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Let's get our house in order
Page 9
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Brian Weatherley, who is not usually slow to wade in when anyone criticises his beloved road transport industry, takes a measured view of that controversial Ftle on Four investigation into hours offences
One of the pleasures of growing old is you can change your mind without feeling guilty. When Radio 4's Today programme recently ran an early-morning trailer for the File on Four investigation into rum-doings in road haulage it naturally used the most exciting bits to attract a decent audience for that night's show. Had I heard that trailer 15 years ago, I'd have donned the breastplate of editorial righteousness and castigated the BBC for sensationalising the activities of a tiny minority while ignoring the fact that most HGV drivers and operators are honest, decent and truthful.
Instead. I listened to the entire File on Four programme before coming to the opinion that, aside from a bit of confusion as to whether the biggest culprits being stopped in Welsh hours checks were UK or foreign drivers (it turned out to be the latter), its reporter did a pretty good job. The fact is, drivers do break hours laws and operators encourage them to do it. So the question isn't "How widespread is illegal running?" but "How we can stop it?"
Having clearly proved that not everything in the garden is rosy, File on Four attempted to pin down the cause. And for the first time I can recall, VOSA was criticised for not doing a better job. The reason why VOSA struggles to eliminate the enemy within is because it lacks resources. If it had, then programmes like this would have to find other industries to investigate. OK, so the Todaytrailer was OTT but that's what we journalists do. And having watched this business for more than 25 years (and grown old doing it), the one thing I've learnt is not to leap to its defence at the first hint of trouble. Before the industry accuses the BBC of having a splinter in its eye, it really ought to remove the plank from its own. "Having watched this indus for 25 years I've learned no to leap to its defence at the first hint of trouble"