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plan by lain Sherriff • Reports last week that Herr Georg Leber, the German Minister of Transport, had abandoned his plan to bar heavy goods vehicles from the autobahnen brought joy to both German and foreign operators—joy that was ill-founded and short-lived.
Far from giving up his plan the Herr Minister has reserved the right to ban the vehicles when he considers traffic pressure to be exceptionally heavy. This could well be throughout the summer and at all holiday periods. In fact it can take effect at any time and in any place.
Such a situation leaves hauliers in a constant position of doubt, not knowing whether the goods they are loading will be delivered to schedule or indeed if they will leave the warehouse. This reign of fear, added to the German tax plan, is less acceptable than that designed by our own Minister. German road taxes are to be used to assist the private operators' state-owned cornpetitors, the railways, Lufthansa, and inland waterways. In addition, they will be used to protect the merchant shipping fleet against foreign competition.
The autobahnen accommodate 3+m goods vehicles annually. Just over half of these vehicles are operated by foreign hauliers.
The change in "Plan Leber" is seen in some circles in West Germany as a pre-arranged scheme to throw away the restrictions and apply them again in a less apparent but more effective manner.
The German Minister has announced his intention to switch vehicles to the railway piggyback system and agreements have been included with other European states to this end. However, it is not his intention to bolster up an ailing railway system entirely at the expense of road haulage.
The Germans are reducing railway overheads by cutting staff back by 20 per cent. This is done by natural wastage and not through redundancy. The same percentage reduction is being applied to the track.