Editorial
Page 4
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Bordering on the insane
WE GET FEW opportunities to express gratitude to French transport people. However, one such opportunity presents itself following the road blockades last week.
It is unlikely that British drivers will recognise anything in the incidents which will attract gratitude. We can sympathise with them in their plight.
Nevertheless, the French drivers' action has demonstrated to Europe that without road transport a country comes to a halt within a few days. This is a fact which we should now be pressing home to our own Government and environmental pressure groups, particularly in the wake of the infamous BBC Brass Tacks programme,
The French action was in pursuit of more pay and better conditions but it highlighted a pressing international problem: delays at border posts are costly, frustrating hazards which drivers face on every trip abroad.
This is a problem which must be tackled now. It is primarily a task to be tackled by the EEC Transport Commission but our own Government should not ignore the threat of a Dover blockade.
Early and specific instructions to Customs officers at British ports of entry are required. They should be told to speed up the paperwork. Depays of two or three hours are intolerable and account for 25 per cent of a driver's working day.