The government is spending 1180bn on transport over 10 years.
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Will hauliers be on board the gravy train?
Mike Sherrington reports.
Afier years of being a Cinderella sector, transport is now being taken seriously by the government. It has recently unveiled its 10-year transport strategy which is seen not only as a blueprint for planning in the next io years but also as a general election tool.
But what is in it for the road haulage industry from this Li8obn of promised money?
It offers hope with one hand by promising a better—and better maintained—road network but it takes it away with the other by saying that it is to pump L.i.bn into improving rail freight.
The strategy allows for 576km of trunk road or motorway widening and ma new bypasses, as well as a host of public transport improvements, including proposals for 25 new light rail systems.
Welcomed
The package has generally been well received by the industry, with a Road Haulage Association spokesman welcoming public transport improvements as well as road investment. He says: "We need to get non-essential vehicles off the road such as cars with just one driver, which are the main cause of congestion. This is why we welcome the proposals to bolster public transport."
One of the sections of the haulage industry which will benefit from increased road building and maintenance are those firms which run tipper fleets. But the response is patchy.
Alan Hirst, managing director of A8c3 Hirst in Rochester, Kent, says: 'In many ways we have never had it so good. We do a lot of work for Foster Yeoman in the area and our order books are full for the next three years."
Cynicism But Arthur Upshall, managing director of AJK, which has its yard opposite a Foster Yeoman quarry in Somerset, says: "Quite often we can only find half a day's work for our tippers. There is no road building going on around here.
"The government would be better off investing in improving the entire A3o3 rather than build ing a tunnel under Stonehenge."
He adds: "What really gets me is that even with the new schemes that have been announced, the money collected from fuel tax goes to paying off the national debt rather than building new roads."
There is also a lot of cynicism about whether the strategy will ever be delivered.
Bob Jones, a partner in tipper operator Tnix, of Witney, Oxfordshire, says: "It looks good on paper. But if there is a change of government at the next election everything will be back in the melting pot."
But perhaps the most damning criticism of all comes from Jonathan Jernpson, the managing director of Jempson Transport.
He says: "I don't believe anything that this or any other government says.
If they wanted to carry out a transport strategy why wait until now, why not do it when they first took office?
"I now have an Operator's Licence in Holland. It is the only thing that makes sense."