POOR COMPENSATION
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• You've got to hand it to the French Government. Only they could allow thousands of drivers to paralyse their road system, and then refuse to pay a penny in compensation to the operators who were hit by the illegal action.
At the recent Motor Transport '92 Awards dinner in London, Transport Secretary John MacGregor declared: "I have told my French counterpart that he must expect compensation claims from the British road transport industry." This was greeted with much thumping of tables and hear hears.
But read that sentence again. MacGregor didn't say that he was going to fight for any compensation: he's leaving that to the hauliers he's meant to represent.
At a recent informal meeting of the Council of Transport Ministers not one of the member states expressed any real desire for securing compensation, and EC Commissioner Karel Van Mien t showed himself to be equally reluctant to pursue the matter. This attitude suggests an appalling betrayal of the very people who keep them in their highly paid lobs.
The overriding message to every international haulier heading into France is perfectly clear: they can hi-jack your truck, burn your cargo, threaten your driver — or simply immobilise your truck for 10 days, allowing your cargo to rot and your business to go down the tubes. And when it comes to fighting for recompense, you're on your own.