1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198
199
200 
r11111111 W
Page 9
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
46, 47, 48 STOP!
Our industry is crying out for an effective advocate, a commonsense approach, an unflinching and effective public campaign. We give you the voice of reason.
It seems like only yesterday that farmers and hauliersthe two industries that make up the backbone of Britain banded together, united in their determination to end the tyranny of fuel prices imposed by government and multinational alike. Almost three years on and where are we? Now the onceunited camp has split -and how! Farmers are now blockading hauliers involved in any form of milk transport, an exercise that's gathering momentum, as Shropshire-based haulier Pentons found out last week.
Having your depot blockaded by people you once stood shoulder-toshoulder with must surely be an uncomfortable sensation. So why are the farmers not targetting the real villains of the piece the big supermarket chains who in their never-ending quest for market share and profit are grinding down both hauliers and farmers, making margins ever thinner?
But perhaps we shouldn't be surprised by the actions of an industry that has always looked after its own interests-just look at their diesel duty rates and to hell with anyone else's.
Farmers need an extra 2p/litre for their milk, claiming that many of them will go out of business if they don't get that money. We sympathise, really. But hauliers are facing their toughest times yet. Like farmers, they've had to endure rates being cut, supermarkets determined to push through transport restructuring, and are also having to prepare for the greatest challenge yet -the potential chaos caused by the Working Time Directive.
So we need to be better, more attractive employers if we are not to grind to an unmanned halt. But how do we pay drivers' current wages, based on 60 hours, on the back of a 48-hour week? Trying to get that money out of customers will almost inevitably be like getting blood from a stone. So perhaps it's time we took a leaf out of the farmers' book. A national 'standstill' day when nothing moved would stop miserly customers in their tracks quite literally. Or, everyone should just work for 48 hours and then stop -just imagine the chaos it would cause; and how well it would illustrate exactly what's going to happen when the VVTD comes in.