1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198
199
200
201
202
203
204
205
206
207
208
209
210
211
212 
Transport dept must lave Cabinet status'
Page 9
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
)AD Haulage Association airman John Silbermann Id that the RHA is glad to see at the Department of Transrt will remain a separate )vernment division under administration — but he is ;appointed that the new ansport Minister, Norman ,wler will not be a cabinet nister.
And he added that this new rangement was a comprose under which Mr Fowler )uld attend Cabinet ?etings but would not be a [I Cabinet ranking minister. Speaking at the RHA annual mer in London earlier this .ek, Mr Silbermann said ase two wishes were essen1 to maintain and improve e status of the road haulage histry — the RHA's prime ncern.
But he does not favour yet other committee of inquiry to the economic and en-onmental impact of lorries, which would, he feels, be costly and unnecessary.
In a wide-ranging address, Mr Silbermann repeated the theme of earlier speeches in stressing the importance of the lorry to the national economy. "Without lorries the economy would not function!"
On the subject of heavier lorries, he said: "We require conditions at least equal to those under which lorries operate in other EEC member states.
"The heavier lorry has two outstanding advantages — it neither occupies greater road space than present vehicles, nor will it create greater visual intrusion in the road scene. It will, however, help to contain the ever-rising transport costs, with worthwhile results in the fight against inflation."
Looking back to the strike at the beginning of the year, Mr Silbermann said that it illustrated the need for national rather than local negotiations. He spoke of the RHA's repeated demands to the last Government to establish a national statutory joint industrial council in the road haulage industry.
Despite public criticism of the industry, Mr Silbermann pointed to recent investigations by the Price Commission and the Foster Committee, which showed that the road haulage industry was highly competitive and its customers satisfied.
Mr Silbermann concluded his speech by urging his audience to visit the RHA's Road Transport Show in Brighton in October, and quoting the Association's latest slogan that the lorry is "Going Places for You!"