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Foe*

18th March 1977, Page 36
18th March 1977
Page 36
Page 36, 18th March 1977 — Foe*
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Which of the following most accurately describes the problem?

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This refers to your article in CM in January regarding "foreign" tippers engaged in moving the industrial fish from Plymouth to Hull and Grimsby, and subsequently Mr David Miller's letter in your publication dated March 4, commenting on certain aspects of that article.

As our company is arranging the movement of the largest quantities of fish from Plymouth, we would like to put on record a few relevant points.

Our policy has been, from March last year, six months prior to the first landings, when we commenced visiting the larger hauliers, to use local transport as far as possible, and there certainly are, as Mr Miller states, many suitable vehicles available in the West Country.

At this time we are using no less than 15 hauliers and owner-drivers in Devon and Cornwall on a continuous basis with some 26 vehicles, only three of which have a carrying capacity of less than 20 tonnes, and a further four hauliers in Somerset with 16 vehicles, of which only one has a carrying capacity of less than 20 tonnes.

However, there was still a further requirement, and it has been necessary to introduce so-called "foreign" vehicles to this work to the tune of a further 15, and from time to time, up to 40 vehicles according to the landings.

We have introduced these, vehicles, not because the vehicles do not exist locally, but because they are, engaged upon the traditional business of this part of the world, ie clay, granite, etc, and it has been a wise decision by many local hauliers who have chosen to engage in both these and the fish.

We do not wish to make any specific comment about the rate, but we can assure those interested that in order to attract hauliers to this work, the rate is very competitive, indeed with a rate per mile above your own recommended figures. Moreover, weekly payment after three weeks has been maintained to the hauliers since the first load was moved.

With regard to "fish water" discharged, we would comment that all hauliers have received written instructions from us to drain their vehicles before leaving the port, and the BTBD at Plymouth have, at our request, made available facilities for this purpose. Furthermore, recommendations on safety have also been made, and to date only two tonnes out of some 24,000 tonnes moved under our banner has so far been spilt on the public highway, although we are aware of other unfortunate incidents which have taken place.

Tags

People: David Miller
Locations: Plymouth

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