The number of youngsters aspiring to become Scania commercial vehicle service personnel continues to increase with more than 50 students embarking on Scania Apprenticeship programmes between September 2011 and January 2012. This latest intake comprises 39 Apprentice Technicians, five Apprentice Parts Professionals and eight Apprentice Bus and Coach Technicians. "These figures are part of a healthy upward trend which has seen our intake of Apprentices almost double over the past three years," comments Mark Grant, Aftersales Director for Scania (Great Britain) Limited. "That is excellent news, not only for Scania and its customers but also for the transport sector in general, as today's new blood is the future lifeblood of our industry.

Fuel card specialist FleetCor Technologies, which own The Fuelcard Company in the UK, has bought AllStar Business Solutions from The Arval Group for $304m. AllStar has 40,000 fuel card customers and about one million cardholders. The Office of Fair Trading is reviewing the takeover. Read more...

Van and truck registrations rose 19.1% to 27,187 units in November, and in the rolling year by 18.6% to 300,331. “November saw the commercial vehicle market continue on its upward trend with demand up 19.1%,” said Paul Everitt, SMMT Chief Executive. “Both the van and truck markets saw growth, reflecting sustained investment in new vehicles by businesses. London’s new Low Emission Zone comes into effect on 3 January, requiring drivers of older vans and trucks to upgrade their vehicles or pay a daily fee, so we expect to see a boost to registration levels next month and through the early part of 2012.” Read more... News from Transport News Brief

Government has announced that it is to extend the Green Bus Fund with the introduction of a £25m third round of funding to allow even more bus operators to invest in low carbon technology and support a UK-wide shift to low carbon transport. "The Green Bus Fund has proved extremely effective in delivering environmental improvement and low carbon industrial capability," said Paul Everitt, SMMT Chief Executive. Read more... News from Transport News Brief

Continental has added five new sizes to its Scandinavia 2 winter tyres for trucks, buses and coaches. For the drive axle, there are two new low profile sizes on offer: 295/60 R 22.5 and 315/60 R 22.5. Meanwhile for steer axle, Continental now offers three new tyres for heavier loads: 315/60 R 22.5 XL, 315/70 R 22.5 XL and 355/50 R 22.5 XL sizes. Read more... News from Transport News Brief

The 26th Motor Transport Awards is the road transport industry event of the year and will take place on Wednesday 13 June at London’s Grosvenor House. If you have a success story to be proud of, make sure you enter the Motor Transport Awards 2012. The awards will open for entries in January. In the meantime, to ensure you are kept informed of further details you can register your interest at www.mtawards.co.uk and remember to hold the date: 13 June 2012. Read more... News from Transport News Brief

October commercial vehicle manufacturing in the UK was down 2.9% in October, on par with the 2.7% decline for the year to date. Car and engine production rose 14.1% and 12.0% respectively in the month as strong export demand continued. Paul Everitt, SMMT Chief Executive said, “Weak UK market demand is a cause for concern and makes it essential that the Chancellor uses his Autumn Statement to help encourage private sector investment and boost economic growth”.

Culina Logistics has fitted its entire fleet of 300 trucks with the TankSafe Impregnable device featuring an anti-roll spill mechanism. Culina Logistics' Fleet Compliance Controller, Oliver Shenton, said, “I am delighted with the performance of the TankSafe Impregnable device. Not only will it help prevent fuel theft, but it also means we are able to prevent diesel spills, which assists our health and safety aims”. Read more... News from Transport Brief

Winter weather will not phase drivers at British Gas after the UK's leading utilities provider completed a successful trial of Continental winter tyres on its car-derived vans. Following the extreme weather conditions experienced recently, British Gas took the decision to fit 120 of its Volkswagen Caddy vans with winter tyres to ensure its vehicles stay on-call and on the road. Read more... News from Transport News Brief

Volvo Buses has reported a substantial increase in deliveries for the third quarter, compared with the year-earlier period. A total of 2,954 buses were delivered, which is an increase of 37%. Volvo says that the total bus market in North America and Europe continues to display a negative trend, while South America and Asia expands rapidly. Read more...News from Transport News Brief.