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o normal
• Just one week after suspending the drivers' hours rules to allow hauliers to clear up the backlog of work caused by the recent bad weather, the Department of Transport has reimposed them again, From Sunday, February 1, drivers normally covered by EC Regulations 3820/85 will once again be limited to a daily driving limit of nine hours (ten hours twice a week), with a fortnightly driving limit of 90 hours, (For a full résumé of the drivers hours law see Operators Handbook on pages 20/21).
The decision to revoke the temporary suspension, which was originally expected to run until February 15, follows a general improvement in the weather, according to a Dip spokesman.
With temperatures in most parts of the country creeping steadily upwards, HM Customs and Excise says it does not expect hauliers engaged in the transport of food, fuel or animal fodder to continue to ask for permission to add kerosene to diesel to prevent waxing (CM, January 27).
It will, however, apply a "commonsense approach to the weather. It will be left up to the discretion of local excise officers according to the circumstances."
As Commercial Motor went to press on Tuesday, most hauliers had returned to normal working, but the first results of an FTA survey of its committee members show that the industry was severely disrupted during the week ending January 11.
A quarter of all hauliers responding to the FTA survey reported losing at least 60% of their business during the week.
FTA controller Don McIntyre says: "The Government should note the huge losses being borne by the industry before limiting the resources that the local authorities can spend on road clearance — it makes economic sense to keep the roads clear."
The RHA's Recovery Services reports a record 4,000 call-outs by stranded hauliers on Wednesday, January 8. This was more than three times the previous record. By Ear the most frequent cause of breakdown was diesel waxing, says the RHA.