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Caroline Parker, KT Parker, Radstock, nr Bristol Parker says that
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several of the main roads in the Brstel areaM4 M5 and M32 -are frequently jammed. She adds: "We run out of the Lidl depot on the M5 and every week something seems to happen on that particular stretch." Her solution is dedicated road space for freight, such as we already have for buses.
Nick Verrall, Shakespeare Transport, Maidstone, Kent The main stress for VerraIrs firm is getting his drivers back south from their night trunk round the 'running sore' of the M25. When our drivers are coming back from the Midlands, they can have problems anywhere from Luton onwards. or anywhere around the M40 and M4 junctions on the M25," he says. "That seems lobe any time from about 5,30
onwards these days. Go back as little as five years. and there were nowhere near as many problems." He says the real concern will be In a few years' time, when the Working Time Directive arrives. He adds: "I think one thing the government should be looking at is to make running at night cheaper."
Andrew Wished, A Wish rt & Sons, Kirkcaldy, Fife Wishart has come up with one solution to his firm's gridlock issues-changing drivers' start times. "What we are doing to alleviate the congestion factor is altering the times of the day when drivers leave here.' he explains. "We found that if we send them off at four in the morning, they seem to hit the morning rush across the [Forth] Bridge, then sit round Edinburgh and Glasgow, queue around Manchester as it gets busy mid-afternoon and then crawl along the M6 as they come across the evening rush round Birmingham. If, on the other hand, they leave our depot in the middle of the day, they seem to avoid the worst of the jams.'
He welcomes the idea of fiscal incentives for night running, but adds: "I also think they are going to have to build more roads at some stage. If you are going to allow more traffic on the road, you have to give it more space In which to operate."
Clive Wartup, Clive Wartup Transport, Drtflield, E Yorks WarcupS nightmare section of road is an essential Midlands link: "One of the worst areas of the country for us is the section of the M6 between the M1 and Birmingham," he explains. "It causes us serious problems every day." However he predicts help may be at hand with the opening of the M6 toll road. His answer is fairly typical of those we received: target the problem, not the essential users. The solution for the country is to do something about the cars on the road. It's the usual story of the congestion being caused by the 25 million cars and not the 400,000 trucks."
Ron Dalton, Dalton International, Bedford it's an everyday problem for me.'' says Ron Dalton. 1 always have to divert around the holdups. The £11 charge on the M6 is ridiculous. We [operators] are not going to use it. We just hope the cars use it: pay the money and let us drive through the middle. It's a worry." Dalton reckons congestion is probably costing him £1,000 a week with the five trucks he runs, which totals more than £50,000 a year. "Britain is a nightmare,"
he adds. "You go to France and you just keep going. We are overpopulated and everyone wants a car. We are all to blame, aren't we?"
Peter Lee. O'Connor Transport, Widnes. Merseyside Lea says evenigni roacivicrks an tne Runcorni Widnes bridge regularly cause delays. However, he says 22 September this year was the worst in living memory The work spilled over into the daytime. "Our drivers were coming in at quarter to 12 when they had early morning starts." he recalls. "People even abandoned their cars, The whole town came to a standstill. All our vehicles were delayed." Lee estimates that the hold-ups on the bridge —and congestion elsewhere, including the M62 near Manchester -cost O'Connor Transport £290,000 a year.