The FTA’s new online Reporting Gateway is the ultimate tool for the management of drivers’ hours and tachograph compliance and is free to all Tachofta customers.

The interactive suite provides a range of reports from a high level overview of the company, to compliance by depot, and even to the daily detail of each individual driver. Six high level reports are available which can then be broken down into numerous other reports for even greater detail. The service will help reduce the risk of infringements, prioritise business decisions, provide flexibility and save valuable time.

June Powell, General Manager of Tachofta, said: “This new interactive reporting suite is a real-time, online service which eliminates any delay in reports being sent, ensuring that the information is always completely up-to-date and making it quick and easy to pinpoint any infringements. Visitors to the FTA stand will be able to see for themselves how the system works and the enormous benefits it can offer.”

Visitors to the FTA stand will also have the chance to win a TomTom GO 7000 truck navigation unit if they place an order through Shopfta. The TomTom unit helps trucks avoid narrow roads, low bridges and unsuitable routes, and the offer is valid on all orders from any of Shopfta’s product ranges until the end of May.

FTA’s Member Advice Centre will be giving free best practice briefings on the stand, offering advice and information on efficient driver walk-around checks and effective management of agency drivers.

A new FTA Driver CPC guide will also be available to visitors to the FTA stand.

Further information on Tachofta is available from the FTA Member Service Centre on 08717 11 22 22.

With up to 50 approval criteria for a brand new vehicle model, SENTA – the SMMT European and National Type Approval guide, will ease the process for anyone looking to design and build a vehicle to be sold in the EU. Being phased in from 2010 to 2014, ECWVTA allows vehicles to be registered across all EU member states without the need for further testing in each country. If a vehicle does not have European type approval, the manufacturer must apply for either a national small series or individual approval in each member state before it can be sold.

SENTA details what a manufacturer must do from the original design idea, through the development and construction stages to completion of the approval process. The guide covers all categories of vehicles including passenger cars, vans, trucks, light and heavy trailers, buses, coaches and special purpose vehicles.

Supporting SENTA’s launch, SMMT chief executive, Paul Everitt said, “SENTA has been designed to simplify the approval process, easing the path from design to sale. SENTA allows companies to speed up the lengthy Type Approval process, effectively getting their product to market quicker. Across industry, as manufacturers introduce new products and launch new models, the guide will become an invaluable resource.”

Use of the SENTA guide is free for SMMT member companies and £900 per year for non-members.

With a wide range of the company’s class leading commercial vehicles on display, Nissan will be highlighting the breadth of abilities offered by its hardest working models. Whether you need the latest pick-up, a tipper or simply the most space efficient van in the business, the Nissan stand will have it all.

Having already been named What Van? Van of the Year 2010, International Van of the Year 2010 and ITM Van of the Year 2010, Nissan’s NV200 will be a must-see attraction at the show.

Fiat brings the fictitious company from its new UK TV ad campaign to the exhibition.

Lightfoot Logistics, the sitcom fleet management firm introduced in Fiat Professional’s TV and internet campaign ‘The Fleet’, features heavily at this year’s NEC Birmingham show, on 13-15 April.

The ad campaign opened with a slot during ITV News at Ten, followed by acomprehensive display on the internet.

All six vans to be shown on Fiat Professional’s stand 5730 will be finished in white and feature the blue Lightfoot Logistics logo. Centrepiece vehicles will be two new Doblo Cargos, which were launched in the UK in March.

Meanwhile, the company is trialling a fuel cell that could double the range of its battery-powered vans and trucks.

Electric commercial vehicles have a maximum range of around 100 miles (160km), which makes them ideal for low mileage urban operations.

However, by adding a small hydrogen fuel cell as a range extender, the vehicles will be able to achieve closer to 200 miles (320km).

Kevin Harkin, Sales Director for Smith Electric Vehicles, said: “Utilising a fuel cell range extender opens up exciting new possibilities for our electric vans and trucks.

“Enhancing the range capabilities provides a wider application for electric vehicles within large fleets, without compromising our zero emission philosophy.”

Renault will unveil its new Master van range and the new Kangoo van.

The firm will show the new short, medium and long wheel-base versions of this increasingly successful small van range.

Visitors to the T Cards Direct stand will quickly understand why many franchised dealers, independent garages, fast fit centres, body shops and fleet workshops use these systems to implement highly efficient management controls and have the opportunity to take advantage of special packages put together by the company with prices starting from as low as £95.

The concept of the T Cards boards is simple and practical; coloured cards are manually moved across a boards that comprises a series of columns each with horizontal slots down their entire length.  This shows current status and as each action is completed, repositioning a card denotes a new action or status.

The Workshop Loading Board being highlighted on stand 4004 at the CV exhibition is designed to provide the service team with a clear and immediate overview of service centre work schedules, enabling staff to prioritise work, respond quickly to log new bookings and track service status.

For the Service Centre the Workshop Control Board is the ideal, low-cost monitoring and tracking solution for showing Work in Progress, Jobs Pending, as well as Allocated Technician.  It can also be used to show vehicle’s awaiting parts, parts ordered, and vehicles release after service or repair.  Such is the versatility of the Workshop Control Board that its functionality can be easily extended, a header bar enabling columns to be assigned a specific task/job function whilst a footer strip identifies the board’s applications should more than one T Cards system be in use.

Most users credit the popularity of the T Cards Direct boards to the manner it which they can be easily configured to suit a wide variety of applications and the immediate overview of status provided.  With prices starting from just £95, this minimal outlay can bring a marked impact on the overall efficiency of a vehicle service department.  The low price includes a set of 500 cards, the element so vital to the system, each card is moved across the board as various actions are completed, thus showing current status at any given instant.  The cards come in a variety of colours and print styles to suit the demands of the application.

T Cards Direct builds the boards in the UK, giving customers the opportunity to have column layouts assembled to suit their needs.  The company also supplies the cards, available in various colours without printing; alternatively they can to incorporate company logos, form styles, etc.

From its 42 square metre, purpose built stand in Hall 4 (4431), the Huddersfield-based business will be showing selected products from its huge starter and alternator programmes for both the automotive and commercial vehicle/PSV sectors. Wood Auto’s complete range is arguably the largest in the UK and covers more than 4,800 application references, with 30,000 units held in stock.

In addition to rotating units, Wood Auto will also be showing a variety of products from its ancillary range, which covers bulbs, cables, fuses, relays, switches and wiper products, as well as the LED Autolamps range.

LED Autolamps are supplied either as an individual lamp unit – side, rear, brake, indicator etc – or a as multiple lamp cluster option and are available to suit small, medium, large or extra large commercial vehicles and trailers. The range also includes strip lamps and reflectors and a multitude of interior lamps.

Wood Auto will also use the show to introduce its new range of air conditioning compressors, launched in January. The range consists of more than 1,000 units that cover close to 14,000 reference applications. These air conditioning compressors are sold on an outright purchase basis, so there is no need for customers to complicate their transactions by having to exchange the failed compressor with the new unit or to be forced to pay a surcharge for it.

As well as the automotive sector, Wood Auto’s air conditioning compressors are also available for the commercial vehicle, PSV and agricultural sectors, thus giving its customers a single source outlet for compressors across multiple markets.

Chris Spanton, Wood Auto’s commercial manager said: “The revised format of the show, which has moved slightly away from the commercial vehicle manufacturers to focus primarily on operators, suits Wood Auto because our customers are mainly from the aftermarket rather than the OEM sector.

“We have a wide range of products that cater for the broad spectrum of visitors we expect to see during the show and it will be very useful to communicate the fact that we have many other products that compliment the rotating units that Wood Auto have been associated with for so many years.”

No matter how well maintained a vehicle fleet may be, take the long way home and up goes your fuel bill and operating costs.

But this need not be a problem, as thousands of operators have already discovered.  Use a good fleet management and route planning system and you’ll cut mileage and fuel.  Less fuel means lower emissions so everyone is happy.

So, how do you go about deciding which system to use?  One obvious answer is to visit the Commercial Vehicle Operator Show from 13-15 April next year, where a wide variety of suppliers will show their latest technology.

Head for Hall 5 and talk to firms like Cybit, TomTom Work and Road Tech – all are major players in the UK and European markets.  Wherever your customers take you, the going will be easier for the local knowledge that a good route planning and logistics system offers.

So, for no more getting stuck under a bridge or trying a three-point turn in a cul-de-sac, register now for your free entry ticket to the 2010 CV Operator Show.  Go to www.cvoperatorshow.com and note the dates in your 2010 schedule.

From fleet management systems to tyres, lubes and fuels, specialist refrigerated or municipal equipment or vehicle parts, bodies and equipment, everything required to keep loads on the move will be there.  Not since the CV Show in April 2008 has such a meeting place been available to enable operators to review their business arrangements and discuss technical and operational developments with suppliers.

At the CV Operator Show, the accent will be exclusively on the road transport and logistics business, making it an obvious destination for directors, managers and engineers in truck, van and minibus operators around the UK.

It is this authoritative audience which is proving so attractive to exhibitors, as Richard Gibbs, Managing Director of BPW confirms.  “As a long-time exhibitor at the CV Show, we value the opportunity to meet so many of our customers, old and new, in a relatively short period and where they come to us.  For operators, a business meeting place such as the 2010 CV Operator Show is a truly cost-effective way to keep up to date with new developments while also meeting new suppliers.”

Visitor registration for free entry tickets opens soon at www.cvoperatorshow.com.

The event will be held at the National Exhibition Centre, Birmingham from 13-15 April 2010.

The Commercial Vehicle Operator Show is owned by The CV Show LLP, comprising the Road Haulage Association, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders and IRTE Services Ltd, the trading company of the SOE (Society of Operations Engineers).  Crystal Communications will manage the Show organisation, stand sales and marketing.

For further information please visit www.cvoperatorshow.com.