Scots blast poor roads
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• Speaking at the first ever Scottish Freight Transport and Distribution conference last week, Kenneth Kelly, managing director of KSK Freight, Kirkcaldy, said "hauliers cannot preserve the brewing, forestry, agriculture and special foods industries by subsidised rate alone," and he warned that "our livelihood finally depends on our industry remaining in as healthy a position as possible, for all our futures".
One benefit for Scottish hauliers would come if fuel prices rose, because a revival of interest in the North Sea would immediately generate work, particularly in the NorthEast. With about 10% of the UK's total population and a land area about half that of England, Kelly indicated that distances to and from customers in Scotland were inevitably long: "For those of us operating above Perth there are no motorways," and despite improvements to the A9, "the east coast route remains a road for yesterday's traffic".
In Scotland the total motorway system can be covered by a commercial vehicle in under five hours: "We are not going to see dramatic road improvements in the near future," he added. The A1/A74 routes are "still desperately inadequate in relative terms to stay ahead."
John Young, convenor of the Highways and Transport Committee of the Highland Regional Council, told the conference "the strategic road network in Scotland would consist of those routes considered fundamental to social and economic wellbeing." Young said that "progress had fallen far short of the Council's aspirations."