ii With all due respect to Trans-Action and its
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supporters—I respect the movement and support the idea of direct action—I de feel someone, somewhere has missed the point.
Unpopular as my views may be, I don't see that we can blame the current crises within the haulage industry such as driver shortages, hours restrictions and legal responsibilities regarding drugs and illegal immigrants solely on the shoulders of the Government.
Yes, we can blame the Government for the fuel escalator, but we must do so correctly. Let us have a reality check before any referendum. Let us also sit and think logically about who we blame, and for what. It is very easy and also common practice to criticise the governing party. "Blame the Government," were told. But wasn't it the opposition, the Tory party, that set this ball rolling? It's easy to blame Labour, Mr Hague, but not so easy to bypass your own claptrap, to be honest and truly deal with the problem.
How good is a businessman, as a businessman, if he continually fails to make a profit? What is wrong within this industry is not the cost of the fuel, but the inability of each "service provider" to correctly price his work or collect payment for work done.
It is not the price of the fuel that is the problem when the person who fixes the rate for the job is the recipient of the service and not the supplier. Otherwise, we should dictate ourselves how much our groceries will cost at the supermarket checkout, not the cashier, for that is how our industry is working.
The anomaly that needs to be dealt with is that it is the customer who is dictating who wins and loses. After all, plumbers do not blockade high streets when the price of copper pipe goes up 6p per metre, so should we when diesel duty goes up?
No. we should add the extra cost to our running costs and pass it on to the customer, which is what this Government wants. The man in the street hasn't yet realised that the extra 6.14p on diesel will affect him in every aspect of his life. Food, clothes and manufactured goods will all be affected.
Derek Wyatt MP may well wish to see all freight go by rail, but will he collect the bricks and mortar from Sittingbourne railway station when his garage extension is built? Will he collect his groceries from Sittingbourne railway station when Tesco runs out of food? Think again please, Mr Wyatt.
Trans-Action definitely has a place in our industry, but it has to deal with the problems, not the symptoms.