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Sweet understanding
Page 9
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Listening to the radio Brian
Weatherley has been impressed by some highly articulate drivers and their common-sense comments.
An editor once told me: "Don't overestimate the intelligence of the readers but never underestimate their common sense either." At the risk of offending every truck driver in the country, delete "readers" and insert "HGV drivers".
He's right, of course. The proper response is "why?". Fortunately the same radio program promptly supplied the answer, although in the best tradition of phone-ins it ricocheted around, covering just about everything but the VVTD as callers had their say on poor overnight parking, gas attacks on drivers, lousy pay, bullying customers, weak bosses and the industry's inability to attract new blood.
"I see members reaching the age of 50 who are knackered burnt out because of the hours they're doing," said Ron Webb of the T&G. Right again. Lorry driving turns young men into old men very quickly.
It was left to my old mate Geoff Dossetter of the FTA to remind everyone of the competitive nature of the business -which is what actually crucifies every operator in the UK. But road transport always has been the classic Thatcherite, free-market, dog-eat-dog industry so beloved by the Adam Smith Institute.
The answer'? Once again it came from a driver: "You need to put a penny on a tin of beans." Sadly I doubt if that extra penny would end up anywhere near the pocket of a haulier, let alone a driver. Still, if you want to know what's really wrong with this industry the answer's simple: bad rates. And until we address that bedrock issue nothing will change. It's plain common sense.