Kinnock accuses 'inflexible' hauliers • Road hauliers stand accused of
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inflexibility in an attack on attitudes in intermodal freight transport by European Transport Commissioner Neil Kinnock.
At the first Institute of Logistics' City of London Kinnock Lecture last week, Kinnock said operators were guilty of "modal tribalism": "Road transport operators view their competitors as inferior and irrelevant to their divinely appointed mode," he said.
He also criticised the railways, warning that unless they become efficient, reliable and affordable, the market will continue to ignore them. "Some rail freight companies cannot even give their customers an estimated arrival time," he said. Kinnock cited one Scandinavian freight company which tried rail for the first time for 27 consignments with disastrous consequences. Only one arrived on time, most were a week late, several a fortnight late and one never arrived.
These attitudes and experiences were two of the major impediments to an integrated transport system, he said.
Kinnock reiterated his belief that pricing has a vital role to play in easing congestion and balancing the use of the various modes, but added that this didn't necessarily mean higher taxation. And he said that it must happen sooner, rather than later, or the industry would face "even more painful reforms" at a later stage.