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Work with us not against us
Page 26
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I REFER TO an article headed "WTD will boost costs by 20%" (CM 22 July) You quote the boss of Driver Hire Preston as saying that he will "charge what he likes" when the WTD comes into force because operators will be so desperate for drivers.
As an operator facing all the problems and increased costs that the WTD will bring us our company should be a potential customer to such driver agencies. However. while we have never yet used a driver agency primarily because of their poor reputation gained through third-party experience, this article will ensure that we never use them in the future. Mr Lloyd should remember that we, the operators, are his customers.
We already find it hard enough to obtain the correct level of rates from our customers to enable our trucks to return a profit of any kind. One of our biggest problems is recruiting good drivers who want to enter into our industry.
Driver agencies have added to our problems in this area as the rates they are able to obtain from blue-chip customers have no resemblance to the rates ordinary hauliers are able to pay.
With the competition we face in our industiy, particularly from our foreign competitors, we will struggle to obtain the rate increases required to cover our increased costs following the introduction of the WTD. Were we to take the same attitude as Mr Lloyd our customers would simply turn away and find AN Other haulier and we would be out of the picture. If Mr Lloyd wants to count ordinary operators among his customers I suggest that he tries to work with us instead of against us.
Marc Payne Armoric Freight International