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Minister blames operators for failing to cut fuel bills
Page 7
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Transport Minister Dr Stephen Ladyman has lambasted last week's M4 go-slow fuel protesters for not doing enough to drive down their own costs through economy driver training and better route planning.
At the launch of the City & Guilds Professional LGV Driver Level 3 Technical Certificate, developed by Kent-based Eurosafe Training, he said: "If you look at fuel economy it is 30% of the costs of a vehicle, yet HGV training can save up to 10% of that.
"However, I wonder how many of the people blockading the M4 have actually bothered to make an investment in training-or have got in touch with an economy training organisation? I suspect very few of them."
Martin Palmer, owner of Cardiffbased MJ Palmer Transport and a long-standing fuel campaigner, dismisses the claim. We do all that we can to drive costs down, but we continue to face increases," he says.
"We couldn't trim costs further or we would be affecting safety. These people who sit in offices have no idea what the job really involves. I challenge Ladyman to job swap for a week. Let's see who mucks up first."