Low Cost Vans

It’s coming up to the end of dry January and apart from the drizzle, which is pretty much obligatory here in Port Talbot, I’ve done pretty well. Dry as a bone I am. But I am looking forward to a drink… That and the fact that it’s almost pay day means that a big night out is brewing. The phone in my bag keeps pinging as the gang debates the various options (we know we’ll end up at the same old place again) but er, that’s not really the point. So anyway I was dying to see what the latest random suggestion was when my phone pinged while driving home yesterday. It took real willpower to not rummage into my bag for a peek, but I’m exercising my new year’s resolution - to forget the fact that I have a phone when I’m driving. It’s harder than I thought it’d be. Of course I’d never make a call or text but I do admit that ignoring my phone completely is like not being allowed to scratch a real itch. Clearly I’m not the only one with an invisible cord between me and my phone. A recent month long...

Most of us have witnessed some form of road rage when calmly making our way from A to B. My personal favourite is when someone beeps loudly because you haven’t left the traffic lights at the macro second the little man turns green. Patience is a virtue dear. As you may be concluding, I consider myself a considerate driver; a serene swan like presence on busy roads full of quacking ducks. But I recently had to put that to the test when I heard about a new ‘Driver Emotion Test’ that is now available. For the first time ever, there is a way of measuring how emotionally intelligent we are behind the wheel. Designed in partnership between Hyundai and behavioural psychologist Patrick Fagan from Goldsmiths University in London, it’s an in-car test that looks at how we respond to the stimulus around us while driving – it uses facial coding technology, eye tracking analysis and a heart rate monitor to better understand our emotions. The point (in case you’re wondering) is so that the more aware...

It was only last week that I was talking about having vans adapted for specific business needs. Well here’s a story along those lines that’s worth knowing about… It’s about a business lady from North Wales, whose slightly unfortunate tale heeds some good advice. The lady, as the Telegraph reports, is called Caroline Roberts and she spent her life savings of £20,000 on a dinky looking retro ‘Prosecco Van’ to launch a new venture. She and her partner would drive to events such as parties and weddings to serve prosecco from tap inside the van. However, EU red tape has put a slight spanner in the works by saying that Caroline can’t sell the fizzy drink she’s serving from tap as the beverage can only be called Prosecco if it’s poured from a bottle! Interesting… as my understanding of the labelling Prosecco is that it refers to a sparkling wine made in the Veneto region of Italy. Caroline’s drink is indeed from this area. The EU have left her with the choice of serving the drink from tap and...

Happy new year to everyone! I hope you all had a good break and are ready to see what 2017 has in store for us all… New year, new self and all that. So while our human friends detox, jog slowly around the park and consider trying out a new identity, I thought I’d look at how our four wheeled friends can reinvent themselves. As it so happens, van conversions have been big news in recent years. That’s due in part to the fact that vans have been increasing in popularity themselves – in fact last year saw a 2% increase in new vans being registered. But the fact is that those vans have to be just right for their purpose and the specific business requirements that they so diligently serve. Racking (the putting in of racks to the unimaginative) and storage solutions, are the fastest growing ways to adapt a van to your exact needs. And it makes sense – van drivers are often carting around cans of paint, tools and any other number of small nuts and bolts that could go astray if not put away pro...