limber ban plan will fell hauliers
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• Up to 20 hauliers could be 'bleed out of business because a local authority wants to ban their lorries from its roads.
The firms shift timber from Keilder Forest in Northumbria to sawmills — but now Northumberland County Council plans to impose a 24-tonne weight limit on roads leading from the forest because it claims trucks are causing too much damage. About 150,000 tonnes of timber are carried out of the forest every year by trucks and a number of local operators rely exclusively on the work. The new restrictions could even mean that several of them will be unable to drive to their own depots in standard working hours.
The council has also imposed diversions of up to 901cm on some routes. It says it needs 700,000 to repair the roads and has appealed to the Forestry Commission for help in raising the cash.
The North East Road Haulage Association says the heavy timber lorries are not to blame for the state of the roads. The council should have built them to cope with the loads, which it could have predicted in advance, says assistant district manager Richard Dickson.
Haulier Les Teller, whose whole business involves transporting timber from the forest, says the effect of the plan would be "horrific". "There is a good chance this will put us out of business. My depot is smack bang in the middle of one of the roads restricted from Sam to 3pm," says Telfer..
"We have to tender for customers. They expect the cheapest price and this is going to put up prices considerably."
Telfer, who runs 15 artics and employs 20 staff taking timber to sawmills in Hexham and Workington, claims that the restrictions could force him to take detours of up to 50km, making some deliveries 24 hours late.
Joseph Potts of TPH, another haulier who depends on the timber trade, claims the council is doing "too little too late" for its roads. "If this goes through we will have to close — it's our main source of business," he says. "We won't be able to get to our premises, which are based in a small country village."
Tommy Thompson, owner of Thompson Haulage, runs a 38-tonner and a 32-tonner solely to carry timber from the forest: "It seems that this argument is between the council and the Forestry Commission over who pays for the road repairs — and hauliers ire caught in the middle," he says. The RHA warns that, as many contracts for moving timber are already fixed, hauliers will have to bear all the extra osts of the diversions them Ives. "It is certain that jobs will go and I believe people will go bust," says Dickson.
Alan Warn, assistant county surveyor with Northumberland council, says councillors are discussing the proposal with the Forestry Commission and hauliers have been given the chance to comment, and some could be allowed to apply for exemption permits, he says. "We're as concerned as anybody about the livelihood of local hauliers, but we have to find a balance."