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Peter Little, managing director of Meeks of Luton, explains why
Page 52
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the fuel escalator really has to go—and why everyone should be doing their bit.
• If you want to sound off about a road transport issue write to features editor Patric &wane or fax your views (up to 000 words) to NIckr Clarice on 0101 652 8912.
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d The battle goes on and it is going to be a long, hard war. A lot of people in transport might feel we have failed to achieve anything with our demonstrations and rallies, but don't you believe it.
I am speaking as a member of the Road Haulage Association who has been to London alongside our drivers making an awful lot of noise. When we turned up in Park Lane for the first time, we achieved more than thousands of letters to our members of parliament would have-and the
Government does not like all the publicity we received.
Why? Because the facts are there for everybody to see on the ›television, on the radio and in the newspapers. We must make the °4 most of every opportunity, by talking to anybody and everybody § who will listen. Get your customers involved. Ask them to 'g contact their MPs-some of my customers have
already been to London.
But what have you done? Make
sure you're at the next demonstration, whether it is in London, Glasgow or Plymouth...or at the very least put the support stickers on your vehicles.
The FlHA, the Freight Transport Association and Trans-Action have all worked extremely hard, and they all deserve our support. The Government will always attempt to split these three organisations up and to a certain extent the politicians have succeeded. But we have to remain focused on stopping the fuel escalator. If we fail to do that it won't be a question of flagging out, because we won't even be able to afford the flag!
While I have this platform to speak from I could not possibly waste the chance to make some comments regarding the FTA and some of its members.
Congratulations on the advertising campaign-it is bound to make an impact. However, it does seem that sometimes you prefer to sit on the fence. Why will you not support peaceful days of action? Could it be that too many of your members do not want to get involved?
I do not mean the truck companies, I mean the big high-street names we all know. Those very same companies who do not give a damn if a truck is kept waiting all day to be unloaded. The same companies who turn you away if you are 10 minutes late for a booking, but still keep the driver there for three or four hours when he or she was on time. One of the same companies who told us that the three separate orders should have been delivered in three separate vehicles instead of one.
Have you heard the one where our Government says we're the ones who are inefficient?
The British transport industry is something to be proud of and is worth fighting for. Get involved-do not leave it to someone else. it doesn't matter if you operate one truck or 20; they all count. If you know the routine and have been on a demonstration
before, then drag someone else along next time.
We need your support. So be there.