Driver vs animal hours? Revocations hit
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new high in S-E
• Livestock hauliers fear EC proposals limiting the time farm animals can travel on the road without a break could wreak havoc with drivers' hours schedules.
A draft directive—which is expected to be put to the industry for consultation this week—proposes that some cattle be rested for three hours after eight hours' driving.
It also shortens the maximum times between watering stops for many animals being distributed within the UK from 15 to eight hours.
The industry says in order to fit in with drivers' hours schedules the maximum time between watering should be nine hours— the maximum time drivers can drive to comply with EC law. If not, schedules will be disrupted.
A partner of M&R Knight Transport, of Liphook in Hampshire, foresees problems when his drivers make several collections when taking pigs to market or an abattoir.
"Often our drivers make five or six pick-ups on a journey, each taking anything from between a quarter to three quarters of an hour, which will use up much of the eight hour limit," says Mick Knight. • Further evidence of the battering of south-cast hauliers during the recession has come with a massive increase in the number of licences revoked by the South Eastern and Metropolitan Traffic Area compared to all other regions for last year.
London and the south-east saw 347 licences taken, with the next highest figure, 70 revocations in the north eastern area.
The South Eastern Licensing Authority says most of the revocations in the area were either caused by firms going under or by dissolution of partnerships.
In the South-East, the number of bankrupt and insolvent operators is also way ahead of other areas and accounts for well over a third of all cases nationally Some hard-pressed south-east transport firms have sold vehicles over 3.5 tonnes as contracts run out, according to the traffic area, but this is only a small part of the number of revocations. The number of vehicles specified on S-E licences has plunged by 23,341.