RHA and FTA look for ways to link
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• Members of the industry's two trade associations are to meet to determine how they can work more closely together, reopening the debate over whether they should merge.
Freight Transport Association president Lawrence Christensen and Road Haulage Association national chairman John Bridge will take turns to chair a steering group which meets for the first time on 14 December.
The group comprises Angus Clark, Graham Miller and Chas Lawrence from the FTA, and Bob McKinnon, Anne Preston and Bob Russet from the RI-Lk. It will explore issues including fuel duty, Vehicle Excise Duty and the EU Working Time Directive.
Neither party is revealing if a merger will be on the agenda, but in a joint statement they say: "This group has also been charged to recommend how this arrangement can be best sustained in the future." John Bridge says Government policy now demands a different approach. "Everything's changing," he says. "We have to look at what we can do together."
Attacking Government policy would undoubtedly give the industry more clout. FTA and RHA membership is around 12,000 and 10,000 respectively. Formal talks between the two associations last took place around 10 years ago but their different memberships, role and methods inhibited any progress.