OPINION
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WHAT YOU HATE
ABOUT BRUSSELS
What do you think of what comes out of Brussels?
A law unto itself
It gave us Tintin and Audrey Hepburn, Jean-Claude Van Damme and waffles, but for haulage operators Brussels means just one thing: unnecessary laws
Words: Chris Tindall BARRY PROCTOR SERVICES
Barry Proctor, MD, Barry Proctor Services, Staffordshire “For me it’s the Working Time Directive. We have rules and regulations on drivers’ hours to start with. This makes them worse.
“We have piles and piles of paperwork that no one ever looks at. I have never come across anybody who has had their WTD records inspected. It’s the daftest law, it’s really silly.” And then there’s the Driver CPC. “You don’t learn anything. I have done two days of it and some of the stuff isn’t even correct.
“We should come out of Europe completely. I’m all for a common market and trading with Europe, but as for rules and regulations we should completely ignore them.” Charles Downie, MD, Bacton Transport, Suffolk “The most frustrating piece of legislation that almost came out of Europe was this height restriction on trailers. It would have affected our operations. We use four double-deck trailers in our operations every night of the week to trunk customers’ freight through our various network operations. By restricting the height of the trailer you are looking at a significant restriction on load carrying capacity, which would have added more cost to our operations, increased the road miles that we have to do and, ultimately, affected the price of goods in the shops.” Downie also suggests that Euro emissions regulations are flawed. “It makes it more onerous on vehicle manufacturers, which means the price of vehicles is escalating very quickly. I don’t think there has been a set of emissions regulations released from Brussels yet that hasn’t come with a penalty on fuel consumption. All indications from manufacturers are that there will be a similar situation with Euro-6.” • The EC is expected to put to rest the 4m trailer height controversy this month (CM 5/4/12).
DEBEN TRANSPORT
Paul Dawson, MD, Deben Transport, Suffolk “Where do you start?” asks Dawson. “What about any ‘good’ legislation that has come out of Europe for our industry in the UK?” The Deben boss gives it some thought and finally boils it down to two laws. “The Working Time Directive is a waste of time and cost. Who has gained anything from this piece of legislation? All that’s been achieved is that we now have to go through lots of work and recording of data to achieve exactly the same end result.” Unsurprisingly, Driver CPC is his other problem. “Again, it’s more cost to companies for little return. The government agrees to these changes without really considering the true value and gain to our industry, and also how it is going to be implemented and at what cost.”
MALLINSON TRANSPORT
Philip Lockwood, director, Bedfords Transport, West Yorkshire Lockwood complains that the perception is that the UK is the only country taking any notice of the rules and regulations filtering down from Brussels.
Ian Egan, business development manager, Ken “You could say that they are all frustrating, because of a common belief that we in Mallinson Transport, South Yorkshire Great Britain take note of what comes out of Brussels, which is more than can be said “Driver CPC is the main one – it’s just a stealth tax.” for the rest of Europe.” Egan says conversations with drivers reveal that they That said, Bedfords appears to have looked directly into the snarling face of all the quickly forget what they have been taught and describes laws created across the Channel and decided that each one contained nothing to be it as a logistical nightmare trying to schedule when to feared, with one exception.
send staff on the modules. But perhaps even worse than “We took the view at Bedfords that these rules and regulations will come into force, that is the prospect of losing staff you’ve invested time so we had to prepare for them.” and money in after paying for the CPC courses. “That is a This means that the implementation of the Working Time Directive and Driver CPC scenario. We put them through the Driver CPC and then has not caused any problems. In fact, Lockwood describes the latter as “certainly one they leave and take their certification with them. All of a of Brussels’ better decisions”.
sudden you are back to square one with another new But then there’s cabotage. “This is an area for concern. Although I don’t have any guy joining the company. We are running a government examples to give you, you feel that with the influx of European vehicles into the UK, it’s training scheme funded by the private sector.” only a matter of time before they start encroaching on what has traditionally been UK hauliers’ work.”
CRANLEIGH FREIGHT SERVICES
David Wells and Graham Young, joint MDs, Cranleigh Freight Services, Surrey “We don’t hate Brussels, we just get a bit frustrated and confused and, to be honest, that may be why our own government does not understand the implications of some decisions on our companies and why they leave us to lobby for our own causes.” First up is cabotage. “We appreciate that Europe is a territory in its own right, but how are these movements regulated in the UK? Just how many nonresident hauliers are tramping around the UK unhindered? Empty running must be avoided and we applaud that, but surely that could be done by allowing one single movement in a member state, simply A to B, not via C, D, E and F. This will stifle UK haulage.” On trailer heights, the company says: “The proposals to limit trailer heights in the UK to 4m were based around European legislation that limits that height in Europe. The UK infrastructure allows trailer heights in excess of that and trailers have been built to that specification.
“The transport associations and pallet networks have successfully lobbied the government and importantly Brussels, but surely this should never have got this far.”
CFS probably best sums up the feeling among most of the companies CM spoke to about European laws: “Just who does understand what hauliers go through and, more importantly, why do UK hauliers have to fight to survive harder than their counterparts on the Continent? We don’t hate Brussels; perhaps we just need to review the communication lines between Belgium and the UK.”
MATTHEW KIBBLE TRANSPORT
Matthew Kibble, MD, Matthew Kibble Transport, Lancashire Kibble says he has no problem with the Driver CPC, cabotage or the proposed trailer height legislation, but he describes the Working Time Directive as annoying. “We do all the information on that and it’s already covered by drivers’ hours rules. Periods of availability confuses the hell out of the drivers and even the driver trainers.
“Anybody that comes under the drivers’ hours rules should be exempt.
Obviously there’s a safety aspect for drivers, but if you are a man in a factory why should you be stuck to 40 hours a week? You should have the freedom to work whenever.
“It’s just another piece of red tape from Brussels that’s not needed.” Dominic Yeardley, MD, Eurovision Logistics, East Yorkshire Yeardley is another Working Time Directive basher. “I don’t understand why, when we are already governed by tachograph rules, we have another set of rules in the Working Time Directive? That’s ridiculous.
“All it does is make Europe as a producer and a supplier of goods less competitive than it would be against non-European producers. I am all for health and safety, but the rest of the world is producing things more cheaply than we are.”
BENNETT HEAVY HAULAGE
Chris Bennett, MD, Chris Bennett Heavy Haulage, Greater Manchester “I think the Working Time Directive is a nonsense, considering that the drivers are on digital tachographs,” says Bennett. “It affects the drivers; some of them have been working for 40 years and they are experienced, but this is just confusing them. We are the only country that is policing it. All we want to do is make a living legally, but we have to double up on everything. If someone makes a mistake then we have them in and then if they don’t fill in the records right we issue a memo, then a written warning.
“It’s upsetting everyone.”
MASSEY & WILCOX
Robert Wilcox, MD, Massey & Wilcox, Somerset “I had a visit from a French haulier that we work with. He runs 100 vehicles located 30 minutes from Calais. I asked him what he was doing about the Driver CPC and he looked confused. Other European countries are not taking any notice of it.” Wilcox says he does not disagree with training per se and recognises how vital it is for an industry in which drivers are frequently derided as second-class citizens despite the importance of the job they do, but thinks the Driver CPC is not the solution.
“I am annoyed when I see other parts of the Union ignoring it and we are gold plating it.”