Widow forced to quit
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by Juliet Morrison • A widow who believes her trucks have been persistently attacked by a disgruntled rival is to quit haulage.
Margaret Wilson, who operates 16 vehicles with her son Stephen, is putting the fleet up for sale because she says she is being victimised by a competitor.
Wilson started running MC Wilson Transport of Rotherwas in Hereford about two years ago after the death of her husband Keith.
She says her trucks— mainly ERF artics—have been subjected to at least 10 attacks since she started to look for extra work this year.
In January, she lost the largest part of her work—a L30,000-a-month revenue contract with Herefordbased plastics manufacturer Gelpack Excelsior.
Since then, when her 20year-old business began scouting around for alternative work, her trucks and trailers have been subjected to a catalogue of attacks, which included their brake and air pipes being cut and a load being slashed.
Wilson says: "Once every fortnight something happens to our lorries, whether they are parked at our yard or at our customers. Although the attacks have not cost us much in repairs, it has caused us a lot of disruption to our deliveries. The nine months of attacks are the final nail in the coffin."
Her 21-year-old son Stephen is keeping one of the company's three 7.5tonners to try to continue making a living in haulage.
The other nine artics, four rigids and two 7.5tonners will be auctioned on Saturday 7 January 1995.