Cut the waffle
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• In response to Penny Evans' Sound Off feature (CM 16-22 July), I would like to agree that £1.2bn is spent on maintenance of our roads and that the majority of damage is indeed caused by HGVs.
I should also like to point out that road users contributed £14bn to the Exchequer in 1989 (source FTA) through Vehicle Excise Duty and Fuel Duty, so far from being a drain on public funds, road users, and in particular commercial operators, are paying vast sums to drive on a road network which becomes less adequate daily, while contributiing to other public spending.
Rail is unable to provide an alternative for freight transport, an increase of 50% in rail freight traffic would take only 5% of freight away from the roads. Let us hope that the Government recognises this problem and invests in the rail infrastructure to update it for the future.
In addition to this we need investment in the road infrastructure for similar reasons. There are large areas of the country, in particular East Anglia, which have appalling road links with no motorway connections, which is unforgivable given the projected increase in traffic.
Also let's cut the waffle and hike the weight limit to 40 tonnes for artics and drawbars, to give our operators a chance to make the most of the Single European Market when it arrives in 1993.
Pandering to the whims of organisations like the Council for the Preservation of Rural England which give only half the story will lead to the decimation of the road haulage industry in this country.
Robin Charles Sandbach, Cheshire.