THINK PHOENIX
Page 20
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I read with interest the opinions of owner-driver John Hayward from Chesterfield (Sound Off, 18-24 January) when he accused New Labour of being Mickey Mouse. It's true that owner-drivers get the thin end of the wedge, but surely if you make your own bed you have to lie in it.
I've been driving in the UK for more than 20 years and have seen many changes, and from each desperate situation rises another opportunity. You just have to be flexible, and asking a "kill or be killed" industry to unite and park up is simply ridiculous.
He should be thankful for the opportunity to make money from such a tight industry when others are being squeezed out of existence. There is plenty of money to be made working for the supermarkets—one job was quoted at £30,000 a year in Swindon, if you could bite the bullet and endure the shame of driving a 320hp tractive unit.
The nature of the industry is changing, and you have to be able to change with it. During the early 1990s UK and Irish drivers working for German companies were being paid in Deutschmarks, and were making £2,000 a month on the exchange rate before the united Germany brought it crashing to earth.
At the time no-one thanked the Tories for bringing our country to its knees, yet there were entrepreneurs who made the best out of a poor situation.
Instead of beating your head against the political brick wall, try using your time and energy to stay one step ahead—not parked up at the services. Alan Russell,
Somerset-based owner-driver.