WILLING AND NOTABLE How heartening it is to read that
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the Vehicle Inspectorate is asking hauliers to shop others if they are suspected of using cheap, illegal drivers.
CM's story last week (28 Jan-3 Feb) says Bill Newberry, an acting senior traffic examiner in London, is pleading for information to deal with eastern European drivers who are illegally driving Britishregistered trucks.
Wouldn't it be great if the VI could live up to its promise and actually get on with eradicating the cowboys? But years of experience in this industry have shown me one thing. I've waited and waited to see the results of the often repeated promise of "blitzing" cowboys off our roads and as far as I can tell, we are no better off. They are still firmly with us.
Over the years we've been told of campaigns to catch road tax dodgers, drivers' hours breakers and overloaders, but the conditions in the marketplace remain as ludicrous as ever, with rogues mercilessly cutting rates.
Last week's Dear Sir in CM painted a more realistic picture with the complaints of a driver from Canvey Island. He said he'd spotted illegal, eastern European drivers in British trucks and that his complaints to the police and Customs had fallen on deaf ears. The VI had been willing, he said, although unable to act