Haulage gets short shrift — again
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• In the Times Guide to 1992 there is a whole chapter on television, a chapter on the professions and six pages on air travel. Exactly 54 lines are devoted to road transport without even a sub-heading — it has to share with coastal shipping.
A reference is made to Belgian transit taxes, which do not exist! Such is the abysmal ignorance of the industry.
More worrying is the fact that the haulage industry has allowed this ingriorance to persist. We can do several things to convince the public and our politicians of the value of haulage to the economy: inform your MP of legislation which is unfair or damaging; involve yourself in local decisions which affect haulage; correct uninformed criticisms in your local press; try to make people aware of the high level of vehicle tax compared with others in the EC; join a trade association; and finally present a clean image and good road behaviour yourself.
French hauliers chose a more assertive campaign with their snail's pace demonstration around the Paris peripherique which produced a satisfactory response from their government. Time is running out for us; similar assertive action might be required of us.
Robin Vaughan Robin Transport, Thetford, Norfolk.