Hazards ahead
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Tough new regulations covering the transport of dangerous goods will hit smaller operators hard. Many may be forced out of the business—leaving the field clear for the big boys to pick up the danger money.
Tougher training and equipment requirements are making dangerous goods transport less and less viable for small, non-specialist operators.
Paul Frampton, immediate past-chairman of the Road Haulage Association's international group, believes the number of businesses in this sector will fall significantly as a result. "People said it did not matter whether the goods they carried were hazardous or not; these days it is an exacting discipline," he says.
From 1 January, all drivers carrying dangerous goods will need a Vocational Training Certificate. Taking the necessary course, which costs between £200 and £300, is no guarantee of being awarded it.
Operators face further costs when ADR, the European agreement covering the international carriage of dangerous goods by road, is incorporated into UK domestic law, probably in 1996.
On the horizon is more European Commission legislation which is set to place an even bigger burden on operators. This could include the appointment of risk prevention officers.
For owner operators such as Jack Mann, just passing the Vocational Training Certificate may prove an obstacle to staying in business. "It is going to cost me well over £200 plus loss of earnings and, at 62, you can't absorb lots of new information as easily as younger people."
Mann, based in Gloucester, has been carrying fertiliser for more than 30 years, including nitrates which are classified as a dangerous substance. He sees little sense in taking the test two years away from retirement. "But if I don't get it, it might be a case of being forced into retirement," he says.
Dave Hillman of Hillman Transport Ltd in Chelwood near Bristol has so far spent £2,000 trying to get his eight drivers through the test but doubts whether they will pass first time. "They have made the course too complicated so that it does not apply to half of the work we do," he says. The family-owned business was founded in 1935 and, like Mann's, hauls nitrates. Because fertilisers are not particularly profitable compared with other parts of the Hillman business, the company may withdraw from this sector altogether.
New opportunities
If smaller operators do pull out, it will open up new opportunities for bigger, operators. The Lincoln-based Denby Transport, uses its fleet of 30 tractor units and 95 semi-trailers for dangerous goods.
Director Peter Denby, welcomes the introduction of proper training. "There is no doubt it involves a lot of extra cost and work but the training that existed before was inadequate and much more general. The good thing about this scheme is that it focusses on particular
hazardous goods, particularly ones we don't deal with frequently."
Training requirements were originally introduced for tanker drivers carrying dangerous goods in 1981 and for drivers carrying packaged goods in 1986.
A standard syllabus was introduced throughout Europe in 1992 and since then tanker drivers have been required to take the Vocational Training Certificate.
From next January, the certificates will become compulsory for drivers carrying packaged goods.
The certificates are valid for five years but Ken Dawson, administrator of the National (Dangerous Substances) Driver Training Scheme, says it is still unclear what will happen at the end of this period. "We have not yet been able to determine whether it will involve complete retraining and an examination or whether it will just be a short course," he says.
It is estimated that over 100,000 UK drivers will need to have taken the certificate by January. By the end of March, 31,790 certificates had been awarded says the DOT
Burden
The costs of adopting ADR in the UK will be a further financial burden. Pira International, the research organisation for the paper, publishing and printing industries, is running courses for people requiring in-depth knowledge of ADR, including transport operators. The two-day course costs £500 with VAT for nonmembers of the organisation.
John Hix, manager of hazardous cargo services for the Freight Transport Association, says equipment costs will rise significantly as a result of ADR harmonisation. Apart from different vehicle construction standards, he says wheel chocks, amber lights and special tail-gates are all required under ADR.
"If we adopt ADR per se, every truck carrying dangerous goods domestically will have to carry these things." He adds that the PTA is fighting to ensure that unnecessary areas of ADR are not incorporated into domestic regulations. Although harmonisation was originally due to take effect from January, it will probably be delayed until 1996.The appointment of risk prevention officers is likely to be delayed even further and may not go ahead at all.
The UK view is that the scheme should be opposed and, if adopted, should be substantially revised. "It is bureaucratic and does not take account of the costs to industry of implementation," says the DOT Hix believes the Germans may attempt to push the idea during their presidency of the European Council. which begins in July, but it is unlikely to be adopted before next year at the earliest.
The proposal would require every company which consigns or transports dangerous goods to appoint such an officer. Details and likely costs are unclear. Paul Frampton, also managing director of hazardous goods carrier Framptons International in Somerset, says his company already has somebody specifically concerned with risk management and safety. "We have a staff of 50 people and he is not involved in the transport operation. You have to have people who are independent and can smell a problem before it happens."
Frampton reckons that the employee responsible spends about 10% of his working hours on risk prevention. "We operate to BS5750 and within our procedures, we have to take account of the nature of our business and the risks involved. It is through these procedures where we exercise our controls and management."
Easy living
Some proposed EC legislation on dangerous goods may ultimately make life easier for carriers of dangerous goods. Hix says that a proposal to unify roadside checks on vehicles could stamp out some abuses of the system on the Continent.
In France, for example, a belly tank full of diesel is considered to be a receptacle containing hazardous goods even though it is not regulated by ADR. "They want it placarded and constructed to ADR specifications and the fines for not doing so are anything from £2,000 plus," explains Hix.
Such practices are seen as a means of boosting the revenue of Continental enforcement agencies and may discourage some operators from carrying the required warning plates. Overall, however, Hix sees negligible safety benefits and significant cost implications from the proposed EC legislation. "That is why we have to fight the industry's corner and get this legislation implemented sensibly," he says.
by Guy Sheppard