Owner-drivers call for minimum rate
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THE THAMES Valley Owner Drivers' Association and the British Association of Owner Drivers intend to go ahead with proposals to introduce a minimum rate schedule for the industry (CM, November 8).
At a meeting held at the Chartered Institute of Transport in London last week, the TVODA and BAOD seemed determined to present a case to the Office of Fair Trading, despite the apparent unlikelihood of it being accepted. The OFT takes a dim view of the idea of a proposed minimum rate schedule though it says it will at least look at the proposals.
The OFT says that, regardless of the reasons, any scale of minimum charges will reduce competition. TVODA chairman Keith Henderson in contrast feels that such charges will increase competition and will not affect fair trading.
The Road Haulage Association and British Association of Removers attended the meeting but were both non-committal. The RHA's commercial officer Mike Diacono said he came to the meeting purely as an observer and made it clear that he was only prepared to listen to the proposals and refer them back to the RHA.
BAR director Hugh Wilson said that a number of his mem bers would be interested in the proposals though, like the RHA, he was unable to agree with the principal of the proposals at this stage. Tony Warner of Midlands BRS, a National Freight Company subsidiary, also attended as an observer but suggested that, even if minimum rates were accepted and implemented by the OFT, the "cowboys" in the industry would not necessarily keep to them.
Keith Henderson sees the introduction of a minimum rate as a safeguard for the industry and is looking for the support of the larger bodies "because we