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Nick Matthews Logistics manager Denholm Industrial Services Yeovil, Somerset As
Page 37
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logistics manager Nick Matthews is responsible for a fleet of 79 vehicles, mostly supplying scaffolding. The business currently spans three traffic areas.
On the day we spoke, he had a perfect example of how the current system is bogged down in red tape.
The company simply wanted to move its Scottish depot half a mile down the road to a new site. Buy even though the company has been trading in Scotland for five years and 25 years in the Western Traffic Area it still had to jump through hoops to get the relocation sanctioned.
"I sent off a copy of my audited accounts, plus photocopies of bank statements. They wrote back saying they wanted the original versions of the bank statements to prove we had a certain amount of funds per vehicle, All this information was supplied five years ago when we first set up in Scotland, but we had to go through the whole procedure again.
"I don't know if this would be made easier under the new changes but there must be a way of looking at ourtrading history and making a decision without going through that paperwork. I'm hoping there will be a big rationalisation of the documents they need."
Matthews is against scrapping the 28-day grace period altogether because some operators need to rent vehicles at short notice. Truck details may not be available in time to notify the Traffic Area Office, or they may change before the vehicle is actually delivered: "It's true some operators will rent for 27 days at a time just to get round it. But it would be better to reduce it to seven days, rather than scrap it. Occasionally I have the need for a quick hire."