Permit men bock at work now backlog
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HAULIERS who have applications for international road haulage permits waiting at the International Road Freight Office in Newcastle-upon-Tyne should be hearing from the Office within the next few weeks.
The office re-opened on Tuesday as clerks ended their month-long civil servants dispute and they started dealing with the pile of applications that had accumulated during the office's closure.
But as CM went to press (Tuesday), the management at IRFO had not yet gone back to work and so some permit matters other than straightforward applications may still be further delayed. It was thought that the management may follow the clerk's lead and return to work later in the week.
Following prompting by the Road Haulage Association on behalf of its members the Department of Transport drew up contingency plans during the IRFO closure to "enable the goods to keep moving".
Individual arrangements were made with France, Italy, West Germany, Austria, Hungary, Spain and Yugoslavia to enable hauliers to continue to operate into these countries without the normal permits, but using temporary paperwork. But not many hauliers were aware of these temporary arrangements and some were forced to suspend their continental operations.
A Department of Transport spokesman said the arrangements were not widely advertised to avoid irresponsible operators taking advantage of the slightly relaxed conditions that existed for the month.
He said that the IRFO at Newcastle would be dealing with the outstanding permit applications in the order in which they arrived during the office's closure.
Therefore hauliers who sent in applications shortly after the strike began on April 2 should be receiving replies shortly. Other applications would be dealt with as soon as possible said the spokesman.