model of a modern Kentish haulier. His company is based
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on the Romney Marshes, a district with a long and romantic history of trade, both illicit and legitimate, with the Continent. It is also the "Bulwark Shore", part of England's front-line defences against invasion from France and Spain. Some things have changed over the centuries, others haven't. Trade with the Continent is now routine, and has lost its glamour. But what many perceive as injustice and the threat from abroad are still very real for hauliers in this corner of England.
Linch is a founder member of Trans-Action—one of the original 20 committee members. His company operates 24 vehicles, and his main business is general haulage. The nearest he gets to a speciality is hauling turf for a local grower and roof tiles for a manufacturer in the district.
Linch grew up on a farm near Old Romney. On leaving school he got his HG V licence, and drove for a Rye-based haulier for four years before his employer went bust and he was made redundant. He used his payoff to buy a used Leyland Super Comet, and Derek Linch Transport was born. After two decades as a loyal RHA member, Linch left the organisation in disgust just over a year ago after he heard an association spokesman stand up and denounce Trans-Action as a bunch of cowboys.
"Strangely enough, since I left I've had more dialogue with the RHA via TransAction than I ever had as a member," he says.
He smarts at the inequal
ity imposed upon British haulage contractors, and counts himself lucky to be located just 30 minutes' drive from the Eurotunnel terminal at Folkestone.
CONTACT Derek Linch, owner.
FLEET 24 vehicles, comprising Ivecos, Volvos, Dafs and ERFs. Mixture of rigids and attics. Buys new. Most recent purchase: Four lveco Eurostar 470s: two in October 1999 and two in January 2000.
SPECIALITY Turf and roofing tiles.
TURNOVER .22m.
Linch regularly sends tractive units to Belgium to fill up with Continental diesel—a situation he himself describes as "crazy". But being able to do this has kept him in business. He has II vehicles flagged out on the Continent, and today at least half his business is conducted on the far side of the Channel. "If I didn't flag out I would be making a substantial loss today," he reports.
He might consider himself lucky, but Linch is certain that British road transport is being made to suffer because of the government's ignorance of the real world. "I'd like to take the government by the scruff of the neck and shake them," he says, revealing that one Labour MP, baffled by the fuel duty demos, once asked him: "Why don't you simply use the cheaper red diesel?" "I was speechless," he confesses.
Beneath all the pent-up frustration, Linch is just another haulier trying to earn an honest crust. His company is prospering, he's glad to say, and he's recently added four new Iveco Eurostar 470s to his fleet. He now accepts with a certain amount of resignation that other companies just like his are suffering simply because they can't exploit his proximity to Continental markets. "I don't honestly feel we [Trans-Action] are getting anywhere," he says. "Most hauliers are their own worst enemies. They always want to know what Trans-Action is doing for them, but they never seem to want to do anything for themselves."