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THE QUESTION IS: WHAT WILL EDDIE DO NEXT?
Page 10
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So Steady Eddie has sold out. While those of us in the industry who believed Eddie Stobart to be the very totem of the British road haulage industry huge, £125m turnover, MD acquainted with the Prime Minister rock gently in disbelief, it could well seem like the expiration of any hopes for domestic haulage. After all if even Stobart can't make the figures right what hope is there for the rest?
But let's not be hasty. There are definite signs of strength in our industry. Where one tree falls, all kinds of saplings spring up in its place. Look at Pete Osborne, having sold up earlier this year only to spring back with Innovate Logistics (see page 12). Russell Davies was sold to Securicor in the 1990s only for its directors to be lured back within a couple of years to found Hanbury Davies.
"The essence of our industry
Rigid industries with fixed assets and fixed views die: think farming, coal mining. The very essence of our industry is mobility.., not just our trucks, but our technologies, our views, our futures. Everywhere new firms are starting up: old ones are shrugging off past mistakes to start again. So the real question is: What will Edward do next?
views, our futures"
• Of all the complaints which flood into CM'soff ices from international operators, the huge discrepancy in enforcement levels throughout Europe is one of the most prevalent and most frustrating. UK operators could handle compliance with the barrage of expensive and cumbersome EU legislation if all of their international competitors were also forced to comply. The mixture of fact and suspicion which form our view that our continental rivals get away with things which we don't, to our financial and logistical detriment, has finally been validated by the Ells move against the Portuguese government (see page 8). "At last!" we're tempted to cry. Now do something about the rest of them.
• Our congratulations go out to the two deserving winners of International Truck and Van of the Year. These were, of course, the M-B Actros and \AN's Transporter, both scrutinised and trolled by CM's roadtesting team (see pages 38 and 56). And they didn't just win, they both won by a substantial margin. A fitting symbol for us all.