TIME TO EASE UP ON BRAKE
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hen Brake, the campaign for safer lorries, was launched in February Commercial Motor took a distinctly cautious view. With so many similar campaigns in the past having hidden an anti-haulier agenda we've been wary to embrace them. Instead we decided to wait and see how Brake developed. Its original platform has, in some cases, been modified. It has, quite rightly in CM's opinion, dropped its call for six-monthly checks on all LGVs—for operators whose trucks are well-maintained it would have been a costly and unnecessary imposition. Six months on, what has emerged from Brake is an extremelybalanced mission statement that no law-abiding haulier could argue with. Not only does it recognise the important contribution of "reputable road freight transport operators"; it seeks to separate them from those hauliers and drivers who jeopardise road safety by playing fast and loose on licensing, maintenance, loading and hours. Rejecting Brake's viewpoint, simply because you run a law-abiding business is to miss the point of what it offers. If Brake provides a focus for responsible, legal operators, opening doors within the Department of Transport that hove previously stayed shut, then it deserves the industry's support. And while Commercial Motor has been calling for the impounding of unlicensed operators' vehicles for a long time, we're only too happy to see fresh reinforcements joining the battle. In the end it really doesn't maffer who gets the DOT to change its mind; as long as it's changed. Most readers who responded to our survey on Brake supported its aims, although there is still concern about automatic prosecution following prohibitions. That aside, CM is happy to join the likes of Eddie Stobart, Wincanton Transport, Transport Development Group and TNT who have all supported Brake financially. Cynics might say that such large, high-profile companies can afford to back it. But the issue here isn't money; it's whether our industry can continue to defend the indefensible by its own inactivity. If law-abiding road hauliers want to see the cowboys rounded up they shouldn't be frightened of supporting Brake. As Franklin D Roosevelt said: "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself."
• And finally...Farewell to Transport Secretary Doctor Brian Mawhinney. On behalf of all the road transport industry we'd like to say so long and thanks for all the er...for all the um...for all the ahh...well, thanks anyway Brian, we're sure you did your best..