The long haul to W lehall
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The Freight Transport and Road Haulage Associations have both been talking to the Government for many years—so what are they going to tell it that's new in the "industry forum" announced last week? Miles Brignall reports.
• Transport Minister John Reid has repeatedly stated that he does not think British hauliers have a problem.
As early as February Reid told CMat the Freight Transport Association annual conference that he was "convinced" international operators did not suffer any disadvantage over their European counterparts once the differing social costs were taken into account.
To rub salt into struggling hauliers' wounds, Reid even described the fuel escalator as In the interest of the industry itself" to encourage the more efficient use of fuel.
If hauliers find this stance incredible. Steven Norris, the RHA's director-general and a former Transport Minister him
self, says he detects all the evidence of a defensive brief prepared by DOT officials, to which Reid's only move has been to stick doggedly. "You only had to witness the sudden arrival of a KPMG report out of nowhere to see that they [the officials) are flustered," he says. "I recognise the stalling tactics—because I used them myself.
Face to face
"However, at the meeting at which he announced the forum, I really felt that he was finally starting to see the issue for himself," Norris adds. Although a date has yet to be set, it has been confirmed that ministers from the Treasury and the Department of Trade & Industry will also attend. While a meeting between trade associations and three ministers is almost unheard of in Whitehall circles, Norris has made it clear that if the process is "just a talking shop", then he won't hang around. Further grounds for scepticism come from the acknowledgement that neither Norris nor FTA directorgeneral David Green will be telling Reid anything they haven't told him before.
Even so, Green is more upbeat than Norris over the hauliers' prospects.
"Undoubtedly this is a unique opportunity to talk directly to ministers and we get the impression that this time they aren't just going through the motions," he says.
Green believes that the forum will give both organisations a chance to test the figures the DOT and Treasury are using, and which led Reid to make his recent statements.
"Clearly they are using some sort of data," he says. The meeting will give us a chance to compare their figures with ours and we'll then aim to demonstrate what's happening out there in the real world."
Although Norris dedines to predict the outcome of the talks, Green says that, at the very minimum, he is looking for the fuel duty escalator to be frozen for diesel at the next Budget. Both men say they will present a unified approach and will meet to discuss a plan of action nearer the time.
Time out
But time is running out. TransAction, which is not invited to the talks, has already named the date for the next day of action, ignoring Norris's request to hold off until after the first meeting of the forum.
The irony is that while it has started planning the action that will blockade several of the UK's major cities, civil servants are still trying to find a date when all three ministers are free to attend the forum.