TIME TO COPY THE FRENCH?
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Question: when was the last time a French operator was held up on British roads by striking UK drivers? Answer: any day now, if a group of hauliers goes ahead with plans to block the M25. It's easy to understand their feeling that it's time to draw a line in the sand: Britain's diesel now costs twice the average price across Europe—ridiculous, given that crude oil is at its lowest price for two decades. But while every haulier must yearn to join such a move, they should perhaps think more carefully about which bit of the beach to draw their line on, and what kind of stick to use. It wasn't so long ago, after all, that many slammed their French counterparts for strikes at France's ports on the basis that they were making other people suffer unnecessarily for their misfortune. Suddenly those French tactics seem rather more digestible. But whether such a move will actually further the cause of Britain's beleaguered haulage trade—or whether it will simply turn public opinion still further against an industry it already perceives as dirty, smelly and unnecessary—remains to be seen.
Giving the VI a 25% increase in funding must be good news, if that funding is used to raise the level of 0-licence and enforcement work. It would be in every honest operator's interest to see the 221m raised in 0-licence fees used in this way. But, as with all things transport, we'll have to wait until May to find out. Let's hope good sense prevails because the current level of one vehicle examiner to almost 9000 HGVs is hardly likely to strike fear into cowboys' hearts.