van in record time
A £10,000 Vauxhall Combo van stolen in Edinburgh has been recovered by police thanks to the accuracy of Quartix online vehicle tracking.
The van, taken from outside the home of a TV-installation engineer, was back with its owner, the Eden Group, within hours.
Stuart Baillie, the group’s senior partner, said: “I contacted the police, and at the same time logged into Quartix, to tell them the location of the van.
“The system had tracked it to a deserted car park 25 minutes from where it was stolen. Its contents, including a £1,000 drill, had been stolen and there was slight damage to the rear door.
“However, the main thing was we got the vehicle back, which was very good.”
Praising Quartix for their “positive response”, he said the vehicle was taken from outside the engineer’s house at 11.45pm and was back on site by 10 the next morning after police had carried out an inspection, including finger-printing.
Between its removal and recovery, the nine-month old van is thought to have been involved in an “incident” along the coast from Edinburgh.
“Quartix’s technical team created a one-off log-in facility for this vehicle and I supplied the information to the police so they could see all the reports,” said Mr Baillie.
“They showed the thieves never once went over the speed limit. They obviously didn’t want to draw attention to themselves.”
The online Quartix system allows customers to track their vehicles in real-time 24 hours a day, seven days a week and provides a continuous flow of current and historical management information.
Last year, Quartix became the first major telematics supplier to offer pay as you go vehicle tracking, offering alongside its outright purchase and lease options.
Andy Kirk, Quartix’s sales and marketing director, said: “It’s great the Eden Group got their van back so swiftly, and we are delighted to have helped them and, in the process, the police.
“Of course, every month we tend to help several customers in a similar way simply because our system monitors more than twenty five thousand vehicles around the UK twenty-four hours a day. Out of that huge number it’s a sad fact some are likely to be stolen.
“However, because they can see their vehicles’ location in real-time our customers are able to alert the police and retrieve them quickly.”
The Eden Group, based at Ellen’s Glenn Road, Edinburgh, has eight vehicles, each installed with Quartix vehicle tracking. The company specialises in TV installations, CCTV and data distribution.
Quartix (www.quartix.net), founded in 2001 and with offices at Cambridge and Newtown, Powys, has grown to become one of the UK’s most successful and innovative vehicle tracking service providers.
Its award-winning system is available through lease finance, outright purchase and Quartix Pay As You Go. This version can be tailored to suit an operator’s exact requirements, from simple tracking through to the Corporate model, ideal for large multi-site fleets.
For further information call Andy Kirk on 0870 013 6663 or email andy.kirk@quartix.net
IPLS
IPLS is a supplier of high quality lighting solutions for emergency, industrial, mining and recreational applications.
Our range of Smithlight lighting systems are the number one choice for portable area lighting in the most demanding of conditions. The Smithlight range of products offers unparalleled levels of robustness and portability regardless of the environment. Constructed from automotive grade aluminium and polycarbonate with an IP65 rating and resistance to both UV and salt water the Smithlight range of products is the preferred choice for emergency or remote location lighting. The Smithlight also features a flash setting which when combined with our coloured lenses enable the units to be used as a hazard or way marker.
Portable and practical the Smithlight can be charged from AC, DC or Solar Panel and has a battery life of up to 48 hours field use between charges. Utilising the latest in LED technology the Smithlight is built with three main objectives in mind: quality, reliability and value.
Smithlight offers instant area lighting whenever it is required. Manual handling is significantly reduced and there is no need for fuel or expensive generators, which significantly reduce costs and helps contribute to environmental targets. With a choice of 5 different rechargeable models including an EX rated model for explosive environments, whatever your application IPLS is sure to have a model to suit your needs.
Hydraulic Fork Lift Attachment
- Hydraulic Wheel Clamps
- Loads small cars to large vans
- Fits most fork lift trucks
- Low maintenance bushes on pivots
- Hydraulic hoses protected
- Quick release hydraulic couplings
- Safety strap points
- One person operation
- Moves vehicles fast, efficiently and accurately make storage of vehicles much easier; also fit more vehicles in same space, no need to open doors to move vehicles.
- No damage to roof or underside of vehicles when moving them.
- Fast and efficient in the movement of vehicles.
- Very simple to operate and install.
- Can be used on most forklift trucks that have a side shift or spare hydraulic function.
- All main pivots have replaceable standard bushes and grease nipples for easy maintenance.
EXCELLENT VALUE NOT TO BE MISSED
SIMILAR UNIT
£2,650 PLUS VAT Ex Works
CALL MIKE 01438 840690 OR 07984457561 Ref.N216 More >