More loads than permits for TIR men
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THERE are surely more prospective international hauliers than there are actual operators engaged on crossChannel traffic. Almost everyone I spoke to has a yen to get into Europe and beyond; alas, very few are in possesiion of the all-important permit.
Despite the untiring efforts of DoE officials, shortage of permits is still the number one concern of established and prospective international men alike. With the growth of road traffic to the Middle East. German road-rail transit permits have taken on a new importance and it now looks as if there will be increasing demands for the liberal supply of permits for this system. Operators using road/ rail permits put themselves in line for favourable consideration for road permits if the quota is increased for 1976, although there is no gaurantee that it will be.
Some operators expressed concern over the cost of the rail trip between Cologne and Munich. It is 1600 Dm return for driver, second man and vehicle. In addition to saving fuel, time spent on the train does not count against the driver's hours; but the real bonus is surely the possibility that road permits will follow.
Most international operators told me that business continued to be brisk, that there was plenty of traffic about on the outward journey and a good supply of return load traffic but that the rates were barely keeping pace with rising costs. "We are paying our way but not making much money" said one operator, and if you think you've heard that before, you very possibly have, but this time it was said with such conviction and confirmed so many times, that even I, sceptic though I am, was ready to believe it.
When the RHA international group met in London last month, one of the items on the agenda was the rate of subsistence being paid to Continental drivers and the situation vis-a-vis the tax man. On a 'phone-round survey of a few of the longer established international men, I found that daily rates vary between ,E5 and £12. Most of the operators, however, estimated that E9 a day was about right, with bed and breakfast costing on average £5.
A West country operator has apparently been approached by Inland Revenue inspectors who feel that his subsistence rate carries a hidden and untaxed wage element — he is paying £10 per day. He suggested, and I heartily endorse his suggestion, that the tax man should travel into France on a truck and get first-hand knowledge of just how much or how little a driver can buy with £10 subsistence allowance. From firsthand knowledge I know that the ferryboat cafe at Le Havre, although not coming up to London Hilton standards, charges London Hilton prices for a not too large cup of French coffee and this is where many drivers call after leaving or before joining the Southampton ferry.
To save the tax man a trip,! am sure it would satisfy the authorities if operators were to hold on to a few of the genuine receipts that their drivers bring back.
International operators are not without their troubles but I get the impression that they have been in the business long enough to overcome them. Those travelling without permits, or on a "Mickey Mouse" permit — the drivers' term for an illegal document — must expect big trouble very soon, now that the Commons standing committee on the International Road Haulage Permits Bill has started its deliberations. Unfortunately this is just to get rid of the pirates and will not increase the allocation.