Warning to French law-breakers
Page 5
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
FRENCH TRANSPORT operators were warned by a senior DoE official last week that firms whose vehicles continually break British transport regulations are liable to have their international haulage permits withdrawn.
Mr F. D. S. Scott-Malden, Enforcement Co-ordinator at the DoE, was speaking at a question-and-answer session during a one-day visit to England by 50 French operators, officials and journalists. The question had been asked in the name of "Monsieur X" on behalf of French international hauliers.
They wanted to know how foreign vehicles were dealt with by the British enforcement system, because French operators felt "exposed to great risk" through differences in regulations, in technical standards and the French lorry driver's lack of English.
Mr Scott-Malden said that foreign' vehicles arriving in Britain were expected to comply with British rules on weight limits, drivers' hours and so on. In the case of vehicles from France—they had to carry a permit.
If they were overweight by British standards they were prohibited from continuing until such time as the surplus weight had been removed. Continuous law-breakers could lose their permits.
Mr D. V. Jones, who is in charge of vehicle inspection at the DoE, added : "Controls in this country include many checks at the roadside and I think that when French operators send vehicles into this country they get very irritated that the rules are not universal.
"Last year we carried out 100,000 vehicle checks at the side of our roads. We examined 442 French lorries, 41 of which were prohibited for being in poor condition. We examined 176 at Southampton and only prohibited 5, whereas at Dover we examined 135 and prohibited 25. Why is it that vehicles coming into Dover appear to be in a worse condition than those entering through Southhampton?"
The one-day visit was organised by the Centre de Productivite des Transports (roughly equivalent to a "Little Neddy") to see how our vehicle inspection and annual testing system operated. The French visitors saw trucks being inspected at Mitcham test station and later asked questions of the panel— composed of DoE officials and RHA members.
Nothing comparable to the British inspection and test system operates in France, and there are signs that French operators and authorities be lieve their international vehicles will be vulnerable in other EEC countries if their own vehicle standards are not tightened up. The CPT recently visited Belgium to inspect its vehicle control system.
The French visitors to Britain last week seemed surprised —and some astonished or alarmed—at the extent of our own test and enforcement network. M. Metthey of CPT said he knew of nothing resembling our Licensing Authorities on the Continent. "Certainly we have Engineers of Mines who are official experts but we don't have Licensing Authorities with such powers—and we can hardly believe that there are such people!"