AVRO LOSES KEY REGION CHAIRMAN.
A leading player in region 8 of AVRO has resigned from the organisation because he believes the organisation has completely lost its way. Here Harpenden Recovery's Peter Waite tells Professional Recovery why he made the decision.

For many years my company has been an active member of AVRO. And of late my operations manager Steve Ferridge has been regional chairman. However this year with its present leadership I have decided not to renew.

This decision has been taken because of the lack of direction and purpose of the present management of AVRO. It would appear that the fundamental problems that affect the recovery industry are being ignored and the lack of profitability seemingly unnoticed. There is no pressure being placed upon work providers to either appreciate the skill and dedication of the recovery operator or to provide a scale of charges that reflect the overhead costs that are being incurred.

Most recently a meeting took place at the Home Office when AVRO was represented by a trio who had no previous knowledge or involvement in what had taken place during earlier discussions. Such circumstances can only bring about further delays in the Home Office approving an increase in the statutory charges for association members.

The association has failed to achieve any significant results in the most needed areas - ie police contracts, working time directive, magenta light bar, excessive fuel increases and club rates to name but a few. AVRO divorced itself last year from an excellent magazine that bore zero cost and instead has its own publication that is weak in content, struggles to compete and has a high cost. A cost borne by the membership.

It is essential for a trade association to be constantly mobilising industry opinions and leading the way to solutions. We firmly believe that AVRO is dead in the water and has no future. It is unable to offer anything significant to its membership and unfortunately, this industry will remain fragmented until its dying day. Believe me this is not that far away.

Peter Waite
Harpenden Recovery

New Transit from Rohill.
Rohill believes its new Transit-based transporter body offers significant benefits to operators including higher payloads and lower loading angles.

Rohill has been quick to produce a body for the new front wheel drive Transit and has produced a vehicle designed for every day working as a lightweight transporter. The Rohill transit has a high payload of up to 1,700kg and allow floor giving a much lower centre of gravity. This allows a reduced loading angle and shorter ramp length.

The chassis comes galvanised as standard and has a high tensile aluminium floor. A number of options are available for the cab and conversion to tailor to an operator's individual requirements.

TRUK launches new heavy underlift.
A new Colorado range with boom length up to 4.75m signals the re-entry of Truk UK into the heavy underlift market.

The new Colorado range offers power tilt and levelling as standard and enables operation of the underlift boom under load with precise positioning.

Underlift lifting boom lengths on the new heavy truck range from 1,060mm to 4,750mm with a lifting boom design capacity of up to 22 tonnes. Optional low cost hydraulically extended overhead winching booms can be fitted to all models in the range. A higher rated lifting boom and winching boom will follow over the next few months.

Production is now starting on Volvo FH12 chassis although the design is suitable for the majority of European chassis.

Truk UK managing director Tony Jones believes that the new heavy underlift will be a strong contender in the wider European market as well as the UK. "We have designed the Colorado range to compete with the best in Europe and like all our products they offer great value for money. We aim to take a substantial share of the European market."

In addition to commencing production on UK orders, Truk UK plans to export the heavy underlift in kit form to continental Europe shortly.

New duo for Car & Truck.
South Lanarkshire-based Car & Truck Services has added two new vehicles to its fleet, both fitted with MTS in-cab Turbo Dispatch terminals. A Ford Transit service van comes fully equipped for roadside repair alongside an Iveco 65C-150 crew cab which has the new 150bhp engine, 2 ton spec lift and fully equipped locker body.

The vehicle bodywork is from Dave Bland Engineering. "These two packages illustrate the company's continued investment in vehicles and technology to keep us at the forefront of the industry," says Car & Truck's Allan Forest.

Recovery 2001 at CV show.
A key attraction for recovery operators at the Commercial Vehicle Show being held at the NEC in Birmingham next month will be Recovery 2001, an area dedicated to the recovery industry. Among the exhibitors expected in this section will be Aliweld, Bandag, Boniface, Roger Dyson, Superwinch and, of course, Partnership Publishing, the publishers of Professional Recovery.

Elsewhere all of the major vehicle and component manufacturers will be exhibiting. Among the manufacturers of ancillary equipment will be Roncol Services who produce pumps and who are sharing a stand with Joseph Ash, makers of the Envirotank, a self-contained refuelling unit. Roncol argue that for fleets as small as 10 vehicles there can be benefits in having on-site refuelling. Dolphin Telecom is also exhibiting.

The show combines the former IRTE and Tipcon events, and in total will have over 400 exhibitors taking part. This year's event follows the successful first combined show which was held in March 2000.

The event opens on Tuesday 20 March and closes on Thursday 22 March. On the first two days it is open from 0900 to 1800; on the final day the hours are 0900 to 1630. Admission is free, and if you plan to attend you can pre-register on the show's website at www.cvshow.com

Renault switches to the AA.
Renault cars and vans now have breakdown cover provided by the AA in a three-year contract which came into effect on 1 January. The contract was previously held by the RAC in what the AA describes as an "11-year stranglehold".

It is estimated that the deal will provide roadside cover to around 250,000 new Renault drivers this year alone. It also covers buyers of Renault approved used cars.

The Renault deal brings to 15 the number of car manufacturers who use the AA for roadside support.

Launch offer on Ryders winch.
A new 8000lb winch, the Retriever RR8000, has been launched by Ryders International, the Bootle-based winch supplier. It is powered by a 12v battery electric motor with a 210:1 reduction to the drum via a planetary gearbox. An automatic brake is fitted and there is a trailing lead remote control. Radio remote control is also available.

For winding out cable there is a free spooling clutch. The 228mm-long drum can hold 29m of 8mm diameter wire rope. The winch comes complete with cable, forged steel hook and hawse fairlead, with a roller fairlead available as an option.

The Retriever RR8000 sells for £499 but to mark the launch Ryders are offering the new model with £50 off and with £130-worth of extras including snatch block, shackle, tree strop, a pair of industrial-standard protective gloves and a safety voltage interrupt switch kit.

Ryders International has been in the winch business for over 35 years and can be contacted on 0151 922 7585.

Upgrade for Mondial's Croydon call centre
Mondial Assistance has completed the first phase of an investment in new software and hardware for its Croydon call centre. The upgrade, by Aspect Communications UK, is increasing capacity which will increase the speed of response.

"Here at Mondial speed and efficiency are of the utmost importance when we are dealing with customers in the call centre," says Mondial's Geoff Parkinson. "This new software will help to keep us at the forefront of call centre technology."

The Recovery Yearbook - Don't miss out
It's going to be the industry bible, and it's coming out soon. Produced by the team at Professional Recovery, it's all-new and it will be the most comprehensive directory the recovery industry has ever seen.

Inside The Recovery Yearbook you'll find listings of operators, manufacturers and other suppliers to the industry. If you think your company might not be in the Yearbook and want to make sure that it is, give Marie a call on 01952 415334.