Hauliers fill the gap
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ROAD HAULIERS have moved to fill the gap created following the current rail dispute which knocked out around five per cent of rail freight services.
The British Steel Corporation's plants at Scunthorpe and Llanwern have been hit hardest by the railwaymen's refusal to operate driver-only iron ore trains.
But thanks to road hauliers, BSC's head of shipping and transport, Richard Tarry, told CM that BSc was not suffering dramatically.
At present, around 100,000 tonnes of iron ore a week is needed by the two works — and now all of that is being shifted by road. After the year's practice of similar circumstances during the miners' strike, it was easy to switch to road again, he added.
Mr Tarry said that he foresaw escalating problems with BR and that BSC was "planning accordingly".
It is believed that in South Wales from Port Talbot to the Llanwern works the whole operation is being coordinated by Mansfield-based haulier E. and J. Meeks.
Another South Wales haulier, Newport-based Haze11's Haulage, told CM that there has been an increase of around 50 tippers a day working in the area because of the rail dispute — although there were no convoys in operation.
Rates are "normal", and very comparable to rail ones, it said.
The loss of rail support to Scunthorpe is being covered by the road operation co-or dinated by Consolidated Land Services from Scunthorpe.
But BSC and CLS were both unwilling to say by how much the road operation had increased over the past two weeks.
But, despite hauliers' efforts, the traffic will be lost back to rail when the dispute is over. Because of the smaller loads which lorries can carry, rail can usually offer the work for cheaper rates.