Our partnership with Norton Motorcycles (UK) Ltd will kick-off by pulling their Norton race trailer up to Northwich, Cheshire for ‘Thundersprint’ which takes place on May 12^th/13^th 2012. Thundersprint is one of the biggest motorbiking events in Europe and is set to be a fantastic weekend for all the family…so make sure you keep an eye-out for our Alltruck vehicle if you are there this weekend!

Norton has also recently announced the news motorcycle fans the world over had been waiting for; that they will be returning to the Isle of Man TT to race in the Senior Class for the first time since 2009.

With less than 30 days to go to the until the 2012 TT Norton continue to finesse the 195bhp Norton V4 that they will be racing and we also hope to be a part of the action supporting Norton over in the Isle of Man.  

More details on the TT will be announced soon – so watch this space!

Donation made to: When you wish upon a Star

A big well done goes to Adam Stanton this month who receives our Employee of the Month award for March.

Adam is one of our driver-checkers and he received the award this month due to the fantastic feedback we have received from several customers when it comes to the professionalism and ‘can-do’ attitude that Adam has shown when handing over new vehicles.

As winner, Adam gets £220 to donate to a charity of his choice and he has chosen to make this to ‘When you wish upon a Star’, a Nottingham based charity specialising in making dreams come true for children with life threatening illnesses – you can find out more about the charity here.

You can hear the advert for yourself by clicking on the below link:

http://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fapi.soundcloud.com%2Ftracks%2F42997207&show_artwork=true”></iframe

Donation made to: Gunns Community Gym

Nominees: Alex Rees | Wayne Nicholson | Kelly Draper | Mandy Finlay | Scott Bailey

A big well done goes to Neil Wootton this month, Alltruck’s employee of the month for February.

There were several nominations for the award from across the business this month, which is great to see as it shows that the Alltruck team continue to go the extra mile for both customers and colleagues.

As one of six nominess, Neil was chosen as the eventual winner of the award for this month due to his fantastic work since taking on the role of MOT driver after passing his HGV licence. Neil has been a massive support to the newly opened ATF lanes as well as vehicle movements for both rental and contracts.

As winner of the award, Neil gets £220 to donate to a good cause of his choice and he has chosen to make his donation to Gunns Community Gym – a children’s boxing gym based in Birstall, Leicestershire.

As an Approved Tachograph Centre we have received the following advice from VOSA to pass on to our customers:

VOSA are conscious that drivers’ who have a card that appears to be affected are concerned – in particular should they be about to embark on a trip away from their base for some time. Given that, VOSA have reminded its examiners that  EEC 3821/85 provides:

• Under Article 15(1) that drivers are required to apply for a replacement card within seven calendar days if the card is damaged, malfunctions is lost or stolen.
• If your card is faulty you will need to return it with a completed application form D777B to DVLA who will issue a new card. You will need to apply within seven calendar days for a replacement. Application forms are downloadable from the Business Link website (http://www.businesslink.gov.uk/), or available from DVLA (tel. 0300 790 6109), DVLA Local Offices and VOSA Testing Stations.
• Under Article 15(1) that where a card is damaged, malfunctions or is not in the possession of the driver then the driver must take a print out, at the start and the end of each journey and enter onto those print outs his/her name, driver card or driving licence number, periods of other work, availability, breaks and rest (including the start/finish times of these periods) and signature.
• Under Article 16(3) allows drivers to continue to drive without a driver card for a maximum of 15 days or for a longer period if this is necessary for the vehicle to return to its premises, provided he can prove the impossibility of producing or using the card during this period.

In addition VOSA has taken the opportunity to informally indicate to its counterparts in other member states that there is potential for GB drivers to be experiencing a greater frequency of problems with drivers’ cards than would normally be expected. We will be continuing to work with DVLA and DfT to determine what further steps may be helpful to smooth journeys of drivers who are affected and who will be travelling abroad.

As noted above, once the situation is clearer we will review this policy to ensure that it appropriately reflects the likely timescales necessary to ensure that the issue can be rectified, ensuring that drivers and operators genuinely affected are not inconvenienced, whilst best minimising any risks of abuse of the situation. We will keep the trade associations fully aware of any changes to the above.

Drivers are also being advised to take manual printouts from the digital tachograph if they drive whilst a new card is being sent out to them, and ensure they have a sufficient supply of print rolls.

For further information the Department for Transport can be contacted on 0300 790 6109.

We have have been advised by the DVLA that they are aware of this problem and are looking to rectify it as soon as possible. In the meantime they have issued this important information http://www.dft.gov.uk/dvla/vehicles/DigitalTachographHolders.aspx

Donation made to: Arthritis Research UK

Nominations: Ben Fullylove, Neil Wootton

Congratulations goes to Hannah, our first Employee of the Month for 2012.

Hannah has won this month’s award for her continued hard work in the rental department, combined with the additional responsibilities she has taken on to help ensure the successful operation of Alltruck’s new ATF lanes which opened in January.

To mark Alltruck’s 22nd year, all our Employee of the Month winners in 2012 will receive £220 to donate to a charity of their choice, and Hannah has chosen to make her donation to Arthritis Research UK.

We have joined forces with our customers (and Colwick Estate neighbours) Jackson & Keay and Gas Container Services to send a letter to the Nottingham Chief Constable and local MPs to ask what is being done to prevent these types of crimes continuing to occur in the future, specifically:

• What is being done to prevent these thefts?
• What is being done to eliminate the illegal trade in stolen scrap metal?
• What is being done to catch the perpetrators of these crimes?

In addition to the letter, the Managing Directors of all three companies appeared on BBC Radio Nottingham to further emphasise the seriousness of this problem and to provoke a response from the police. The interview along with the police response can be heard at the below link:

http://snd.sc/wabIlG

Finally, the comments of Chief Inspector Sean Anderson in his interview are in fact incorrect and Alltruck have already agreed to attend a Cat marking workshop on March 3rd and we look forward to seeing what advice and solutions are presented then.

Has your business been effected by metal theft? We want to hear your experience and what you or the police are doing to prevent metal theft where you are?

Firstly, and one thing that appears to be unanimously agreed upon is that additional motorway training for learner/new drivers is a good thing. Under current laws, the first time a new driver will experience the motorway is after they have passed their test – which can cause problems for both the new driver and regular motorway users alike.

You could argue that the law has always been this way and “if it ain’t broke don’t fix it” – but with UK roads getting ever busier (around 200,000 vehicles recorded per day on the M25 alone), additional learning on motorway driving should prove highly beneficial. (Direct Line also has some further interesting statistics related to this here).

One of the biggest objections to the plans however is that inexperienced learner drivers on busy motorways at peak times could prove a danger, but Mike Penning insists there is no evidence to support this claim. To us the most sensible compromise would be to set restrictions on what times learner drivers can go on the motorway i.e. not during the rush hour period – but the Government has said there are no plans for conditions such as this to exist within the law change.

Looking at discussion on Twitter it seems that the general feeling might be that more training is needed full stop. Such as @thebigman69 who suggested a situation such as Finland’s would be more beneficial – whereby a new driver must pass a test to acquire their permit licence and then complete a further 6 months of driver training by law before they receive their full licence.

The debate on whether the new Government plans is the right type or right amount of training for learner drivers on the motorway will continue for some time. However, it is true to say the new Government plans will give learner drivers the chance to experience motorway driving alongside their tutor or driving instructor, before going it alone once they pass their test. It seems the Government has already decided on the law change and we sincerely hope it increases driver safety for everyone on the roads.

We want to hear your opinion on this subject too. Please post in the comments your thoughts on learner drivers being allowed on the motorway.

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Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/17093564

Supporting charities and good-causes is something we feel very passionate about at Alltruck and through linking our Employee of the Month scheme to charitable donations, we have been able to do this while also recognising the achievements of our staff. You can see the full list of previous winners in the Employee of the Month section of our blog archive.

The Employee of the Month  intiative was initially devised to mark our 21^st year and following it’s success we shall continue the scheme into our 22nd year, with each month’s winner in 2012 receiving £220 to donate to a good cause.

With that in mind, we’re taking this opportunity to look back at some of the donations our winner’s have made in 2011, along with the letters and certificates they have received in response.

Rachel Deacon (February) – Donation made to Beautiful Day Trust

Rachel received the below letter after making her donation to the Beautiful Day Trust

Beautiful Day Trust letter

Ben Fullylove (May) – Donation made to LOROS

Ben won the award for May and received the below certificate following his donation to LOROS.

LOROS certificate

Wayne Nicholson (August) – Donation made to British Red Cross

Wayne split his £210 between Wishes 4 Kids and the British Red Cross following his award, see a letter he received back from the Red Cross below.

British Red Cross letter 

Alex Rees (October) – Donation made to Leicestershire Parents Group of Diabetes UK

Alex received the below thank you letter explaining where his donation would be spent

LPG Diabetes UK letter

Sleaford Workshop Team (Team of the Month October) – Donation made to Wear it Pink

The Sleaford Team made their donation to Wear it Pink to add to the money the wider organisation had raised by “Wearing it Pink”

Wear it Pink certificate