URTU wants fair DOT is under pressure
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over speed limiter tests
• Britain needs a "sound multimodal transport policy to ensure maximum mobility", United Road Transport Union general-secretary David Higginbottom told the Trades Union Congress.
"If we persist in treating lorry drivers like an undesirable underclass...the day will come when they will refuse to make life comfortable and satisfying for the rest of us," he warned delegates.
He called for recognition for drivers in the form of decent wage levels, adequate catering facilities and overnight accommodation on the road and tax concessions for those spending the night away from home.
He also questioned whether "market forces" are putting drivers under pressure to meet impossible targets.
Bad lorry drivers are the exception, he stressed—why would they want to risk their own and others' health and safety? • A row is brewing over the proposed mandatory testing of speed limiters.
Following this week's EC technical working party meeting, pressure is mounting on the UK to fall into line with Germany and Belgium, which are calling for detailed inspection and testing.
Although Britain has led the Community in limiter fitting on trucks and coaches, the DOT is strongly opposed to informal EC proposals to: "include periodic inspection for the limiter device along the lines of biennial tachograph inspections."
During the annual test inspectors simply ensure that the limiter is sealed and the vehicle has a plate stating the name and trade mark of the limiter calibrator; the number and date of the appropriate British standard; and the speed setting. There is no physical check that the limiter is working.