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Recycled president

28th February 2008
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Which of the following most accurately describes the problem?

limmy Quinn, serving a second term as president of the Irish Road

-laulage Association, finds the old problems haven't gone away — 3nd there is no shortage of new ones. Patric Cunnane reports.

For many years, Jimmy Quinn has been an outspoken voice on behalf of Irish hauliers. Frequently quoted in newspapers and eard on radio, his readiness with a memorable hrase makes him the envy of less gifted !presentatives of any cause.

Last year, he was elected president of the -ish Road Haulage Association (IRHA) for te second time, having served his first two-year int from 1995 to 1997. In between times,he has :A gone away as a public presence, becoming istead an increasingly effective press )okesman for the association.When he is not Isy being the voice of the IRHA, Quinn runs s own international operation in Greenore, o Lout h. specialising in abnormal loads protest A4 catches up with Quinn at a Dublin public ;aring where the IRHA is protesting at an ectronic tolling scheme on the M50 West nk Bridge in Dublin. The levy is clue to cost rerators €6.10 (£4.30) for each crossing, and ere is no alternative route due to Dublin's ytime LGV ban. At these prices, it is easy to iderstand that the cost of toll roads is a major oblem for hauliers,especially when they can't old using a particular route.

"Our principal problem with tolling is that toll operators hide behind their sticker ice and fail to recognise our purchasing power," says Quinn. "Toll road spending can run into five figures for some operators, and that warrants a commercial deal."

He reels off the problems Irish hauliers face, along with their exasperation with a government that depends on them to ensure domestic products get to their markets overseas. It seems the hurdles are being raised all the time. Increasing regulation is the order of the day," he says.

The WorkingTime Directive was introduced in Ireland in 2006, and Quinn doesn't have a good word to say for it. "The Directive is an insult to the intelligence of the working man," he argues. "A driver can run out of time under the regulations. but still have driving hours left. You have foreseen and unforeseen delays, many of which are related to ferry crossings. Factory workers don't have much call to work beyond 48 hours, but transport workers are more like the crews of oil rigs.

He argues that mobile workers should have an opt-out, believing drivers' hours regulations provide sufficient safeguards:"We are going to lobby the Transport Minister for exemptions that were originally promised."

He maintains that the level of fuel duty continues to be the main problem faced by Irish operators.-7he biggest challenge we have is to convince finance ministers to view the tax on fuel differently from that of other road users." he says. Over just such an issue, Quinn adds, Italian drivers brought their country to a halt.

Quinn says €305 (230) per 1,000 litres is the baseline fuel duty beyond which countries should not go. In Ireland, duty is €367 (£280) per 1,000 litres."An operator running 10 trucks is paying about €25,000 (£18,900) a vehicle in fuel duty and road tax. He earns a fraction of that,Quinn argues. "And then you have toll charges on top."

To add further insult, Transport Minister Noel Dempsey has asked ministers to assess the cost to society of road transport in terms of the problems trucks create."They see us as a pimple on the backside of society,fumes Quinn.

Digital tachos We move on to digital tachographs, which Quinn claims have thrown up their own set of operational problems: "In the past, people would look at a tacho chart and get an idea of how the guy had worked that day and the day before. But the digital tacho is the same as having a policeman sitting in the cab for 28 days. If anyone can convince me the average driver will not commit any offences in 28 days, he's a genius."

He describes the kind of scenario that could land a haulier with an unexpectedly heavy fine. -An operator running 30 cards a week times 52 equals 1,500 cards. If an inspector finds 10 offences over those cards, that could lead t( €.5,000 (0,780) in fines or a stretch in jail." adds that an operator in Macroom,Co Cork ha just been imprisoned.

Quinn is approaching the end of his firs year as "recycled president", as he wryly dub himself, having been elected for his seam term during the IRHA annual conferenc last Easter. Membership recruitment is goin well, and the association is about to acquire larger headquarters close to its existing site i Blanchardstown on the outskirts of Dubin "We've outgrown our current premises and w want to offer training at the new site on subjeci such as driving regulations," he says.

The Dublin Port Tunnel opening i December 2006 was a positive developmen believes Quinn. It has removed 9,000 truck a day from the city centre, making life muc more pleasant for the LGV drivers who haN escaped the claustrophobic congestion th existed before, and for Dubliners who no enjoy reduced levels of air pollution.

Quinn reveals that Transport Minist( Dempsey is meeting the IRHA for the fir time since the Irish general election last sprin "Meeting the Transport Minister shows we mu be rising in his list of priorities. In the past. tl government appointed a junior minister wit!' specialist brief to deal with road haulage."

He does not, however, hold out too mu hope that the entrenched attitudes will chan; quickly."Ministers see haulage as a low priori except when it stops," Quinn explains."We a a hit like First World War soldiers lions led I donkeys, in terms of political leadership.•


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