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6 Globalisation is a buzz word for many industries. While
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the Internet may be shrinking the virtual world, freight and logistics are the key to shrinking the real world and delivering goods from one side of the planet to the other. Any freight operator knows all too well that EC rules and regulations are as critical as any to emerge from Westminster. The cry constantly goes up for level playing fields, yet there are hints that UK devolution could leave us with some odd slopes on our home pitch.
England. Scotland and Wales each have specific national requirements. From the freight perspective of career development, training, and making good the skills shortages, there is some case for acknowledging that each country has its own particular needs. For instance, no-one would suggest home deliveries will be as efficient in rural mid-Wales as they are in the West Midlands conurbation. That said, we do need to be as evenhanded as possible. After all, we have many haulage businesses operating in more than one UK country.
We need to campaign hard to make sure an operator with depots in Bristol and Cardiff does not have to meet different ruleE or standards either side of the Severn Bridge.
Independent research commissioned by the RHDTC has show that our sector is every bit as important to the economies of Walt and Scotland as it is to the economy of England. Indeed, the need for haulage to the extremities of our nation make a sound distribution network more vital.
That is why It Is so frustrating to find that six months after Chancellor Gordon Brown allocated £100m to the freight industry operators in Wales and Scotland are still waiting to know how the money will be spent. Neither devolved government has made any announcement on the subject so far.
From a UK point of view it is frustrating, to say the least. However, it also has to be viewed against developments loominj in the EU directive on compulsory training of goods vehicle drivers. Here we are making good progress. The RHDTC and thi Driving Standards Agency, the body co-ordinating the UK response, are successfully putting forward the case for training to agreed standards assessed during normal working routines rather than in the classroom.
We need to be able to demonstrate to Europe that we have consistency at home if we are to be taken seriously abroad. Employers and aspiring students looking to enter our industry— especially those close to UK national boundaries—need to know there is consistency In the training programmes and support thes will receive.
Road safety, good working practice, efficient haulage and profitable business can all be achieved through consistent trainin and assessment schemes, while excessive or tardy bureaucracy can only lead to confusion, inefficiency and increased cost Sorell no-one wants that.