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New regulations are always important for hauliers but 1996 will

19th December 1996
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Page 58, 19th December 1996 — New regulations are always important for hauliers but 1996 will
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Which of the following most accurately describes the problem?

be remembered as much for the laws that were not passed as for those that were.

Ayear that started with a vigorous burst of new laws and regulations for hauliers ended with a whimper as major proposals were shelved, dumped or put out to apparently endless consultation.

But the current pre-election legislative lethargy seems a world away from last January, when operators had to be careful to keep abreast of all the new measures, because there were so many.

Continuous Operator Licensing was introduced, which meant that hauliers no longer had to apply to renew licences but simply paid the fee. And operators of vehicles over 12 tonnes registered after January 1988 risked prosecution if they did not have their speed limiters re-calibrated to 90Icm/h(56mph).

Vehicle workshops also faced new health and safety regulations in the New Year

Prospective LGV drivers learned that they faced a written test from July, although the Driving Standards Agency later delayed the introduction for the lorry test until January 1 1997. From next year there will also be changes in the driving test system which mean that new car licence holders will no longer be able to drive anything bigger than 3.5 tonnes.

Existing licence holders will have grandfather rights.

In February this year, the new EU tacho laws designed to prevent tacho fiddling stepped into the limelight, because manufacturers were struggling to comply. Hundreds of vehicles registered after January 1 had to be taken off the road to be retro-fitted with tamper-proof armoured tacho sender cable that the manufacturers had not managed to instill in the first place.

March saw the introduction of new guidelines by the Chemical Industries Association for hazardous goods hauliers, which meant that they would be expected to send specialist engineers to accidents within three hours.

The IRA bombing campaign was responsible for the most dramatic measure in April, when police were granted the ability to search haulage depots at will, together with reinforced stop and search powers on the road. Later in the year, in July, the Government also announced changes to the way in which trucks can be bought and sold to stop terrorists obtaining them anonymously. From next year just one form will have to be filled out, which should make anonymous purchase more difficult.

Also in April, hauliers learned that the Vehicle Inspectorate was planning a summer pilot study of controversial roadside portable weighpacts, which it felt would help increase effective enforcement of overloading laws.

At the end of the month, Transport Minister Steven Norris promised the Transport Select Committee a decision on impounding before Parliament went for its long summer holiday. The decision never came (see facing page).

In May, the first details of the new landfill tax, which eventually came into force in October, began to emerge. Every tonne of waste taken to a landfill site is now taxed at

£2 or £7 a tonne depending on whether it is biodegradable or not (CM 14-20 November).

Two measures which came to prominence in May resulted in memorable U-turns. First it emerged that under the proposals to bring the UK into line with the rest of Europe's driving test regulations, thousands of drivers who held rigid licences would get automatic entitlement to drive artics. There was outrage and by the end of August the Government reversed its decision.

There was a similar debacle over proposed new rules on eyesight which meant that 24,000 drivers with impeccable safety records would lose their licences and livelihood. By June, Norris had agreed to grandfather rights for all these drivers as it became clear the rest of Europe had no intention of enforcing the new EU regulations for drivers who already had licences.

In contrast to the will-we?/won't-we? debates on eyesight, driving entitlement and impounding, the Government said in May that it intended to bring forward new laws designed to reduce bridge bashing.

Even so, the regulations will not be formally introduced until January 1997. All trucks over three metres high must be fitted with in-cab height warning signs and drivers must carry suitably marked route maps with them. Every new truck fitted with powered equipment must be fitted with a visual in-cab warning device from I January 1998. This will alert the driver if the equipment or body is not in its normal position.

At the end of May the Government announced that local authorities were to be given new powers to police emissions by the

roadside, but again the timetable allowed for plenty of further discussion: the measures are timetabled to be introduced next summer. Later, in August, one of new transport minister John Bowis's first acts was to announce his intention to give local authorities more powers to shut roads, temporarily or even permanently, to cope with congestion.

Another measure for the future was the announcement of Neil Kinnock's proposed increase in the Eurovignette prices to reflect the environmental costs of running a truck. Discussion continues, although criticisms of the proposal as "just another tax" persist (CM 14-20 November).

At the end of June it became clear that thousands of drivers pulling heavy one-axle trailers would be forbidden to do so from 1 January 1997, After Christmas they will be restricted to trailers up to 7501cg instead of five tonnes as previously.

The long Parliamentary summer and autumn recess ensured few major decisions during that period, while politicians' minds have been more on the forthcoming election than anything else since they returned to Westminster

Nevertheless, a consultation paper on the introduction of 44-tonne vehicles was issued recently, an issue which needs to be resolved to allow operators to plan the make-up of their fleets. Resolution looks unlikely before the general election. Hauliers should not hold their breath for new measures until a new Government takes office.

by David Harris


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