VOSA have stated that they are now actively enforcing compliance to the Road Transport Working Time Directive.
Letters have been sent out to operators around the country that state VOSA is now enforcing these regulations in their normal enforcement activities. They also state that operators may be visited by a Traffic Examiner in the near future to discuss their organisation's systems and working practices.
The OLMC states 'this comes as no surprise, the Road Transport Working Time Directive has been "in play" for some time now but VOSA hasn't been enforcing compliance as they could have. This announcement is a clear call to action to pre-warn operators that if they don't put systems in place that ensure compliance with the regulations, they can expect a rough ride when it comes to future VOSA inspections.'
The Van Best Practice Programme helps van users to save money by improving the operational, environmental and safety performance of their vans.
By making small changes to everyday practice, you can drive down costs and improve business performance. Van Best Practice offers free advice to businesses of all sizes on how they can change the way they run their vans to reduce fuel costs, running costs and CO2 emissions.
The Department for Transport (DfT) has published a consultation document outlining its proposals for implementing the third EU directive on driving licences. In general, the directive harmonises definitions of vehicle sub-categories and rules on the duration of the validity of a driving licence across the European Union and the European Economic Area.
The BVRLA will await with interest the outcome of the consultation as the manner in which the directive is implemented will have the potential to impact members' customers. For example, the directive requires that drivers of large and medium-sized buses and lorries renew their licences and demonstrate continuing medical fitness every five years, rather than the present UK requirement for five-yearly renewal only after age 45.
There are currently no plans to introduce a smart card driving licence but it is proposed that old-style UK licences be recalled (although there will be a separate consultation on this).
The BVRLA's Leasing and Fleet Management Committee last week discussed the Office of Government Commerce's campaign to improve public sector use of 'grey fleet' vehicles – employee-owned vehicles used for work purposes.
As part of the campaign, the OGC has released several case studies showing how public sector fleets have made cash and CO2 savings by using rental and leased vehicles. The committee asked the BVRLA to make use of this information on its website to help members build a persuasive case for their services when next tendering for local authority contracts.
The committee also agreed that the administrative burden associated with the new offence of being the registered keeper of an uninsured vehicle, which comes into force next year, will make rental and leasing a more attractive option for businesses.
Road trains that link vehicles together using wireless sensors could soon be on European roads.
An EU-financed research project is looking at inexpensive ways of getting vehicles to travel in a 'platoon' on Europe's motorways. Each road train could include up to eight separate vehicles - cars, buses and trucks will be mixed in each one.
The EU hopes to cut fuel consumption, journey times and congestion by linking vehicles together. Early work on the idea suggests that fuel consumption could be cut by 20% among those cars and trucks travelling behind the lead vehicle.
A £40 fine imposed on a motorist who collided with a train on a level crossing has been criticised by a group representing a railway.
Eileen Lawrence, 72, drove onto the crossing in Fairbourne, Gwynedd, colliding with a train moving at 20mph. She later admitted careless driving. No-one was injured in the incident.
Members at the Cambrian Coast railway conference in Porthmadog said the low fine issued was sending out the wrong message. Ms Lawrence admitted careless driving and was fined £40 with three penalty points, with £80 costs and £15 victim surcharge by magistrates in Dolgellau in September.
A South Korean woman is celebrating after passing the written exam for a driving licence - on her 950th attempt.
After four years of trying, 68-year-old Cha Sa-soon finally managed to secure the 60 out of 100 points needed to pass the test. The grandmother has spent more than 5m won ($4,200, £2,600) on application fees for the test.
Now Mrs Cha, who lives in Jeonju, 130 miles (210km) south of Seoul, must pass the practical test to get on the road.
Microsoft's web portal MSN.com has been given an extensive revamp for the first time in almost ten years.
New features include fewer links, a column dedicated to social networking sites Twitter and Facebook, and a large search engine box. The company hopes the new look will drive more traffic to its Bing search engine, launched as a competitor to Google in June 2009.
It will roll out in 2010 with a small group of US users getting access now.
The 2010 Car Of The Year award will be decided in January but the shortlist has just been announced.
To qualify for the competition cars must be on sale in at least five European countries and sell more than 5,000 examples a year. But when MSN last looked at the contenders some of them hadn't even launched!
That included the Vauxhall Astra, revealed at Frankfurt and - as expected - on the shortlist and in with a shout of winning. And if it does that'll be two years in a row for Vauxhall, the Insignia winning the 2009 prize. The Volkswagen Polo is another strong contender that hadn't actually been launched when we last looked at the contenders for the prize back in the summer. Now on sale, it's been getting strong reviews.
With the contenders whittled down to just seven, the 59 jurors - made up of motoring pundits from across Europe - will each decide how to distribute their respective 25 points and pick the winner. Each juror must choose at least five cars from the list, before apportioning their points accordingly.
Last year the Insignia won by just a single point.
General Motors (GM) has cancelled plans to sell a majority stake in its European car business Opel, including its UK brand Vauxhall.
The US giant said in a statement that its board had made the decision because of "an improving business environment for GM over the past few months".
GM had agreed to sell Opel and Vauxhall to Canadian car parts firm Magna. It said it would now be seeking aid for Opel from the German government and other European states.
Toyota has confirmed that it is pulling out of Formula 1 racing after posting its worst ever financial loss. The world's largest car manufacturer is leaving the sport to concentrate on its core business and to cut costs.
Toyota president Akio Toyoda said the Japanese team had no option but to pull out citing "the current severe economic realities" affecting the world. Toyota did not win a race after making its F1 debut in 2002 but was fifth in the 2009 constructors' championship. The company revealed its worst set of figures for the financial year to March 2009, and is expecting further losses to continue when it posts its results to September 2009 on Thursday.
Toyota's withdrawal leaves the sport with no Japanese team after Honda left F1 at the start of the 2009 season. Honda was replaced by Brawn, who went on to win this year's drivers' championship with Jenson Button and the constructors' championship.
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