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 
P LETTER OF THE WEEK
Page 20
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
Time to stand together, make a fight of it, save the industry and the planet
RIGHT, ENOUGH is enough. It's time to act — this government, seems hell-bent on closing Britain's transport industry down.
Fuel protests only have the effect of having every agency against us. All the big players frown and say protest isn't the right way (unless you are getting the money off your VED as in the RPC, which we fought for in 2000— a nice earner for the big fleets, and you did nowt to get it). We all know our 0-licences have been threatened, so now is the time to change the way we fight this.
I'm all for going green. The government tells us it is for the benefit of the planet. Big fleets are only profitable because of their size, but look how much profit they make when they're broken down, on a vehicle-by-vehicle basis. Plimsoll reckons its 3%. Crap really.
So, my solution is 'Save the Planet Week'. Yes, let's all park half our fleets up for a week. How green is that? How much CO, will that prevent .The industry loves to bend over backwards to comply with all the EU laws forced on us, so let's do this off our own backs.
Let's see if it really is an environmental issue. Get the trucks off the road, general, food, fuel, papers, the whole lot, and let's see how appreciated we really are. This includes you big players. If you really value the lifeblood of our country, we need to act now. Get off the fence and, just for once, show some balls and fight for the survival of our profession. Let's get this government to act. We can do it easily if we all stand together. Paul Townsend By e-mail