On the eve of destruction
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THE RNA has at last woken up to the fact that it has helped to drive the UK international road haulage industry to the brink of self-destruction. Having led the 38-tonne bandwagon, they now seem surprised that customers are not exactly falling over themselves in the rush to pay for the extra payload. RHA members, having enough difficulty keeping 32.5-tonners going, are now required by some customers to supply overpriced, over-taxed and overrated(?) 38-tonne outfits.
I suspect Mrs Thatcher's call to "buy British" will fall on deaf ears come May 1 — in the absence of British 38-tanners at "competitive" rates, the customer might just turn to foreign hauliers, who already have the equipment, and who seem to be prepared to run for peanuts to get out of the UK. Perhaps this is because they can run 25 hours per day, ignore permit requirements, and, it seems, are likely to be less accident-prone (the Department of Transport believes that errant pedestrians and cyclists will only throw themselves under British trailers).
Will the RHA now support the decimation of the UK domestic haulage industry by aiding and abetting the current moves within the EEC to legalise cabotage? For the uninitiated, cabotage means the use of a vehicle registered in one country for the collection and delivery of goods within another country. In theory, therefore, the return leg of an international trip may be made up of several "national" journeys in addition to the final "international" journey.
On mainland Europe, this makes good sense, with trucks of all nationalities travelling in all directions (except the British who invariably travel to and from our particular corner of Europe — if they can get a load out in the first place).
In the UK, however, it would mean that any Continental truck which ended its journey in the North would be able to compete with UK hauliers for southbound UK traffic, prior to crossing the water. What price 38-tonners then?
D. LUDDINGTON Croxley Green Herts.