Owner -drivers must argue lorry's case
Page 50
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
THE WORD Juggernaut, or as it should be spelt Jagannatha, was coined by a Daily Mirror journalist some years back as a derisive term for the "big lorry".
The true meaning of the word which comes from Sanskrit, is "Lord of the World," and it refers to a massive idol to which Indian people would sacrifice themselves at certain religous festivals by throwing themselves under the wheels of its equally massive carriage.
The culprit of this most damaging slight on our industry was Patrick Mennen who, like the great majority of his readers, knows about as much of lorries as he appears to of "Jagan natha" itself. Nevertheless the term, with all its implications, has stuck firm to the lorry, although many of the emotive outbursts by conservationists and the railway lobbies still do not seem to take account of the difference between weight, size, obtrusiveness and pollution of one form or another.
If a vehicle has a noisy engine, no matter what its weight, it immediately becomes a Jug gernaut. The same applies to a 5-ton Luton-bodied van, no matter if it is not even running. Its very size makes it obtrusive to the man or woman in the street, I am on this subject because while in the West Country on a job recently, I was confronted with a horde of local people who were obviously anti-lorry, and I can't say that I blamed them.
• With the construction of a new motorway which has opened during the last year or so, the road through the village which hitherto offered little advantage to heavy traffic, has now become a marvellous link road to the offending motorway.
Consequently, quite a number of drivers have been saving the odd four miles or so that they would incur going round another and better road and their action has stirred the locals into action to force the
authorities into putting an "Except for Accessban on their roads.
My "crime was requiring access to a small boatyard in the village and I got the brunt of what was the final concerted action.
Like the rest of us in the transport game, my aim in life is to make money, and I must confess that at first I was annoyed at the delays that I suffered at the villagers' hands, but, at the end of the day after the load was off, I ventured into the local, made my peace with the most vociferous of the inmates and on the strength of this column proceeded to question them as to what upset them most about the lorry and to defend the transport vehicle as best I could.
All of us must understand that acceptance of the lorry by the general public is vital to our continued existence and so it is in all our interests, owners, . operators, drivers, fitters, engineers, manufacturers, indeed everyone remotely connected with the business, at all times to make the very best impression on that public.
The things that came out of my personal referendum in that Devonshire village in order of importance were, noise and fumes, obstruction of and damage to footpaths, ruthless enforcement of the bigger vehicle's right of way regardless of the situation, bad language when faced with an irate driver, and the frightening appearance of many vehicles to elderly people.
Now it is obvious that all but one of these items, the least important according to my informants, are almost completely within the control of the users of goods vehicles. And in nearly all the cases they are able to be controlled by the driver himself, so owner-drivers like me can almost eradicate the aggravation between the general public and ourselves straight away.
The operator employing drivers has a little more work to do, though.
The problem of frightening appearance is largely a matter of colour and condition. Size can be offset by a properly designed livery. Many combinations of colour are aggressive, especially when combined in bold stripes and flashes. I know many designers will take me to task
saying -That's just what they are supposed to be". My reply
is It is only in recent years that it has become fashionable to be offensive if we wish to be noticed.
A clean and tidy vehicle will attract far more lasting attention for its owner than a filthy, garrishly painted, badly knocked about and ragged winged example can ever do. Al the same time it will do much to allay the fears of those easily frightened by lorries in general. Remember always that our in dustrial opponents do not have to seek ammunition for their war of contrivance against the lorry while we of the road transpon industry gaily go on supplyinc, them with it free of charge.
Common sense tells us tha. our mode of transport is right foi the economy of the nation, bu.
we are fighting a lost cause al the while our political master
are afraid to champion the in dustry because its image witle the general public makes it .z sure-fire vote loser.
The big associations have failed miserably to promote thf image the industry needs tc endear it to the nation as whole. Perhaps the newly for ming owner-drivers' associa tions will take up the cudgel! and show their big brothers boy to do it.
Perhaps it is time that thi modern "Lord of the World" a Mennen chose to call it, took it rightful place.