LOOK FOR EDDIE’S TRUCK WITH NO NAME
MEMBERS of the public are being given a rare opportunity to christen a truck by iconic transport giant Eddie Stobart.
Every truck in the Cumbrian firm’s fleet has a different girl’s name painted on the front of the cab and normally only members of the 15,000 strong Stobart Members Club are able to request a name for a new Stobart truck.
But, as part of the company’s 40th anniversary celebrations, the Cumbrian-based haulage company has launched a national truck spotting competition with a difference.
Members of the public are being asked to spot Stobart’s truck with no name and every month from now until December a winner will be given the chance to name the truck they have spotted.
Each month, Stobart is placing one truck onto its fleet which, instead of a girl’s name, will have a question mark painted on the front of the cab. Anyone who spots this truck must note down the time and location and register it using the online form at www.clubstobart.co.uk. At the end of each month, a winning entry will be chosen at random.
ANOTHER FINE VAN YOU GOT ME INTO SAPPHIRE
FORD has launched a special edition of the Transit to celebrate the 45th birthday of the UK's favourite van.
Appropriately called Sapphire - the traditional stone for a 45th wedding anniversary - the special comes with an extensive list of features including a silver-painted front grille and rear light guards, silver-painted mirror caps on electrically-operated and heated door mirrors, new 'Ink Blue' paint, air conditioning, tinted glass, electrically-operated windows, 'Quickclear' heated front windscreen, steering column-mounted audio controls, Bluetooth with Voice Control System and cruise control.
Only 1,100 examples of the Transit Sapphire will be built with a choice of three variants - 280 short wheelbase, low roof, front wheel drive, 2.2-litre TDCi; 280 medium wheelbase, medium roof, front wheel drive, 2.2-litre TDCi and 350 long wheelbase, medium roof, rear wheel drive, 2.4-litre TDCi.
PICTURE A VERY SPECIAL 500
A NOVEL project to celebrate the production of 500,000 Fiat 500 city cars has been announced by Fiat.
A one-off show car, called Fiat 500 Thousandth, will be entirely covered by 1,500 photos displaying the faces of Fiat 500 customers, celebrities and fans.
Bookings for a place on the car are available now and can be made by logging on to www.fiat500.com .
Seventy per cent of the places are reserved for Fiat 500 owners and Fiat says that the show car will be ready three weeks after the booking stage is concluded and will feature in forthcoming events and at international motor shows.
LONDON CAB CZECHS OUT PRAGUE
PRAGUE is the latest European capital to get the iconically British London cab.
“What we are planning to bring to the streets of the Czech Republic is the most professional, personal transport network in the world,” says Matthew Cheyne, international market development director for the London Taxi Company.
The Czech Republic will join a growing list of European countries to introduce The London Taxi Service. Poland, Ukraine, Kosovo, Germany and Spain are already establishing the world famous transport system.
FOREIGN TRUCKERS FUEL DEBATE
FOREIGN truckers who arrive in Britain fully loaded with fuel cost the country some £215 million in lost revenue last year, says the Freight Transport Association (FTA).
The multi-million pound black hole, which the FTA says is revealed in the Department for Transport’s own figures, has strengthened calls from the transport trade association to make overseas vehicles pay their way on the UK’s roads.
Simon Chapman, FTA’s Chief Economist says: “A system to limit the amount of fuel able to be brought in from across the channel would bring in almost enough cash to build a brand new hospital every year, yet none of the political parties seems to have the appetite to tackle this issue.”