LA slams aggressive drivers
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N0"1" BAD, but nild do better was hauliers' imerpretation of Western Area Licensing Authority John Carpenter's opinion of the road transport industry.
I Ie attacked rogue drivers and urged stronger management. "I freely accept that the vast minority of drivers are good men with high professional standards and clean driving records.
Unfortunately we all meet from time to time the outstanding exception to this norm. Excessive speed, driving too close, failure to indicate change of lane or blatant use of size and weight can be observed any day on a motorway or other road.
"This is where much of the bad image of the heavy lorry comes from."
But the miners' strike showed the resourcefulness and toughness of management and drivers in meeting a national crisis. They played a vital role. "I hope the country doesn't forget that. I certainly won't."
Carpenter cited three main reasons for operators licences coming under threat: failure to folloW, maintenance systems and undertakings; expansion which is too fast for management and financial capability; lack of supervision of drivers and mechanics.
A few hauliers "go to extraordinary lengths to break the law. They seem to get some fun out of it.
"Sadly, they are very professional and hard to catch."
"About 20,000 tachos a month go through your hurdy gurdy," commented one haulier, referring to the new chart reading computers in traffic area offices. "How do you pick out your haulier?"
"We concentrate if we can on suspect operators," said Carpenter. "Enforcement staff usually know an operator who wants watching. But the clever ones still often get away", he conceded.
Environmental conditions on operator licence applications have not been as bad as hauliers first feared. After one year Western Area licence application statistics are: