Transport Engineer : October 2008 Contents

4 Comment
Taking stock of maintenance facts and figures. Opinions are divided on the ways in which VOSA’s operator compliance risk score (OCRS) should or should not be used. It certainly should not be forgotten that the OCRS system was created by VOSA for VOSA, to help target non-compliant operators. But in this age of freedom of information it is always going to be hard to sustain the argument that an objective, valid measure of roadworthiness and legal compliance for VOSA should not be allowed to provide other interested parties with a useful insight as well. In all the controversy over statistics and key performance indicators it needs to be remembered that they never tell the whole story. They enable information to be sifted and can focus attention in the right place but cannot obviate the need for conscientious and knowledgeable interpretation. This is where fleet managers and transport engineers come in and where the IRTE’s Maintenance Supplier Assessment guide can be a useful tool.

4 Letters
From Malcolm Tagg, director general of the Vehicle Builders and Repairers Association, on whole-vehicle type approval; technical journalist Alan Bunting on Euro-6 engines and fuel economy; British Transport Advisory Consortium (BTAC) chairman Nick Matthews on criticism of BTAC trials: and fleet management consultant John Eastman on the added value of BTAC trials.

6 News
German tolls spur on development of ultra-clean diesel engines. Two-stage turbos to the fore for MAN at Euro-5. Sustaining a united front on sustainable transport.

12 Law latest
Headlamp aim test misery looks set to end. Reflecting on imminent changes to UK lighting regulations.

14 Van fuel efficiency under scrutiny
Worries about climate change have prompted the European Commission to get tough on carbon dioxide emissions from cars. Now vans and minibuses could be included in the legislation. Why is this contentious? David Wilcox has been finding out.

17 Global trade and a little local difficulty
Harmonisation of truck weights and dimensions is attracting attention from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, no less. Where could this leave European and UK rules? John Dickson-Simpson offers his opinion.

20 What price a Eurocargo comeback?
Iveco seems to have lost its way in a sector of the UK truck market where it once led the way. So now the dealer network is being restructured and the middleweight truck range has been modestly re-engineered. Where will all this lead? David Wilcox takes the latest Eurocargos for a spin.

24 Versatility rules OK in recycling and waste management
A host of innovative vehicles and equipment for collecting and segregating waste was on show in Birmingham last month. John Dickson-Simpson sifts the wheat from the chaff.

27 Equipping the operation
Upping the ante in trailer technology

29 Equipping the operation
Crisis, what financial crisis?

32 Equipping the operation
Maintenance suppliers urged to "pull their socks up".

35 People and jobs

39 Events diary