AT THE HEART OF THE ROAD TRANSPORT INDUSTRY.

Call our Sales Team on 0208 912 2120

FORGOTTEN ARMY

24th June 1993, Page 18
24th June 1993
Page 18
Page 18, 24th June 1993 — FORGOTTEN ARMY
Close
Noticed an error?
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.

Which of the following most accurately describes the problem?

"Officially our policy is not to allow roadside cafes, but because they provide a service we're not going to clamp down on them..." That revealing quote from a Department of Transport spokesman neatly sums up the DOT's doublethink on truck drivers and how they ought to be treated.

"Some of you think that you're the forgotten army—well don't kid yourself, no-one's ever heard of you," British soldiers in the Far East were told during the Second World War.The irony won't be lost on the average British LGV driver and it is the average British citizen's perceotion of the Great British Lorry Driver. But w-iy do we treat the people who keep the country rolling like second-class citizens— banned from smart roadside restaurants and left to park in isolated laybys where rubbish lies rotting in bin that never seem to be emptied? To feed and water the thousands of drivers travelling up and down our byways a strange counter-culture of roadside caravans and old coaches has sprung up. And as the DOT says, because they provide a service they are left to get on with it. Only some aren't—see our feature on Peter Hawes (page 38). Having happily operated a popular roadside cafe in a layby on the 447 for some three years he has been closed down by the DOT which appears to have gone back on a promise to provide him with an alternative site. Exasperated by the way he has been treated Hawes welded himself into the mobile cabin over a month ago and there he has stayed. The Department of Transport and local authorities can't have it both ways. If they're not prepared to provide properly maintained and operated truckstops with decent facilities then they shouldn't stand in the way of others who try and provide something far less ambitious.

Given the current fashion for privatisation we're astounded that local authorities haven't set aside council land specifically for the development of proper truckstops and then sold franchises to the highest bidder. Well-run truckstops are a sound financial investment— the likes of BP aren't in the business for their health. Part of the problem has been available space. In France there's the room to put proper pull-in-and-rest stops every 10km on main routes.

In Britain we still haven't got any services on the M40. But the law still says a driver can only drive for four-and-a-half hours and then he must stop. Some drivers are their own worst enemies; only too happy to save every last penny of their night-out money by sleeping in dirty laybys and eating doubtful food. But the majority want hot water, hot food and a warm reception, whenever they have to stop. Considering how much they contribute to our civilisation isn't it time they were treated in a more civilised manner?

Tags

Organisations: FORGOTTEN ARMY

comments powered by Disqus