For and against 44-tonners
Page 33
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
The letter which you published about the possibility of increasing the maximum gross vehicle weights in Great Britain (CM 8-14 May} is true, but I am concerned as to who will really benefit should vehicle weights rise. Will it be the hauliers? I very much doubt it. Will it be vehicle manufacturers? Maybe, if anyone can afford to purchase new vehicles these days. Will it be the customers? If they can afford to purchase more goods at a time. Or will it be the new Government who will hold the winning hand? On first thoughts, yes, the Government will win hands down—higher road fund tax, more diesel duty, more VAT etc, etc. Then I saw a letter from PK Bird of the Freight Transport Association in the Hereford and Worcester Evening News on 18 March, setting out the advantages as seen by some FTA members of 44-tonners, such as fewer lorries, fewer journeys, savings on fuel and huge cost savings.
Oh dear, just what will 40/44-tonne lorries do to the unemployment situation, if the letter from Mr Bird is true? I hope Chancellor Gordon Brown will find alternative jobs and employment for all the people who will be without work as a result of the new weights, or perhaps we should all retire at 40 and just let the young ones do the few jobs with the bigger lorries that are left!
It is something to think about with the utmost care. J Sharpies & Son,
Herefordshire.