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BEST THING THAT EVER HAPPENED...
Page 24
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Contrary to popular belief it seems, the Working Time Directive is one of the best things that could happen to the haulage industry—I should know as I have run a haulage company for 20 years. Out will go the shoddy hours and the poor conditions perceived with driving, and in should come sensible hours with legal operators who have enough logistics resources in place to do the job properly.
It will make the industry more attractive to the driver because the cowboys will be forced to toe the line with the legitimate businesses. For too long corrupt operators have had the right to dictate the hours and pay conditions for the powerless, heavily abused driver. This has a knock-on effect on the whole industry. For too long it has been too simple to get a driver to plug the gaps and make the day twice as long because he is passing in the nearest time zone or force him to bend the rules to get the job done rather than pay more to get it done properly.
The WTD should force hauliers and depot managers handling contracts to talk and find a way to speed up delivery schedules and transport schedules. Simply to argue that it is going to drive the industry into the ground means that the very people talking about it do not have the ability to extract potential from the WID's arrival—and make no mistake, it will arrive.
We now have 22 trucks running around the country— my drivers do not work more than 40 hours in a week based on a salary. For anything over they receive time-and-a-half. They stay away between two and four nights a week. We have successfully for some time tried to keep the hours down for the eventual arrival of legislation like the WTD. As a result we have happy drivers and an efficient delivery system that our customers, drivers and management are happy with.
Instead of hassling the drivers to get around In record time and berating depots and RDCs, I demand that the delivery sites co-operate fully for delivery times, as they are the ones receiving vital goods for their operations. It is in their interests to get the goods rather than leave them on the trailer.
Instead of telling the industry what a waste the WTD is, you should try and help the industry to find a way to handle it when it arrives.
Scott Nolan, MD, Gerry Nolan Transport, Birmingham.