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While accepting that a variety of views may be expressed
Page 39
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on these figures, it seems to me that the FTA is right in concluding that: (i) Difficulties experienced in the road haulage industry have much more to do with less traffic requiring to be moved (and also with the very high level of inflation than with the liberal 0-licensing system),
(ii) The trend away from -own-account" towards -publichaulage, has continued regardless of the liberal licensing system. Even if total traffic continues to decline, along with our population, the public hauliers still have the own-account sector to -go at-, in any situations where they are able to demonstrate that they can provide better services and/or lower costs. However, the last 10 years have shown that there is no necessity for the licensing system to put public hauliers in a privileged position by restricting the freedom of own account fleets.
(iii) Far from being -rubber stamp clerks", every application which my company has made to the Licensing Authorities in different areas, has resulted in searching checks being carried out on our vehicles, maintenance facilities/arrangements,
VI • • • records, etc. It is my belief that the majority of applicants regard such checks as normal. While there are obviously other factors involved (such as more motorway mileage) the accident statistics show that a marked improvement in safety standards has taken place since the present 0-licensing system was introduced, even though hgv have long been the least accident prone of all vehicles.
Surely it is in the national interest that we utilise our total resources to the best advantage — and that we should not introduce a bureaucratic system, under which a well maintained own-account vehicle which is returning from B to A is prevented from carrying a load over this journey unless the goods happen to belong to the owner of the vehicle.
A return to such a system would deliberately encourage over-capacity — which is already a problem in too many of our industries.
Having lived and worked on the Continent for several years. I believe that the liberal British licensing system is the best in Europe, even though it may still be improved. The West Germans have the least liberal and thus the most regulated system for road haulage — and this has resulted in their internal transport costs being the highest in the EEC.
The FTA has recommended three ways in which the present British licensing system rtight be improved: Better enforcement Greater use of short-term licences Concentration of effort on the bad and doubtful cases.
During the next few years, the costs of road transport in the UK are going to continue to rise pretty steeply, as a result of inflation and the introduction of various EEC regulators. Let us improve the present 0-licensing system by all means, along the lines the FTA has suggested. On the other hand, the Review Committee would be doing the country (and, I believe, the road haulage industry) a dis-service if it were to recommend yet another does of bureaucratic restrictions.
A. L. POPE, MCIT, Group distribution executive, Carrington Viyella Ltd, Chorley, Lancs.