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We need to know the rules!
Page 74
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Austin Caulfield despairs of being able to stay profitable and legal
when the government still can't tell us what the VVTD rules will be.
Last year was a really successful year for transport and the team all ended on a high. But seven weeks into 2005 and we appear to be heading in the opposite direction; the year has hardly started with a bang.
Talking to other friends in haulage, they have also had a slow start.There haven't even been the usual delays on the M6 to moan about now that the motorway has been opened following months of roadworks.
However, the lull has given us time to consider the barrage of new legislation and proposals we will need to get to grips with this year: the Working Time Directive, drivers' hours and digital smart-card tachographs.
Over the past few weeks two of us have attended different meetings on the Working Time Directive yet we are still none the wiser, and, with five weeks to go until it comes into force, the Department for Transport still hasn't published the final regulations. All we've really been advised is to put an extra column on our timesheets for the 'periods of availability' and to utilise this to make up the hours.
Well that's helpful; do this incorrectly and we'll soon have VOSA paying a visit. At the moment we have told our drivers we will be waiting to see how it pans out before we start negotiations. Our customers will still expect their deliveries to be 365 days a year, as they should — but how can we do this with restricted hours when we can't recruit extra drivers because there are none out there?
Like Tesco, we always try to recruit our drivers locally, but we may be forced to follow its lead and recruit foreign drivers. However, I am sure that this must be problematic, not because they are poor workers but because of the challenge of driving on the left hand side of the road.! drive on the Continent a lot but always find myself drawn to the other side.
I'd also like to add my support to Commercial Motor's 'Pushing 50' campaign, which! think is a splendid idea.
Every day, as my wagons travel up and down the road network they are faced with cars trying to manoeuvre dangerously past them. No-one wants trucks on the road but they want us to deliver their breakfast cereal.
It's about time the government took its head out of the sand and realised what the benefits of increasing the speed limit on Aroads would really be: reducing driver frustration and, therefore, cutting accidents.
The government wants the haulage industry to move forward with the introduction of the WTD to improve road safety. Well it's about time that they gave us something back. •