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DON'T WAIT UNTIL
Page 10
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IT'S TOO LATE...
At last we know most of the details we've been desperately waiting for and now our industry can start planning for one of the biggest changes
ever to hit us. The Working Time Directive has been a long time in its gestation, and should have caused some sleepless nights for anyone involved in transport and logistics.
For some though, there's been no insomnia; only a conviction that the VVTD can't happen and won't happen, and that somehow Europe will miraculously drop the Directive overnight. But there's no chance of that now. There is no time for denial. The only thing road transport companies can do is plan for the future, and how business will run come the Directive's introduction on 23 March next year. There's less than 11 months until the VVTD sweeps change through this industry, and all companies need to give it serious thought. It will be a pain in the backside, and there's no doubt that it will cost money. But as we reported last week, some companies who have already
put a 48-hour working week into practice are seeing the benefits: the Co-op's food distribution division is running with a full complement of drivers and rarely has to use agencies a move which must surely make big savings.
Now the details of the VVTD are out there's no time to waste. With a bit of thought there's the potential to improve things for your business and your drivers. But think about it now, rather than in 11 months' time when ifs likely to be too little, too late.
• Many livestock hauliers will be breathing a sigh of relief now the European Parliament has dropped proposals for controversial new regulations. But for some, particularly the animal welfare lobby, the abandonment will be a bitter disappointment.
There is no doubt that some animals on the Continent are transported in appalling conditions with little regard for their welfare. But the nub of the problem is that there are only two people policing animal transport in Europe, and that means there's little chance of perpetrators being caught. Let's enforce the rules we have rather than trying to introduce really stringent regulations and failing.