Hauliers gather in Cardiff
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r by Nikki Daly
Nearly 500 Welsh hauliers converged on Cardiff last Saturday to protest at the recent hikes in fuel and VED rates which they claim are threatening their existence. The convoy started in Cross Hands, Carmarthenshire, in an exercise dubbed "Survival Saturday".
in Cardiff trucks three-deep circled the Welsh Office and the organisers, the Mid and South-West Wales Independent Hauliers, delivered a protest letter to Welsh minister Peter Hain. The group claims to represent 913% of the 26,000 hauliers in Wales.
Road Haulage Association national chairman John Bridge was also there. He says the depth of feeling in Cardiff was as strong as he has seen anywhere in the country. and reflects the enormous impact the price rises are having on Welsh hauliers.
Joint organiser Alan Greene of WM Greene Transport, Cross Hands, says Welsh truckers are the backbone of the rural community and spiralling costs have hit them particularly hard as in rural areas only half of their journeys are with full loads.
"The Government is living in cloud cuckoo land and does not seem to understand how vital haulage is to the UK," he
says. "We are not going to be beaten by them and will fight until the end."
The organisers are now planning to travel to Brussels to brief Transport Commissioner Neil Kinnack on the plight of Welsh hauliers. A mass meeting to decide the next step will be held on 7 May at the Cross Hands Rugby Club.
• A 32-tonne truck which Greene flagged out to Ireland only days before the demo was parked outside the Welsh Office as a stark reminder of what is at stake. Greene says this is the first time he has registered a truck abroad. A year's VED is costing him £980 in Ireland, compared with £4,400 in the UK.