There are no prizes for guessing what has been the
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most popular subject on the forums over the past week or so...
Yes, the snow and ice have made driving diff icult at times, But those using the forums seem, on the whole, to have managed to deliver their goods.
Despite the extreme weather over the past 10 days or so, there have been no reports of food supplies running low in the shops.
While photos of jack-knifed artics and HGVs stuck on hills make great headlines, the fact is that a huge majority of drivers and haulage businesses continued to deriver their goods in a safe and — on the whole — timely manner. A fact that was seemingly ignored by the more sensationalist press.
In the Top 20 Power Players list, compiled by CM and Roadtransport.com recently, those believed to exert the most influence in the transport industry were noted.
Top of the list was not an individual or a firm, but drivers as a whole. The way the huge majority of professional drivers have continued to deliver in the most trying of circumstances over the past few days justifies that selection, I believe.
On another topic, a lesson on how not to treat drivers — or any other employee for that matter — showed up on TruckNet from the US.
A major haulier ran out of cash, and the finance company demanded the return of all its vehicles. But they weren't returned to the failed firm's depots. Drivers were told to go to the nearest truck dealership. This led to many drivers being stranded hundreds of miles from home with no money and promises of bus tickets failing to materialise.
A massive effort by members of the US transport industry, co-ordinated via truck forums, Facebook and other web discussion sites, meant drivers were given lifts home, emergency accommodation and, in some cases, taken into local drivers' homes for the Christmas break.
Procedures on 'this side of the pond' would hopefully preclude such an event, but if something similar did happen, would we all respond in the same fashion? I certainly hope so.