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Rikki Chequer, community manager of TruckNet UK, reports on the debate raging over plans for action against fuel price hikes...
Page 17
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It cannot have escaped lhe notice of anyone in the industry that there was some talk of protests against the cost of fuel last week. TruckNet UK members used the forums to discuss their effectiveness, if anyone would attend and whether it was actually a driver's responsibility to take part or should the bosses take a lead.
The views were as diverse as the industry and the membership of the website. Many drivers would not participate in the action, stating it should be the company bosses that are hit hardest by the cost of fuel so they should be organising their staff to protest. Other drivers pointed out that the costs of fuel does directly affect drivers, so they should be willing to spare a little time to protest.
Even though no major protests actually happened, the users of TruckNet UK will no doubt continue to discuss what can and should be done to raise the issue with the public, and whose responsibility it is to do it.
Meanwhile, a driver has posted a handy list in the Euro drivers forum of countries that require snow chains to be carried (see news story, page 18). The conversation has moved on from the list to the perhaps unsurprising revelations that the majority of drivers who carry snow chains do so only because of the law, and have never actually used them (I can actually remember an old employer of mine welding the snow chains in place on the chassis where they were stored to stop them being pinched).
Finally for this year, TruckNet UK has spent its first year under the ownership of RBI (CM'S publisher). Over the year, page views have risen by more than 50%, membership has grown, and the number of topics posted has risen dramatically.
Credit must go to the members of our industry who take time to use the website to read, discuss, help and advise-even sometimes argue with each other and to the volunteer administrators and moderators on the website, all of whom are connected with the industry, and who help keep TruckNet UK the foremost drivers' website in the UK.
Many thanks to all, and Happy Christmas.