A s campaign co-ordinator for the East Coast Truckers' 10 Point
Page 27
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Charter (CM 25 Feb-3 March) I would like to reply to the letter from JA Crossfield.
Our campaign is still getting good publicity and was recently the subject of a seven minute discussion on Radio 4's Going Place,s.
We have identified three easily solved issues from the 10 points we started with.
First, road haulage rates are very poor and hauliers are having to break laws to survive.
Published cost tables show that £1.50 per mile is needed to operate a 38-tonne truck. But how many hauliers are getting that? Most hauliers are running for half that figure.
And how are they doing that? Drivers are speeding, running overweight and exceeding hours rules by fiddling electronic speed limiters and tachographs. Hauliers are also skimping on maintenance and tyres.
France has laws preventing rates being lower than operating costs, the Italian government sets rates and Germany, Holland and Belgium have tariff systems.
Second, the payment of drivers' wages based on vehicle performance is a major cause of danger. Payment by percentage of vehicle earnings, mileage or tonnage is illegal under EEC Directive 3280/85.
The third problem is the shortage of services and facilities for LGV drivers. And even where they do exist the DOT does notallow direction signs from some roads.
The A47 is a classic example. From Great Yarmouth to Necton (Swaffham) there isn't even a toilet, from Walpole Highway (Norfolk near Wisbech) to nearly Leicester there is not a cafe or toilet. LGV drivers are not allowed into Little Chefs, Xs or Happy Eaters.
We have established links with the United Road Transport Union, one branch of the Transport and General Workers Union, several truckers clubs and the trade press.
The Railway Development Society runs a databank and reckon 93% of hauliers break the law. The motorway police at Knutsford found 30% of operators running illegally in an eight-hour check.
Can we please all work together? If we all pushed for these three issues above, we can succeed.
Fred Agombar East Coast Truckers (86) Club, PO Box 20, Cromer, Norfolk
The air is blue
In his articles on the ex-RAF AEC Mandator (CM16-22 Sep), the Hawk continues to refer to the missile carried as "Blue Streak" rather than its
correct title "Blue Steel".
Blue Streak was a projected ground-launched ballistic missile which was cancelled before entering service when Polaris was bought from the Blue Steel, a so-called "stand-off bomb" in contemporary parlance, superseded the Blue Danube free-fall atomic bomb and provided the UK's nuclear deterrent until Polaris became operational.
Do I get a free T-shirt for the most irritatingly pedantic letter?
(If we can find one—Ed) Ian Hayward
Nuneaton, Warwickshire.