Green, says survey
Page 7
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• Hauliers are striving to make their business more environmentally-friendly: 74% of the operators interviewed in the latest Commercial Motor survey say they have "Greened" their operation.
The subject of this survey was the public opinion of road haulage — and nearly all of the 200 operators interviewed feel they are struggling with a public which does not understand the problems faced by haulage operators, and that hauliers are fighting an uphill battle against biased media coverage of road transport.
Television was cited by 91% of respondents as giving an unfair and inaccurate picture of the industry. "Road transport is always the scapegoat for environmental problems on television," says one Cheltenham operator. Even local newspapers, seen as the best of the media bunch, are accused by 76% of an unfair bias.
Most of our respondents feel that the transport associations should step up their efforts in portraying a cleaner image to the public and lobbying the government more forcefully on transport issues.
Hauliers blame the government for some of the industry's problems dumped at operator's doors. Inner city car parks and motorways should be enlarged and improved, and road tax and duty on fuel should be reduced, they say. The Government is slammed by respondents for the tardy introduction of EC speed limits and its rearguard action on 40 tonnes.
The RIIA fares badly with some interviewees, who call it "old-fashioned" and needing "a higher profile". Some 59% say they have never received environmental complaints from local residents; those who have name noise as the chief public irritant. Air pollution caused by trucks is virtually unmentioned.
Nearly 60% of operators interviewed take part in local charity events to foster good community relations. One Devon operator finds that his charity involvement has even helped his sales.
Measures taken by operators to protect the environment include attempts to reduce noise levels; 'ozonefriendly' paint sprays; Hazchem training; and, where relevant, switching to lead-free petrol. Those running diesels say there is little they can do, apart from carrying out regular maintenance.
Proposals to keep lorries out of city centres and on motorways were put forward at a Green meeting attended by 40 South-eastern local authorities at Brighton last week. They called for a trans-shipment system, with larger trucks moving goods on motorways and offloading onto smaller vehicles for urban deliveries.
0 Transport minister Michael Portillo has warned truck manufacturers that if they do not build quieter, cleaner vehicles, "governments across Europe will come under increasing pressure to restrict lorries and exclude them".
At the Friendly Green Lorry conference (see page 10), he said: "Operators will have to see environmental factors as increasingly important in their choice of vehicle and in operating, maintaining and parking their lorries."