Karcher are offering our customers £100 cash back when you purchase an HDS pressure washer / steam cleaner from our Karcher range. The offer runs from 1st March 2012 until 30th June 2012.

Karcher Spring Offer:

See www.karcher.co.uk for details

Blimey, doesn’t time fly?

It’s hard to believe that this year’s Truckfest programme is about to get under way.

At HGV Direct we are really looking forward to the weekend’s Truckfest at Peterborough – it’s always a great chance to meet up again with operators, drivers and their families, and to enjoy some truck-related downtime.

And this year’s event looks set to be better than ever. It’s Truckfest’s 30^th anniversary, so the organisers will be working to make it even better than usual – and we’ve got our new event trailer to take along, so that we have more space to talk to people in comfort, and we’re easier to spot in the crowd. Look out for our large yellow and red trailer, which has been compared – unkindly, I think – to a recumbent banana.

Fruit-based jibes aside, the trailer is going to be a great base for us as we hunt out friends and colleagues at Truckfest, and also at other events during the summer and autumn months, such as the Chatsworth Show, and the Great Yorkshire Show. We’ll have competitions and giveaways, and very likely some decent refreshments too, so I hope that you will come along and see us.

Here’s to a great summer (if it ever stops raining).

Simon Smedley
MD HGV Direct Ltd.

Lubetech specialise in the development and distribution of a variety of market leading absorbents and spill control products, all designed to help industry protect the environment from contamination caused by fluid spills. Lubetech is globally recognised, and a critical source for thousands of companies.

HGV Direct became distributors for the Lubetech range of products as demand for spill control grew due to tighter regulations being more rigorously enforced and the penalties becoming increasingly harsh.

There are many products available ideal for fleet operators and owner drivers alike, the latest of which is the BundiQuick range of compact portable containment bunds. Ideal for storage in the cab or tool box.

The last two weeks has proved to us once again that – when it comes to British weather – literally anything can happen. At HGV Direct’s head office in Derbyshire blazing hot sunshine gave way to blizzard conditions in just a couple of days.

It really underlines what we already know: it pays to expect the unexpected. That’s why, when people go on holiday in the UK, they end up packing everything but the kitchen sink. Just to be on the safe side.

It’s a way of thinking that has a lot to recommend it in business, which is why we’re excited about a product that we are stocking to help people repair coolant system leaks quickly, cheaply and permanently.

K-Seal is a ‘mechanic in a bottle’ – it repairs cooling systems by flowing into cracks and holes, and then cures and bonds into a permanent repair that lasts for the life of the engine. And because the formulation includes ceramic microfibres and copper, the repair does not create the hot spots, stresses and weaknesses that can be caused by some other products.

It recently came top in a scientific product trial conducted by  the University of Brighton, so its credentials are top notch.

K-Seal can be used either to repair a known problem in a matter of minutes, or left permanently in the system to repair cracks as they happen. It is one of those products that could save time, money and even your professional reputation, so it is worth having some in stock. Because, as we know, bad stuff happens, and often when we least expect it.

Simon Smedley M.D.
HGV Direct Ltd.

Apparently, 11 per cent of UK vehicles have at least one brake light not working: three per cent have one or more non-functioning headlights.

These findings are from a recent survey by TescoCars.com, which I can’t find a link to, but it was reported in the IAAF weekly bulletin for 16 March. Commercials were included in the survey, but they made up only eight per cent of the offending vehicles.

So that’s a triumph for the careful checking that truck operators and drivers do before they hit the road. And yet, this shows us that there are still occasions where bulbs blow and the driver can’t easily get it changed to put themselves back on the right side of the law.

My business is selling truck parts, so I expect you know what I’m going to say next.

It really is a good idea to have some staple products in stock in case of an emergency. A few lamp bulbs don’t cost the earth and don’t take up much space in the workshop, but having them to hand if a lamp fails can save both time and money. The same applies to lots of other not very interesting but definitely important products like fuses, cable ties, coolant additive, tachograph rolls – all things that it is easy to run out of, but that you may need urgently one day soon.

Simon Smedley
MD, HGV Direct Ltd.

Road safety isn’t a laughing matter, so it was with a snort of disbelief that I revisited this blog in the Guardian newspaper online the other day. I first saw it a couple of months ago, and it reports on what some people claim is a growing trend for truck drivers to divert themselves from the daily grind by watching DVDs, cooking, eating and even changing their clothes while driving along.

I have been looking out for signs of this ever since I first read it. Whether you drive a truck or not, you’ll be relieved to hear that I have seen nothing, and I think that in this country it must be an urban myth – I’ve got too much respect for our truck drivers to believe otherwise.

But it did get me to thinking again about the hours and hours that truckers spend on their own over the course of the week, and how much help a few driver comfort products can be – used responsibly, of course.

Kettles, portable cookers, cool boxes, fans, TVs, DVD players and games consoles, blue tooth devices, hands-free phonekits, cab security and road safety systems – all of these are now pretty standard things that have the potential to make life easier and sometimes safer for drivers when they are out on the road, especially if they have to stay away overnight, in the cab. And that’s just for starters. At HGV Direct we are looking afresh at driver comfort products over the next couple of months, and sourcing new, improved versions of some existing products, and looking for brand new ideas to make truck driving a more comfortable experience.

If you have any ideas for products that you’d like to see us stock – whether you know they exist, or only hope that they do, get in touch with us via the Facebook page.

Welcome to our Easter edition.
Once again, through the pages of your Talk Parts magazine we will continue to keep you informed of all the latest product technology within the industry, and the best deals for you at the best prices.

Firstly, may I offer congratulations to Tony Birds and his team at our Middleton branch on winning their achievement certificate for overall performance during 2011. During 2012 the HGV Team will be out and about with our exhibition trailer, attending many events over the coming months, see our facebook page for tour dates!
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As we start the new year make sure you are prepared for the winter ahead, in this new year edition of “Talk Parts”, we offer a wide range of rock bottom deals, from winter survival kits, to bulbs, batteries and wipers, and a new winter product ISSE “Snow Socks”, also brand new for 2012 remanufactured air conditioning compressors from just £195. Plus a host of consumables

as usual – all at the right price, and as a special thank you to our readers we’ve included a “FREE” pull-out 2012 year planner. WOW!!!!!

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Dewsbury Reporter Article and Sale Sharks Ticket Competition Details – January 2012

OPEN HOUSE!    Great offers, top notch advice – and the snacks are on us!

January. It’s a gloomy, cash-strapped month – but if you operate a truck or specialist vehicle in the Dewsbury area, HGV Direct has plans to make yours brighter.

On Friday 20^th January HGV Direct’s Dewsbury branch will have a host of special offers, competitions, and a team of experts from major suppliers, including Texaco, Wabco, Knorr Bremse and Banner Batteries, who will be on hand to offer advice on selecting the right components and getting the best from your vehicle.

We’ll also be showing a host of new products backed by special, money-saving offers – and every visitor placing an order on the day will receive £20 in Argos vouchers.

Branch manager Simon Bothamley says:

“We’ll be here from 10.00am right up until7.30pm, so there’s time for everyone to find out more about who we are, what we offer and how we can help with practical advice as well as great pricing.”

Put us to the test

HGV Direct opened its Dewsbury branch in 2009 to serve the town, as well as Leeds, Bradford, Castleford and Wakefield, with Simon Bothamley at the helm. He has worked in the haulage industry for most of his working life.

There’s not much that the Dewsbury team doesn’t know about trucks and specialist vehicles, so contact them if you need advice.

Account manager Martin Harrowsmith says, “We give advice to about half of the people who phone up for a part.

“We’ve got electronic catalogues for the main vehicle makes and we set up spreadsheets for customers’ vehicles, so we can get to know individual vehicles and what they’ll need.

“It’s tough operating commercial vehicles, so HGV Direct is geared up to make it easier.”

HGV Direct Dewsbury holds large stocks of more than 1500 different components, and has access to many more from the HGV Direct network.

Calling all rugby fans!! Truck and ruck with HGV Direct!!

Win two full hospitality tickets to Sale Sharks vs. Saracens on Friday 23rd March

• Pre-match meal
• Drinks
• Transport to the match from the Dewsbury area
• Meet the players, etc., etc.

Just answer this simple question for your chance to win:

What is the two-word name of the HGV Direct bi-monthly sales brochure – “TALK XXXXX”?

For your chance to win this fantastic prize, email your answer to sales@hgvdirect.co.uk putting “Dewsbury Reporter Competition” in the subject line and include your name and contact phone number.

The closing date for the receipt of entries is midnight on Tuesday 31st January 2012

Competition Rules:

1. No person connected with the competition or its promotion, or any member of their close family, may enter.
2. All entries must be submitted by email to the address provided.
3. Prizes are as stated and no alternative is available.
4. All entries must be received by the competition’s stated closing date.
5. Neither the Dewsbury Reporter nor HGV Direct accept any liability for any loss, damage or injury sustained in connection with the competition or its prizes, howsoever they are caused.
6. Publicity may be given to any competition winners and/or entrants and their names and/or photographs published in this newspaper or on the HGV Direct website.
7. The determination and decision of the editor on all matters will be final and no correspondence will be entered into. The editor reserves the right in absolute discretion to disqualify any entry competitors, or nominee, add to, or write any rules, or to cancel the whole or part of any competition, game or promotion at any stage without prior notification.
8. The editor or his/her nominee will draw a winning entry from among the correct entries to decide the winner.
9. Entrants must be aged 18 years or over. Proof of eligibility must be provided on request.
10. No purchase/payment is required to enter.
11. Winners will be notified within 28 days of the closing date.