Is the war ever won?
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To work in haulage is to be beset on all sides: there is always a wolf at your door. This week the threats are many – clamping, the EC's 4m trailer height proposals and Freight on Rail’s opposition to longer trailers – but in some cases there may yet be light at the end of the tunnel.
There’s something rum going down in West Thurrock, Essex, where a slew of hauliers have had their trucks clamped on an unmarked road, where the clamping warning sign is hidden 10ft up a tree (see p6). Rest assured we’ll keep digging and pressing South East Clamping & Associates to answer hauliers’ questions about its actions. The industry associations, along with the Department for Transport, continue to press the EC to ensure the proposal that trailer heights should be limited to 4m does not make it onto the statute books – and it looks like they are winning the battle, but we must keep the heat on to ensure there’s no last-minute about-face in Brussels (see p9).
Sticking with trailers, we expect transport minister Mike Penning to announce soon that the government, finally, will allow the trial of longer trailers. Pressure group Freight on Rail has caught wind of Penning’s intentions and all too predictably has launched a last-ditch attempt to derail the announcement. The only way forward on this issue is for the trials to happen – and only then can the value and impact of longer trailers be fairly judged.
So, come on Mike, don’t listen to them: let the trials commence!
Justin Stanton