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Sink* wait beet*
Page 55
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Vlike Wells's outburst on behalf of the British Association of Owner Drivers seems to miss one vital point. There was never any need for his association to be formed. It has always been open to owner-drivers to join the Road Haulage Association and to take a part in forming its policy.
As recently retired chairman of the South Bucks sub-area, I can speak with some feeling on this subject. With a sub-area membership of some 160 companies and an average attendance at the bi-monthly meetings of maybe 12-15 members, I would have been delighted to welcome any number of new members who wanted to take part in the decision making at ground floor level.
By far the greatest number of RHA members operate less than 20 vehicles and most of those attending meetings in the sub-area that I can vouch for were companies with under 10 vehicles.
A "ginger group" of owner-drivers could have pushed through resolutions on matters that interested them, and if enough of them had taken this line in all the sub-areas throughout the area, it would have been a matter of months, not years, before area was pushing these policies at national level.
Magnify this on a national scale and it would have been a very short time indeed before the complete national policy was dominated by the views of the -small men.'
I can assure owner-drivers (or any other operators for that matter) that they would be well served by their area officers if they joined the RHA and whatever faults lie within the hallowed walls of head office could well be changed by democratic action from within.
Many members regret that some of the elected officers at national level are from companies that have not seen fit to sign the Association's Code of Conduct. but I am prOud to say that a resolution and some pressure from my own sub-area was the trigger that caused the Southern area to start its own Code of Conduct for mutual aid in matters of roadside assistance and return loads, and in this case it is not an empty code but one backed by a cash deposit guarantee.
To all operators, whether owner-drivers or larger concerns, I say join us and help us to make the RHA better for all concerned in this great industry.
DAVID J. RAYMER, Iver Heath, Bucks.