Owner-driver John Hayward from Chesterfield, north Derbyshire, wants you all to park up to convince the government to listen...
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111To sound off about a road transport issue write to Patric Cunnane (patric.cunnane rbl.co.0 or fax your views (up to 600 words) to Nidty Clarke on 020 8652 8912.
di Now that the dust has settled on November's Budget statement and the last turkey sandwich has gone down, let's get our eye back on the ball and see if
we're any closer to serious competition with Continental hauliers. Are our costs in line with theirs? Well. VED is now a lot closer to Continental rates, but we're still paying 30p/lit more than the average in Western Europe (including Eire). The 3p/lit reduction in April was just an empty gesture that will do nothing to help in the long run. Chassis prices in Britain are about 25% more than on mainland Europe and we pay far, far more for insurance. The Brit Disc is to be welcomed, but that's not for another two years and other EU countries will try to block it. We need help now. So what do we do?
Previous protests won us the reduction in VED so further direct action should get us a worthwhile cut in fuel tax. The Treasury would have us believe that cuts in fuel duty would mean pensioners and the NHS suffering. But are Continental pensioners worse off than those in the UK? Are their hospitals less efficient than ours?
So what form of action do we take? Blockades are obviously out—I can't afford to burn diesel on protest rallies. So I think the only option is to park up. All of us. Unattainable? it may mean picketing to stop the bigger firms. Unaffordable? A 7mpg artic doing 75,000 miles per annum will use 10,700 gallons. A 30p/lit reduction would save 114,575 a year. Even if you paid Continental level wages, expenses and benefits to your drivers, that would still give you the leeway to win back contracts lost to foreign firms and cover lost standing costs while your trucks were parked up.
I'm an owner-driver lucky enough to find regular domestic work, so why do I care about international hauliers losing work? Because when those firms lose a cross-Channel job they will look enviously at work like mine. The domino effect will knock us all down and leave only the likes of Willi and Norbert standing.
If UK firms fold due to managerial incompetence or recession we can whinge. But when firms fold because of our own government's short-sighted greed we have every right to fight for our survival.
I resent this government stealing my money to squander it trying to cover itself in glory with a scheme like the Millennium Dome. Even lottery money is a voluntary tax—I'd sooner see it spent on the NHS or refunded to us in pensions. New Labour is not Walt Disney; it is Mickey Mouse and you may as well shout at celluloid as talk to politicians.
A "quiet word" from the trade associations did no good; demonstrations are ignored and government spin has largely turned public opinion against us.
Well, we've always been public enemy number one in the eyes of our fellow citizens so why court their approval now? The railways have recently proved beyond doubt that there is no alternative in this country to road transport. It is in our power to save our businesses. All we have to do is to withdraw our services for the few days necessary to show politicians and public alike that they cannot do without us. The Chancellor has almost two months before the next Budget. We should decide on a date and tell him we will park up if we don't get a result in April. No government wants to be humiliated so close to an election.
Let's stick together on this. Even Hungarocamion can't replace overnight the 420,000 trucks in the UK parc. But give them the time and they wilt