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
201
202
203
204
205
206
207
208
209
210
211
212
213
214
215
216 
Operators demand fair play on WTD
Page 6
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
OPERATORS WHO have taken steps to comply with the Working Time Directive are furious that VOSA staff appear to be ignoring the legislation.
Morayshire timber haulier Fred Grant, who runs 28 trucks, says he has been forced to raise his rates by 16%. But he was astonished when a VOSA officer told him he and his colleagues knew very little about the Directive,and had been toldnot to police it:"He told me they would just visit hauliers,even if it had been reported by the police, and wouldn't take any action. It's unfair competition. It's either law and is complied with, or it's not."
A VOSA spokeswoman says : "We are not taking this line. If people are breaking the rules we wouldn't turn a blind eye. If there is an obvious, systematic abuse of the regulations.VOSA will take action. If there are dangerous practices we would issue a prohibition notice. but if those are both ignored, we will take operators to court."
• Scottish operators will meet later this week to discuss raising the issue of rising fuel prices and the WTI) with the government. They want a meeting with Transport Secretary Alistair Darbig to discuss the issues, but warn that further protests are likely. • The WED will come into force in Northern Ireland on 16 June: it will be enforced by the Driver and Vehicle Testing Agency in a similar way to the rest of the UK.
But in the Irish Republic no-one is sure exactly when the legislation will be implemented.1RHA director Jimmy Quinn says: "We are still a bit in the dark about this; operators are far more concerned with rising fuel prices."