Fuel duty crisis puts RHA-FTA merger talks on back burner
Page 8
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
• Co-operation and merger talks between the Freight Transport Association and the Road Haulage Association have come to a halt, The joint body created in December to discuss the way forward for both organisations has instead studied the best ways to lobby the Government in a bid to end crippling vehicle and diesel duties.
Talks that rule "nothing in and nothing out" on the FTA and RHA's futures will continue in earnest when the furore dies down.
However, the FTA has been unhappy with some of the RHA's recent tactics on common problems, and it was not impressed by earlier press reports suggesting that a new organisation could be formed with FTA director-general David Green as its head and RHA director-general Steven Norris as a consultant, lobbyist and public relations figure.
One association insider has said that a merger should go ahead because both organisations spend "a lot of time com
peting with each other" and a single body would be able to "put a rocket into the PR campaign for road transport".
The FTA and RHA have common aims on the fuel and VED duties campaign, although the FTA is so far refusing to sanction blockades as a means of pursuing the campaign,