FUEL FOR THOUGHT
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I am in full support of the action being taken to address the issue of fuel duty/vehicle excise licence costs et al. The private motorist is also being hit in the wallet, albeit not to the same extent.
I have just read the letter "Campaign Comment" (CM11-17 March) regarding the response that D Norman received from his MP. lain willing to be thought of as naive, but perhaps the one thing that the Labour Party for any other party) values, is seats. Seats at local and national level equate to power and influence, and if it doesn't have the support to put it in that position, it will founder. A longterm solution, but if protest votes lead to it losing control of local and national government. perhaps it will realise that the people who put it into Parliament in the first place can also remove it should its policies become stupid.
We get the Government we vote for, and on some issues it can seem to have backfired. If enough people make it clear that they will transfer allegiance, and communicate the reasons, even Blair's blue-eyed boys might sit up and take notice. It requires long memories and patience to follow such a course, but once done it might make politicians of all parties come to their senses.
After all, they are vulnerable. All it takes is for the public to show them. Gerry Saunders,
Abingdon, Oxon,
A SUCCESSFUL ACTION
Monday's demonstration by Trans-Action was marvellous! It actually made the national media. We in the industry must now make sure that the attention we have had for our plight does not disappear.
The Government said it would not be bullied by these disruption tactics. and Transport Minister John Reid said on the nine o'clock news that Britain, along with Austria, was one of the most competitive haulage industries in Europe. I wonder which planet he's from? And I wonder where he got the information that brought him to that conclusion—the mind boggles.
I listened to the Jimmy Young show on Monday, and there was a great deal of support for the truckers.
The only negative comment was from a person with a business in Park Lane...enough said! I am sure that we have immense support from the general public because, unlike the Government, they realise that their daily bread is delivered by truck.
The next demo should not only hit London, but possibly Leeds, Newcastle and Glasgow, all on the same day. What a wonderful thought. Meanwhile objection posters in all trucks and company vans would keep up public awareness. Maybe CM could print one and everyone could photocopy it?
Keep up the good work Trans-Action, you have massive support, that is with the exception of the Transport Minister, Tony Blair, etc. Andrea Prickett, ACK Haulage, Halifax.
EU HOURS OPT OUT
The Working Time Directive is another piece of legislation that gives cause for concern. We recently ran a check on the hours our drivers are at work. We used tachograph records, from start to finish of their working day. We found that even in our small operation, which involves no long-distance work, our drivers could not complete a five-day working week within 48 hours.
To our company this would mean trying to make the same amount of collections/ deliveries over three to four days. It would mean trying to earn at least the same amount of revenue in less time, or be forced to charge more for less work. This is extremely difficult to do generally, let alone in the present climate. Everybody knows somebody who can do the job for less. and these "somebodies" are ALWAYS around.
Our drivers do not run illegally. Drivers' hours rules regulate their working time and are achievable. If drivers are allowed the opt-out clause we think the legislation would be more acceptable.
SR Poole, Address supplied.
TV TRAUMAS
I have watched two television programmes today where John Reid our Transport Minister was speaking about the truck drivers' day of action.
It's high time he and other ministers involved took off their rose-tinted spectacles and started to see things as they are. He and his colleagues do not see or listen to what the haulage industry is saying.
He thinks that we in haulage are making a good living and that foreign hauliers are queuing up to register trucks in Britain—I think not. They may have depots in the UK but they would hardly wish to spend the amount of money we have to find to put wheels on the Tarmac. The cost of excise duty in the UK is astronomical compared with other European countries, and so are fuel costs. No driver from abroad would fuel up in this country at the high price we have to pay unless he was in dire straits. On top of VED and fuel costs, our drivers have to start paying out as soon as they wish to travel abroad—there is the daily road tax in the other countries along with the tolls.
We also have various countries' weekend bans to contend with. Foreign trucks run on British roads without all these added expenses, plus they can run seven days a week over here. Mr Reid failed to mention all these things.
I wonder if he and the Chancellor of the Exchequer realise this latest blow to haulage has to be absorbed by not just the haulier but by every person in the country. He thinks that Joe Public will not support the drivers: I think he's in for a shock. When prices on the shop shelves rise the housewife will notice and the whole merry-goround will start again.
Mr Reid thinks the industry is over-subscribed. Without our band of drivers he and his pals in Westminster would have nothing in their favourite shops. His comment about more going by rail is laughable. Is there a rail siding outside Tesco or Safeway?
Mr Reid, our industry is the backbone of this country. Do not treat us as though we are a pushover; we have families and homes. Our jobs are our life and when we next vote for a government we will remember who took our livings away and your smugness now.
Damao Neale, Drivers and Families Help Line, Scarborough.
RISING COSTS
I have just faxed the CMfuel duty protest letter off to my local MP. Like most hauliers the costs of running vehicles now seems to outstrip income. I only operate two vehicles, but every time fuel goes up it costs me an extra £30 per week for each vehicle. Last year my extra fuel cost me £3,000. costs come off the company profits, which means there is less for investment. My company employs two full-time drivers plus myself: I now work nights regularly to earn extra income to supplement the earnings. It's about time the Government started putting something into our industry instead of us all filling the Chancellor's coffers for him to spend on other expenses.
Our industry is now at an alltime low, and if the Labour party continues with the fuelduty escalator I feel they are going to put us all on the dole, turning what is supposed to be a proud nation into a holiday island for the unemployed. DW Chase, David Transport, Market Rasen, Lincs.