TIME TO GET TOUGH
Page 3
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• It's official — road hauliers want cowboy operators to have their trucks impounded. So why isn'thit happening? Commercial Motor's exclusive survey (see News Headlines, pages 4-5) shows just how much support there is, and not just among hauliers. The Traffic Commissioners want it. The examiners want it. And the trade associations want it. How much more evidence does the Department of Transport want before it changes the law?
Back in June 1991 an attempt was made to introduce an amendment on impounding to the Road Traffic Act. It failed in the House of Lords. According to the then Government spokesman on Transport in the Upper House, Lord Brabazon of Tara, impounding is "draconian".
He's right. But how else do you deal with operators who persistently flout the law by running unlicensed trucks?
The noble Lord added "...we should not take such swingeing powers unless we are quite sure that innocent parties, such as the consignors of goods, will not inadvertently be affected. Nor should we make provision in legislation unless we are sure that such powers could be effectively and efficiently enforced." With respect to the noble Lord, that answer was bunkum.
Impounding would be the one device that would finally make all consignors sit up and think twice about who they employ to haul their goods. It's this kind of consignor liability, along with unequivocal declarations on the weights of containers or pallets, that's long overdue. As for the doubts about whether it could be enforced — it will work if there's the will within the DOT to make it work and clean up the industry once and for all.
I=1 CM will be back on Thursday 31 December at our usual price of £1.10. In the meantime have a very Merry Christmas: here's to a more prosperous new year!