News & Press Releases
- BJG SOLUTIONS LTD ESSEX -

I was recently contacted by Darren Donoghue one of the owners of BJG Solutions Ltd based in Essex, Darren explained that he had a requirement for a number of vehicles in order to facilitate the rapid expansion of their Rescue & Recovery business. The company is only 2 years old, but have recently invested heavily in a state of the art Operations Centre in Basildon, Essex, they have just moved into the new premises which houses purpose built Forensic and Crash Investigation suites. Darren told me that BJG have recently been awarded a Recovery Contract by Essex Police, obviously this involved some very serious investment for a small company, especially one as young as BJG, in terms of facilities, IT, vehicles, training, people etc. It was a very difficult decision to make for Darren and his business partner Ben Goldstone, “we had a small business that provided very good levels of customer service and was ticking along quite nicely. We then had an opportunity, along with a number of other operators, to tender for the Essex Police Recovery Contract, obviously as with all businesses it is a very uncertain time due to the current economic climate, however they decided to invest and expand the business, they were successful in the tender process and were awarded the contract, they have now completed the first month of the contract and things are going extremely well. Darren said: “We had a requirement for a number of vehicles, Mike was asked to source a Low Loader vehicle for me, he found me a vehicle almost immediately which sounded perfect for the job, following an inspection of the vehicle way up north the deal was done. The truck was collected, painted, sign written, inspected for the Police contract and in service within 10 days. The truck has proven to be an excellent purchase, the Sliding Axle Trax trailer is superb and its first job was to recover an articulated Petrol Tanker with broken axle, this it did faultlessly. My thanks to Mike for a first class service, I have known Mike for along time and will continue to use him for the purchase of vehicles as and when required, I would have no hesitation in recommending Mike’s business to anyone who is interested in sourcing new and used vehicles and equipment within the Rescue and Recovery industry, it does what it says on the tin ! and he is a fella you can trust.




- VMS PURCHASES A DAF HEAVY RECOVERY VEHICLE -

VMS part of the HARRIS GROUP London, has recently purchased a DAF 6 wheeler heavy-duty recovery vehicle through RecoveryVehicles.com John Vickery previously owner of Service Garage Essex said i ask Mike to find me a heavy recovery vehicle based on a Daf chassis and within a week we had viewed and purchased the vehicle. We have no hesitation in recommending RecoveryVehicles.com for any company wishing to source or dispose of any recovery vehicles




- CHANDLERSTEWART -

CHANDLER STEWART URGENTLY REQUIRED A VEHICLE TRANSORTER THAT COULD TRANSPORT SPECIALIST CARS QUICKLY AND WITHOUT DAMAGE AND THE NEED OF BLOCKS OF WOoD AND SKATES.RECOVERY VEHICLES CAME UP WITH THE IDEAL SOLUTION.AN ISUZU NQR DAY CAB FITTED WITH AN ALUMINIUM LOW SLIDER BODY.THIS VEHICLE HAS A MASSIVE PAYLOAD OF 3200 KGS.




- ISUZU TRUCK -

Isuzu Truck Reshaping Its Roadside Recovery At the recent RHA Rescue and Recovery Group Business Review seminar, held in Liverpool, leading truck manufacturer Isuzu Truck UK announced plans to reshape its UK roadside recovery operation in line with the introduction of its heavier model range, planned for launch at the Commercial Vehicle Show in April 2008. In partnership with the Lantern Group, Isuzu Truck UK will be launching Isuzu Assistance next year to complement its current roadside recovery operation. Announcing details of this change, Nikki King OBE, Managing Director at Isuzu Truck UK said, "Isuzu Assistance will not be handled by a club but will be operated directly with the roadside and recovery industry through Lantern’s experienced call centre. The Isuzu Assistance service will not only use Lanterns call centre and recovery vehicles but will also work with the many large and small independent roadside and recovery companies across the UK." In Spring 2008, Isuzu Truck (UK) plans to extend its model range going up to 18 tonnes, taking the company from being a niche player in the UK to that of a major commercial vehicle manufacturer. As Nikki King explained to the assembled audience in Liverpool, "Isuzu Truck is now moving into the world of the haulier and we need to provide an industry leading roadside assistance service that competes with the best and complements Isuzu’s unique selling points of customer service and ‘CARE’. Our current service provider does a great job for our customers with our current product range and we trust them to continue to do so. We had to look elsewhere however for support with the introduction of our heavier products. We know that other commercial vehicle manufacturers and major fleet operations will be looking closely at this innovation and believe that the rescue and recovery industry will play a major support role in ensuring that Isuzu Assistance is successful." Isuzu Truck (UK) and The Lantern Group have developed a strong business relationship over the past few years. In addition to providing this new roadside assistance and recovery operation in 2008, The Lantern Group is also currently responsible for all new Isuzu chassis deliveries to Isuzu agents and customers in the UK.





- PRESS RELEASES -

Tachograph and the Recovery Industry

Tachograph and the Recovery Industry The regulations apply to recovery and goods vehicles. E C Regulation 3820/85 Sect.11 Art4 a) Light goods vehicles (this includes vans, pick-ups and 4X4) of not more than 3.5 tonnes gross plated weight are exempt from EU tachograph regulations regarding fitment and use. b) When light goods vehicles of not more than 3.5 tonnes gross plated weight are coupled to a goods carrying trailer or towing implement (so that the combined gross weights exceed 3.5 tonnes) then it will come within the scope of the EU tachograph regulations, and a DOT calibrated tachograph must be fitted and used when the trailer is drawn and EU driving rules must be followed. Vehicles over 3.5 tonnes: a) Vehicles used for the carriage of goods, where the maximum permissible weight of the vehicle or vehicle and trailer or semi-trailer exceeds 3.5 tonnes, are required to have a tachograph fitted and in working order b) Under Council regulation E C 3820/85 Article 4, there are a lot of exemptions from the tachograph regulations. Item 10 of that list covers specialised breakdown vehicles. A 'specialised breakdown vehicle' within the meaning of Article 4 (10) means a vehicle whose construction, fitments and other permanent characteristics are such that it will be used mainly for recovering vehicles that have recently been involved in an accident or have broken down for another reason. In the case of Hamilton v. Whirelock, it was ruled that such a vehicle will benefit from the exemption whatever use is actually made of it by its owner Domestic driver hours rules Where a driver is exempt from EC Rules (Tachograph), domestic driving rules must be applied and written records of hours of work on a weekly record sheet must be kept. a) A driver must not drive more than ten hours in one day the daily limit applies to time spent behind the wheel, actually driving. b) A driver must not be on duty more than eleven hours on any working day c) Where a driver does not drive more than four hours in each day of the week; he is exempt from the daily duty limit. Exemption from keeping records The drivers of the following are exempt from keeping written records: a) Drivers of goods vehicles which do not require an operator’s licence. b) Drivers of goods vehicles keeping within 50 kilometres of base and driving a maximum of four hours a day Summary Light goods vehicle under 3.5 tonnes towing a trailer - a tachograph is required. Recovery vehicle must abide by domestic driving hours but is exempted from having a tachograph and keeping written records. Recovery vehicles working under operator licensing are exempted from having a tachograph, but must abide by domestic driving hours and keep written records. NOTE: where a tachograph is used in a recovery vehicle to record mileage, it is the owner's responsibility to see that it is working correctly by having it checked. Driving Licences and the Recovery Industry The information below deals with how driving licences affect the recovery operator. I will not cover all of the regulations, but will cover only the licences that are required in the industry to drive recovery vehicles. Grandfather rights Those drivers who held a full car driving licence which was valid before 1st January 1997 retained the right to drive small vehicles with large trailers, category B + E goods vehicles from 3500kg to 7500kg MAM (MAM = Maximum Authorised Mass) with trailers up to a combined weight of 8250kg, category CI and Cl + E (8.25 tonnes). So for holders of a full car driving licence valid before 1st January 1997, new categories will be B + E and C + E restricted to 8.25 tonnes. With HGVs, there are two types of licences: one is for the motor vehicle (C) and one for the trailer (E). Full HGV (1, 2 or 3), that was valid before the 1st January 1997, are entitled to the new category C. Full HGV 1 that was valid before the 1st January 97 receives C + E with no restriction on the E. Full HGV 2 that was valid before 1st January 97 receives C + E with a restriction on the E licence to draw-bar combinations. Loss of rights Holders of a provisional licence for category C, which were valid prior to January 1st 1997, were able to continue to drive vehicles in category C + E which their licence authorises as provisional licence holders. They will be unable to take a test on such combinations after January 1st 1997 and will have to first take a category C test before moving up to a C + E test in line with staging testing introduced on that date. Driving licence categories (Post 1st January 97) CATEGORY B (Minimum Age 17) Motor vehicles not exceeding 3500kg MAM and not exceeding eight passenger seats (+ driver) towing a trailer not exceeding 750kg MAM (425kg in total) or trailer exceeding 750kg MAM if the combination weight does not exceed 3.5 tonnes and the trailer MAM does not exceed the unladen weight of the motor vehicle. Exemption: Towing a broken down or damaged vehicle from a position where it is likely to represent a road safety hazard or cause an obstruction to other road users. But only so far as is reasonably necessary so as to remove the hazard or obstruction. Holders of a full licence before 1st January 1997 retain the entitlement to B + E, C 1 C l + E (8.25tonnes). CATEGORY B + E Category B + trailers exceeding 750 kg MAM. New drivers must hold a category B licence and take a separate test to get category E. CATEGORY C 1 (Minimum Age 21 and with restrictions Age 18) Motor vehicles 3500kg to 7500kg with trailer not exceeding 750kg MAM Limited to 7500kg total MAM if under 21) New drivers must hold a category B licence, take a separate test and meet higher medical conditions. CATEGORY C l + E Category C l plus trailer exceeding 750kg MAM provided that the maximum weight of the combination does not exceed 12000kg (under 21 years limited to 7500kg) and the MAM of the trailer does not exceed the unladen weight of the motor vehicle. New drivers must hold a category C l licence and take a further test. Holders of a licence valid prior to 1st January 1997 limited to C l + E (8.25 tonnes) unless a new test is taken. CATEGORY C (Minimum age 21 years, 18 if on an LGV training scheme) Motor vehicle exceeding 3500kg M.A.M. plus trailers not exceeding 750kg MAM. All drivers have to take a separate test and meet higher medical condition. CATEGORY C + E Category C plus trailer exceeding 750kg MAM. All new drivers must hold a full category C licence, take a further test, and meet higher medical conditions. NOTE: Locomotive is a mechanically propelled vehicle which is not constructed itself to carry a load and the unladen weight exceeds 7370Kg. A Locomotive may not draw more than three trailers. A broken-down articulated vehicle is classed as one trailer when being drawn broken down, but only if it is unladen; so a laden articulated counts as two trailers.




ISUZU TRUCK (UK) LTD

ISUZU TRUCK (UK) LTD Company Profile – June 2009 Formed in 1995 Isuzu Truck (UK) Ltd is the UK distributor of Isuzu Motors Japan Ltd, the world's largest truck manufacturer of light to medium weight trucks. Including the UK, Isuzu distributes to over 170 countries around the world and is market leader in over 40 of them. Isuzu Truck (UK) Ltd has its head office based in Hatfield, Hertfordshire and currently directly employs 48 people. This is a new, purpose-built, marketing and sales headquarters incorporating a highly specified technical centre for dealer’s technician training purposes. Since Isuzu Truck (UK’s) launch into the UK it has grown from strength to strength with a nationwide dealer network numbering almost 60. The current model range consists of 4x2 rigids at 3.5t GVW - the ‘Grafter’ range – with the ‘Forward’ range at 5.0, 6.2, 7.5, 11, 12, 15 and 18 tonnes GVW. Customer Care is at the very foundation of Isuzu Truck (UK) Ltd and by being the only UK truck manufacturer to communicate directly with every single one of its customers (throughout the warranty period of each truck) it has the advantage of being able to respond to their needs immediately. It also gives customers peace of mind and complete reassurance that they’re dealing directly with a straight talking, no-nonsense, truck manufacturer. Isuzu also leads the way when it comes to warranty and roadside assistance cover. On the 3.5t ‘Grafter’ range customers enjoy 4 years unlimited mileage warranty which is market-leading. The entire ‘Forward’ range (from 5.0 up to 18.00 tonnes GVW) comes with 3 years unlimited mileage warranty. What’s more Isuzu Truck operates a 24-hour breakdown and emergency customer service called Isuzu Commercial Assistance. This provides customers with 24/7 comprehensive, nationwide roadside assistance and recovery if necessary. Again unprecedented – this service is absolutely free throughout the warranty period of the vehicle – no other manufacturer comes even close to matching this level of cover. The Isuzu fleet customer base includes such names as Coca-Cola, Menzies Distribution, Beattie Brothers, JJ Foods, A-Plant, Deborah Services, Travis Perkins, Palmer and Harvey and are currently dealing with over 170 local authorities. All UK destined Isuzu trucks are manufactured in Japan and assembled by automotive specialists VN Automoveis at Vendas Novas based just outside of Lisbon, Portugal. Full and flexible finance packages can be offered through Isuzu Truck Finance and of course Isuzu also offers in-house controlled repair and maintenance contracts. However for complete peace of mind contract hire is also available – this gives customers comprehensive purchasing and maintenance options. By listening to their customers at regular customer clinics, employing people that care about the business, appointing dealers that care about the operators, Isuzu Truck has established itself as a leader in customer care and can genuinely boast it is the UK’s first, truly customer facing, truck manufacturer. In 2000 it won the Daily Telegraph/Energis Customer Care Awards and in March of 2008 won the European Business Awards in the category of customer focus. For some time now it has been recognised by the Department for Trade and Industry as a benchmark company for excellence in customer care and as a result it often host visits by other UK companies (looking to share ‘best practice’ and customer relations management ideas) at its headquarters in Hertfordshire. This industry unique customer CARE programme is the brainchild of managing director Nikki King OBE. Nikki is a past chairman but still an active member of the Commercial Vehicle Show committee and was awarded the O.B.E for services to the road transport industry in 2002. CARE - Customer facing, Always listening, Reliable and trustworthy, Efficient and friendly.




- NOW IT'S THE TIME TO WEIGH IT ALL UP -

With the sucessful trialling of automatic number recognition, the vehicle inspectorate plans to introduce sophisticated weighing equipment that can check a truck's weight without the need to stop the vehicle. When an overloaded truck drives over plates in the road, a weighing mechanism will trigger a sensor and the vehicles registrtion number is captured.
Recovery Operators Be Warned

There are many four wheel heavy recovery vehicles still in use today and it doesn't take a genius to work out that if a the vehicles weigh 12 tonnes, its legal lift is about 3-4 tonnes. The same goes for 7.5 tonne slidebeds, many of which have payloads of less than 2 tonne, particularly if they have a crew cab (check out our Isuzu section). What will this mean? Well, for a start the prices for these vehicles will drop dramatically and the market place will be flooded, so urgent action is needed now to safeguard your investment.
Calculate the maximum lift within the rear axle design weights

 
Wheel Base(mm)  
Overhang(mm)  
Unladen Rear Axle Weight(kg)  
Rear Axle Capacity(kg)