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,eat strides
)UR correspondent T.
rruthers (Dear Sir, CM, July attempts to mislead recovery erators in his comments on gham Montgomery's report of Institute of Mechanical gineers/Avro Harrogate nference.
ks a long serving member of ro's Executive Council until he ase quite recently to retire m it and resign his Imbership of the Association, is in a privileged position ng knowledgeable of armation not generally lilable to all members. He uld know, for example, that total membership of Avro )ted in Mr Wells' paper at the le it was written included not y operational members but :h suppliers (Category E) and ividuals (Category F).
'o correct the revord for your ders' benefit the total Avro mbership at the end of June 13, was 495 which included 37 nufacturers and suppliers tegory E). Individual mbership (Category F) sed at the end of 1982, on the -nation of the Institute of licle Recovery.
Mile not as large as one uld like it to be, Avro is the y organisation speaking for recovery industry and is ognised as such by the vernment, other kindred ie associations the recovery bs and the police authorities. "om Carruthers knows from years as an Avro Council mber that this recognition S not easily achieved, not gt because of the diverse opinions held by some Council members of which he was one.
Avro is all about standards in the dangerous trade of recovery operation, standards of equipment and expertise of operators. Tom Carruthers gives his fellow operators little credit for the great strides made in recent years by Avro in trying to improve those standards. He would have been better informed had he attended the Harrogate Conference, a significant step forward in recognition of vehicle recovery as a specialist profession, instead of seeking to denigrate the efforts of others.
B. A. DRURY Chairman, Avro.
Devastating regulations
IT SEEMS almost churlish to take issue with Mr Len Harper, writing to you as secretary of the Road Haulage Association, when the tone of his letter (CM July 23) is so generous and kindly, even though his task was to criticise me for not appreciating all that the RHA, as he claims, has done.
As he does not take exception to any of the points which I had previously put into print, the first conclusion must be that my statements must generally be considered as correct.
The fundamental weakness of his attitude, and that of the RHA, is revealed in his telling phrase: "It would have been easy, but I think irresponsible, for the RHA to make rash statements about the effects the new proposals would have in practice".
This is an admission of silence from the ivory tower at Fulham. They receive the official papers; members do not. They are employed to alert members to the dangers ahead from officialdom; members rely on them for full information of impending disasters, but certainly not rash statements.
The devastating effects of these new regulations should have been given the greatest publicity. I suggest that in these circumstances it is incumbent on someone like myself to try to fill this sad gap, left by the RHA, by creating as much interest as possible.
RALPH CROPPER Beckenham, Kent
Starting in business
AFTER READING John Durant's article entitled "One man's start as an owner-driver" (CM July 9), I felt that I must write and say how interesting I found it.
The reason is that at the beginning of March this year I decided to set up as an ownerdriver, but with a Volvo F1017 tractor unit, on hp the same as John Nicholas, the owner-driver in the CMstory.
The interesting factor about John's story is that it is very similar to my own. I went to find work first, then set out all the relevant costs, etc, including the fact that the company I was planning to pull for gave me a written contract saying that, subject to my carrying out the work satisfactorily, they would pay me on a weekly basis for a period of three months. This was an enormous help.
After setting it all out and obtaining a cash-flow projection from an accountant, I presented it all to the bank. They said they liked the ides, granted me an overdraft of 0,500 and away we went. The bank in question, as John's, is Lloyds, which says a lot for Lloyds Bank Ltd.
But perhaps the most remarkable factor is that from the original thoughts on the idea, to the first day of operation, was, we feel, a record 21 days. And the fact that we had no money of our own to invest in It.
We are now entering our fifth month in business and so far we are doing quite nicely; long hours, very hard work, and a lot of worry it may be, but a very understanding and hardworking wife makes it very enjoyable and challenging, and so far we do not regret it.
M. J. SUCKLING Needingworth, Huntingdon, Cambs.
Bonnie trick fleets
I READ with interest Jonathon Howe's letter (CMJuly 16) concerning smartly turned out truck fleets.
I have been an enthusiastic truck spotter for many years now and my wife and I are now quite adept at recognising various fleets by their vehicles' colours.
While not denying that there are many smart English fleets, eg, Johnston's of Berwick on Tweed, I think I would go north of the border if I were to pick my favourites.
The big fridges operating mainly from North East Scotland are always beautifully turned out and are a delight to see on a journey. Gibbs of Fraserburgh, Bon Accord, Deep Freeze Supplies — I could go on and on. Other names that spring to mind are Curries of Dumfries and Aberdeen Parcels. The list is endless.
For a couple of years now I have been taking photographs of some of these vehicles and have now quite a selection — but that is another story.
Operators and drivers all over the UK who have such pride in their vehicles can do their industry nothing but good and I hope they realise how widely appreciated their efforts are. GORDON MITCHELL Castle ford..
West Yorkshire.