The answer lies in the sky
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'HIS year's agricultural and livestock hauliers' conference at froitwich was a shirtsleeves affair with fewer vehicles in the isplay than in previous years but a high standard of papers to sake up for it.
The conference was domiated by the weather. 'Agriultural hauliers, desperate for sin to boost flagging crops pent the weekend sweltering 1. record temperatures.
Papers from the National armers' Union, the Meat and lvestock Commission and the HA director-general gave the elegates a detailed briefing on he current situation of both aulage and the political state f the country and provided a )t of questions.
hided exhibits
Although there were fewer ehicle exhibits this year, hose that were present were ery varied. Lex Tillotson was howing a Leyland Sherpa van nd pick-up as well as a :lydesdale with a semimountable alloy livestock ■ ody by Bodycraft of Worester.
Also shown by Lex was an LEC Mercury with a wooden vestock body by J. H. Thorne nd a Ileiver with a Wilcox alloy tipper body. Two Magirus Deutz wene exhibited on the LT Commercials stand. Onwas an M232D 30FK, 8 x 4 20 ton tipper chassis and the other a 232D I6FS tractive unit, coupled to a tandem axle M&G trailer. The trailer was equipped with side curtains by Plastic Protections Ltd. E. F. Birchall, the body builder of Huntlebury, Kidderminster, was showing three lightweight livestock boxes on Bedford TK chassis. One had sheep decks, the second, horse divisions, and the third was a standard box.
Chaddersley Commercials had a selection of used vehicles incuding a year-old Foden 8 wheeler with a steel body, and a 6 x 2 Scania with Crane Fruehauf alloy bodywork.
Hobo system
In addition to its film, York was showing the Hobo system fitted to a bodyIess trailer chassis. Auxiliary equipment in the exhibition included Dynair fans, Jaybee body fittings and equipment, and Fire Snow fire extinguishers.
Farmers speak out
THE Road Haulage Association should liaise with the National Farmers' Union to get a policy on agricultural haulage that meets the farmers' needs as well as the hauliers.
That was the message from Mr John Tamplin of the NFU speaking at the RHA's agricul tural and livestock conference at Droitwich at the weekend.
And he hit at the current roads system where there is more use of roads than ever before and yet there is less maintenance than ever of those same roads.
In a paper that covered the spectrum of haulage and the farmer Mr Tamplin, himself a farmer from Wales, also attacked the policy of British Rail in refusing to carry livestock.
"If there had been no private enterprise transport available then we would have suffered and so would the housewife," he said.
At the same time Mr Tamplin appealed for restraint in building new roads. "This country has 206,000 miles of roads and every year 65,000 acres of land are taken for development," he said.
"We should try to remember that one man's mile of motorway is another man's 24 acres, but there are many problems that are mutual and shared by both the RHA and the NFU—we should liaise and discuss these problems."
Answering a question from Mr George Mitchell of the RHA Mr Tamplin said that the NFU must find some way of ending the abuse of the F licence system that allows farmers to operate trucks at lower rates.
Mr Mitchell commented: " The F licence is our thorniest problem and we are very concerned about the person with two acres who buys two big trucks on an F licence and runs them at cheaper rates than the haulier on haulage work."
Mr Tamplin was also attacked on the question of farm trailers being used on the roads. He was told that it was all, too common for Jarmers to buy a truck that had failed its MoT or been taken off the road because of age and cut it down to use as a four-wheel trailer.
He was warned that hauliers were far from happy that these chassis were being used to carry far more than had been their plated weight when on the road as a truck.