1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198
199
200
201
202
203
204
205
206
207
208 
Rate for the job
Page 18
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
Brian Lee of Alan Morris Transport has a driver arbitrarily removed from service because, in the public sector, it takes months to get anything done.
A couple of weeks ago just as I was about to throw myself off a French Alp, strapped to a pair of carbon fibre sticks, my mobile rang. When I replaced the phone having listened to Terry at the other end tell a tale I yelled "I don't believe it," in approved Victor Meldrew style and nearly caused an avalanche.
A little while back we had an incident we refer to as the "miracle of the A5". Our driver David blacked out with a coughing fit, crossed the central reservation and three carriageways in the rush hour and didn't hit a thing until he buried his 60ft walking floor rig up an embankment. And now, a mere six-and-a-half months later, the DVLA has suspended his licence with immediate effect pending a medical board report.
As a responsible haulier, following the accident I spoken to all the relevant authorities including the DVLA and had David cleared not only by his own GP but also by a breathing consultant. Only when I felt it was safe for David and the general public was he able to go back on the road. Since returning to driving an HGV David has clocked up 30,000-plus incident-free miles.
Six-and-a-half months later the DVLA has suspended his icence with immediate effect pending a medical report
Imagine his surprise when a DVLA official phoned to inform him that as from that second he was not to drive an HGV. David asked if he could return to the depot and was told no. Instead Terry had to send a driver out 30 miles to take over the vehicle (this could have been far worse as just days earlier David had done a run taking him some 340 miles from base) The public sector, it seems, moves at a pace oblivious of David's needs, or indeed the country's. Remember we are short of 20,000-plus HGV drivers and can ill afford to have a skilled, experienced man sidelined. But then when did the public sector ever think of the big picture for GB plc?
The day after my Alpine call I was dining with four retired public-sector employees whose main concern was when I was returning to work to contribute to their pensions, as with the public sector growing ever larger they need all the help they can get from us private sector mugs.