'Which farce is more entertaining the LGV test, the CPC or the ADR?'
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‘ p until 19921 used to be an
ignorant member of the public who thought 'juggernauts" should be neither seen nor heard. However, my first trucking trip across the Pennine Way educated me. I witnessed car drivers causing pile-ups, then using our trucks as scapegoats. The perpetrator, although responsible and feeling guilty, disappears into the crowd leaving our truck taking a break down a ditch.
Regardless of facts, who always hits the headlines, on the TV news? Sadly, we do. Little wonder the image of the British trucker is so misconstrued and marred. The British road haulage system is in a shambles. So why doesn't the Government help us? My Trucker's Turn Campaign encourages drivers to voice their opinions and after two years I have received recognition for drivers and am noted as a reliable voice who reaches the people who matter. My followers include MPs, unions and (drivers. Seven UK television companies have covered my activities, Across Europe I have interviewed 2,200 drivers getting an idea of their grievances and helping them. My troubles began the day I applied for my LGV licence. My four-minute medical cost me 248,50p. Is this extortionate charge justifiable? The DOT claims licences and medicals are high "due to administrative costs". Surely these should be subsidised? The UK is accustomed to making huge profits through drivers but is reluctant to give anything in return. I enrolled into an LGV training school to be disillusioned and C1,200 out of pocket. My unqualified instructor made a poor impression. Fifty training hours later, I passed with an alternative school in Stowmarket.
My husband and I then doubled-up, bound for Italy. Arriving at my first job at Morrison Freight's depot in Ipswich, I was told: "Your licence says you are now a professional. So drive". I replied: "Compared to this fully-freighted 38-tonner, I feel I have just passed my test in a milk float. Will you teach me to drive properly?" They did and fortunately I had a professional of some 25-years' Continental experience to teach me. But how lucky are the others?
When I interviewed new drivers, I found 14% had sustained an accident within a month of passing their test. Which farce is more entertaining — the LGV test, the CPC or the ADR?
I completed a home study course for the National/International CPC, only to find that knowledge which is valid one day, is outdated the next. It is costly and unfair. Does CPC mean Constantly Permanently Changing? The ADR is another financial bug bear for drivers; it's simply Another Driver's Ripoff. Who is really taking the 'P'? I also tirelessly expose the hardships of searching for good roadside facilities. The layby caravan provides cheap fast food but often in the absence of toilets—you are left with no option but to nip behind a hedge.
I am a firm believer in abolishing the UK's scandalous overnight parking fees. EC standard facilities should be universal. We have the right to park without being robbed. The National Lottery could be our saviour—road haulage resembles an abandoned clictri, case. Unless all of us in the UK unite, we don't stand a chance.