Norris not ready by Rob Willock An essential-user rebate on
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fuel tax for hauliers will not be won within the next two years, according to its chief advocate, RHA director-general Steven Norris.
Speaking to CM at TipCon in Manchester last week, Norris again criticised the recent goslows and blockade attempts: "Of course I'm sympathetic to these guys, but remember, it's the tortoise, not the hare, that wins. I've made it my numberone priority to do something on fuel duty, but the RHA cannot be associated with this activity.
"If I thought it would work, I'd be the first to get myself arrested for the cause," he adds, "but it won't."
Norris says hauliers should be channelling their energies and frustrations into supporting the RHA's campaign to secure an essential-user rebate on diesel. "I've sent every member a tool kit telling them how to help themselves, including a standard letter to send to their MPs," he says. "We've got to do this intelligent ly—not by using bully-boy tactics."
But he admits that persuading change its stance on fuel duty will not be quick or easy.
Meanwhile, unfazed by large numbers of members threatening resignation over its rejection of direct action, the RHA claims to have halted a decade of decline in its membership with a net gain of 311 member companies in 1997. It is aiming for a further 40% increase over the next three years.
El The RHA used TipCon to launch its Intranet service. Members will be offered preferential rates on new computer equipment, with access to a website offering more than 200 pages of haulage information.