VANISHING 'TRADE The strength of sterling, and freight forwarders lured
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by foreign drivers working for lower wages, have forced many international drivers to think again about their way of life. Their gripe is not mere xenophobia: they are angered by the unfairness of the situation. More and more UK owner-drivers are quitting haulage to Turkey and Greece in despair, saying they can't see the point in carrying on when freight forwarders are using cheap foreign labour to carry out the work.
All the drivers CM spoke to about this growing problem expressed additional frustration at the UK authorities' apparent lack of concern that British-registered vehicles driven by foreign nationals are often running with flagrant disregard for any of the rules governing haulage. They say many of these trucks are operating without 0-licences, tax discs, test certificates or international permits. And employers are able to save money on wages and transit charges by using these foreign drivers.
( c Although th worst situation appears to be in Turkey, "Greece is not far behini ," says Bull. "I don't think it's ever going to get better." CMhas been contacted by many drivers who have noted down the registration plates of scores of UK vehicles at the Greek ports driven by people who seem to be Greek nationals. Many of these trucks are unlicensed.
Spearheading Owner-driver Nigel Harness of Essex is spearheading a drive to bring this issue to the attention of Government ministers and the relevant enforcement authorities, insisting that there are serious implications for road safety, professional standards and employment So far nobody seems to be doing anything to crack down on the problem.
A third of them were either "no trace" or were registered as cars. And out of the rest: • 32 firms operated 70 of the vehicles; • 10 vehicles had no registered keeper; • 29 of them had no tax disc; • Three had had 0-licences refused or revoked; • Many had overseas drivers.
Flouting the laws comes hand-in-hand with the fact that cash-strapped UK hauliers just cannot compete with the rates that Turks, Poles, Russians and Czechs will accept.
Harness stresses his action has nothing to do with prejudice or xenophobia, and everything to do with fairness. "Some freight forwarding companies are blatantly using these vehicles," he says, "and the haulage rates available are being driven down to sweatshop standards by the sheer unlevelness of the playing field—that is if you can get a load at all." UK and foreign freight forwarders are simply employing whoever is cheapest for the job, and it is the UK haulier who is losing out.
Braintree MP Alan Hurst entered the fray last year on behalf of driver Gary Haley. In a letter to immigration minister Mike O'Brien, Hurst said: "For the matter to remain unenforced produces blatantly unfair competition for British road hauliers." So what can be done to end this undercutting and illegal running? According to many drivers the deterrents are non-existent—and the risks of a foreign driver being stopped in the UK are slight.
A spokesman for the Vehicle Inspectorate says: "We are aware of some sort of problem here. If the vehicle is discovered in a normal road check then it is dealt with in the usual way. But otherwise it is a question of actually getting hold of the information." He advises hauliers to report cases of illegal operation to one of the VI offices around the country or to VI intelligence officers and they will try to deal with them.
Haley speaks for many in the industry when he says: "For most of us long-distance drivers it's a way of life. We never expected to make a good living and are used to having a simple life. But it's all been snatched away from under our noses. At the moment it's like trying to play football up the slopes of Everest."
El by Sally Nash • Last year freight forwarding giant Davies Turner was found to be employing a firm using Turkish drivers and paying it £200 less than UK haulers for the same work.
Since then haulage rates to Turkey have been cut by another £300. But Davies Turner is unrepentant, saying that it is simply a matter of economics.
Joint managing director Philp Stevenson explains that the strength of sterling is hitting business in Turkey and Greece, and the company "has to stay competitive". Customers in Turkey and Austria have put pressure on the company to use cheaper drivers, he adds.
"We tried to bat for the British for as long as we could," says Stevenson. He believes that when the pound eventually gets weaker more British drivers will be used again. But by then it may be too late for a lot of drivers who, like Bull, have been forced to look elsewhere for work.