Not all hauliers want a lorry scrappage scheme
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I WRITE IN response to Des Evans’s letter, claiming that a scrappage scheme for lorries would be welcomed by the haulage industry (CM 17 March).
I agree with everything he says about the government not assisting the UK haulage industry and keeping it as a cash cow, but I don’t agree with his statement that the industry would want a lorry scrappage scheme. I can see why Evans would want one – he sells trucks. However, I strongly disagree with his words: “I can assure you, this is one EURO we will all accept.” Don’t assume that ‘we’ includes me and a number of other smaller hauliers.
We are intent on making ends meet. While the cost of fuel is, of course, a great burden, for me it is not in itself the reason we ind things dificult at the moment. Instead, it is a lack of work and low rates. There is also the high price of new trucks. All of these factors are caused by the greed of big businesses.
I only run ive vehicles, but I do try to maintain them so that they last as long as possible. I have three eight-wheelers all bought new. One is a two-year-old DAF, one an eight-year-old Scania, and the last is a 15-year-old Foden. I can assure Mr Evans that the latter is not a gas guzzling nor ineficient high-maintenance vehicle. It is the most costeffective, reliable, and by far the most proitable of the three.
The Foden did 900,000km before we needed to change the injectors. It is still on its original king-pins and track rod ends, therefore the track has never needed re-setting. The front tyres always wear evenly. It is at present driven by a 21-year-old, who like me, loves the Eaton twin-splitter, which along with the Rolls Royce engine, is original. The vehicle was converted from Euro-0 to Euro-4 by Eminox for what has proved to be a modest cost. I suppose the only problem is that if we are all still relying on British engineering, Mr Evans would be out of a job. Walter Robert Munro Director, W R Munro