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BIRD'S EYE VIEW
Page 36
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BY THE HAWK
• It had to happen. All those racing trucks screaming round Brands Hatch were bound to make any of those benighted souls without HGVIs hunger for the driving seat. They're about to get their chance of glory (well, sort of) because European pickup racing gets underway this month. The Uniroyal P100 Challenge will include rounds at Brands Hatch, Dutton Park, Cadwell Park and • There has been much talk of safety lately, and the Hawk can now report that one company at least has taken the bull by the horns by setting up a safe driving scheme of its own.
Wincanton Distribution managing director Chas Lawrence says all drivers who qualify for an award after twelve months will have their names entered into a prize draw. Drivers who complete five accident-free years will receive an extra award prize.
The company also operates an Advanced Driver Training Course, to be conducted by Thames Valley Training. The two-day course is designed to provide participants with a review of advanced driving techniques and, for this purpose, Wincanton has equipped a 12metre trailer to be used as a mobile classroom. Donnington Park, leading to a championship event next year.
Regulations insist that the P100s, for which the event caters, must be largely standard, but one modification allowed is the use of ultra-low-profile Uniroyal car tyres rather than the standard C50 van tyres.
Do you drive a P100? Reckon you're in the Slim Borgudd league? Phone Uniroyal on (0895) 445678 for details.
• One of Commercial Motor's intrepid reporters dropped in on the Hawk's nest late last week, recounting tales of an eye-opening 24 hours spent at the Dover blockade and then rushing back to London for the annual RHA bash at the Grosvenor House in Park Lane.
Drivers representing the British haulage industry's fury and frustration at the Dover delays ("It's just as bad in Dover when there is no strike," said one driver) had been driven to demonstrate their dissatisfaction in a desperate attempt to force a speedy solution to the Dover mess.
Owner-drivers, as well as larger operators, were losing a lot of trade — but of course the smaller the operation, the quicker it suffers in such situations. To get the industry moving again the drivers took advantage of the NUS strike, which was preventing any real movement in and out of the port, to register their complaint. Our reporter left Dover convinced that the drivers were showing a responsible attitude and a genuine fear that their industry might be hammered if delays continued.
That night at the RHA dinner, he guessed the total capital value of the 1,200 diners to • Trucker Les Rowlands, a soul braver than he is wise, had his George V beard shaved off last week by a posse of hairdressers in the name of Southmead Hospital.
Les's sacrifice raised money for the hospital after the shearing, at the C&A Distribution Centre on Patchway Trading Estate, a part of the HTV Telethon.
be in the region of 22 billion. Was the RHA or any of its members going to show any kind of support for these drivers? Our man wanted to know. Certainly not, they said — but surely if the NUS strike continues, all those members would eventually feel the strain their drivers and owner-driver colleagues were experiencing, my colleague suggested. "Ah, well, let's just wait and see," was a typical response.
It strikes the Hawk that the RHA has spent considerable energy accusing the Government of sitting on the fence over crucial matters such as vehicle taxation, diesel prices and safety regulations. Now, when the RHA has the opportunity to use its might and put pressure on the NUS and P&O to negotiate, it seems to be just as indecisive.