'Some of the proposals put forward are entirely crackpot'
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4 t's a good job that the attitudes of the
1
trade associations didn't hold sway
earlier this century otherwise wed still be running around on solid tyres with twowheel brakes and acetylene lighting.
The latest move that the Freight Transport Association wants to oppose is the replacement of tachographs by airline-style black boxes. They will, they say, prove ineffective, and they warn that they could cost the transport industry 1100m.
Just how do they know they'll be ineffective if they've never been tried? And what about all the possible benefits that could accrue from having a simple on-board computer available? Perhaps they're not all that simple yet, or all that cheap, but to write them off without even investigating their potential benefits is crass in the extreme.
It was a similar story with the introduction of side underrun guards, spray guards and anything else you can think of. The transport industry needs to present to the public a forward-looking, innovative and modern industry, eager to develop into the next century with a serious eye on safety as well as productivity—not the image of stick-inthe-mud traditionalism.
It would be wrong to compare these organisations with dinosaurs, topical as they are, because it took them millions of years to die out—and even then it wasn't their fault. More apposite would be to compare them with the Luddites who smashed up the newly invented mechanical looms rather than see any progress.
Would it not be a sounder policy to take on board some of the proposals which are being made, to investigate them in depth and identify ways in which they can be turned to their advantage. This way they are far more likely to be able to influence the outcome than by simply opposing every new idea which comes along. Side underrun guards have, after all, turned out to be quite a useful feature if we are to believe Gerald Broadbent in his Sound Off (CM 22 July), while spray guards have done a lot to improve the image of the heavy lorry with the public.
Certainly, some of the proposals which are put forward are entirely crackpot. But if these so-called representative organisations oppose everything that is put forward, the authorities will no longer take any notice when they oppose something that really needs to be opposed.
It used to be the practice in one large organisation noted for its innovation to "love" crackpot ideas to death. In other words, the idea would be developed despite all its ramifications and disadvantages—presented as if they were benefits— until even the proposer himself could see that he had come up with a turkey.
Let's try—just this once—to find the benefits of this new idea, which could be phased in on an optional basis on new vehicles. Let's find out how the industry can benefit from it and how £100m might turn out over several years to be a worthwhile investment. Most of all, let's try working with new ideas to see how they can be put to the profit and well.being of the industry