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Get our house in order
Page 9
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Mr X says two recent reports show the industry is wide open to criticism on fuel monitoring and compliance.
Am I being paranoid, or are we getting more reports on the state of our industry than is usual for the time of year?
Most of us who have been in the business a while have grown weary of being told what we should and shouldn't do by well-meaning but largely clueless bodies funded out of the states pocket.
But this week I noticed two reports that contain some chilling facts about the road haulage industryand both call management into question.
Keyfuels, known to most of us as a bunkering specialist, has commissioned a report stating that hauliers should collaborate with the government in an effort to reduce the use of fuel. The argument goes that until the industry can demonstrate that effective fuel-management systems are universally applied, we cannot expect the government to react to calls for lower rates of duty. OK so far. But the report adds: "The vast majority of operators do not have an accurate measure of fuel consumption across their fleets." Quite!
Isn't it a sad indictment of the ability of our industry that such simple but critical procedures fail regularly at the first hurdle? With fuel accounting, on average, for over 30% of turnover, even the tiniest percentage improvement could rescue our fragile margins.
The second report is by Wiltshire police. They have gone on record as saying that 70% of HGV drivers are breaking the law. Yes, I know it was only a small sample taken beside the road. Yes, i know they were probably targeting the fringe operators. But that percentage is still way too high.
It's a major blow to our collective credibility. How can we possibly ask the government to help us when we are incapable of helping ourselves? Perhaps a report next on the effects of people living in glass houses while throwing stones would be appropriate.
"Perhaps a report next on effects of people living in houses while throwing sto would be appropriate"