The only way to get the message across quickly is
Page 75
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
shock action' Ihave read with interest all the moaning and groaning from the haulage industry and the action that is being taken by those hauliers who have got the guts to go out and do something about what is happening in the industry. For years I have received telphone calls from people who have just moved into their new house complaining that one of my lorries has just unloaded a machine in their street and I tell them this: When their housing estate was a greenfield area, the excavator was taken in on a lorry; the earth was removed and taken away on a lorry; the concrete for the footings came on a lorry; the pipes for the drainage and the bricks to build the house, the roof tiles and roof timbers came on a lorry; and also their furniture came on a lorry. And now they've settled in they want you to keep your lorry well away from their houses. The Chancellor puts the price of diesel up and most of the country believes it's something to do with the environment. But he didn't explain that it is the general public, as well as the haulier, that is the eventual loser.
If everyone in the industry stood together it would create the power the industry needs to get the message across. Owners of trucks may be frightened the banks or finance houses may take their vehicles back, but if everybody stood firm they wouldn't take them—what would they do with them?
And the trade associations and members of Parliament will keep on talking while we have to keep on struggling. Meanwhile, the impounding of illegal vehicles has been put back 18 months—this will probably turn out to be a load of waffle.
Doesn't the Government realise that all the restrictions heaped upon the transport industry are creating the problems that cause people to break the law, such as tachograph offences, insufficient maintenance and speeding offences? We cannot go on absorbing dery increases and all the stupid ideas they come up with. The whole transport system wants a rethink—not by the people who are running it now, but by people who have had experience in the road haulage industry. I think the only way to get the message across quickly is for hauliers to take shock action and keep their vehicles off the road. I don't think trying to block ports will work. Everybody must stick together. If you want things to get better then do something about it. This country cannot do without transport and perhaps a little taste of "without it" would get the message across. Transport is the biggest muscle in the country—let's flex it a bit! Good luck to Chris Cain of Trans-Action and all who support him.
• If you want to sound off about a road transport issue write to features editor Patric Cunnane or fax your views (up to 600 words) to Nicky Clarke on 0181 652 8912.