HFA meets Lord Whitty
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• East Anglian members of the Hauliers and Farmers Alliance were due to meet with transport minister Lord Whitty yesterday (Wednesday).
Richard Mayes from Transanglia freight said he was not expecting dramatic results from the meeting but would push for a change in the government's attitude.
'We need them to accept that haulage is an essential service. We will start the meeting with a down-to-earth explanation of what one 38-tonner costs to run for one week," said Mayes on Monday Also on the agenda is the effect of fuel on small to medium-sized haulers in Norfolk; the effect of foreign competition on UK haulage; and the number of companies that left haulage in the last year.
Mayes believes the concessions granted to the industry in the Chancellor's statement last autumn should be an incentive to continue lobbying. "For some people it might be easy to say the government's already given us something and that's the end of it "But we think he's accepted we have a problem and that he could only do so much for us at that stage."
The meeting was organised by Gillian Shepherd, Tory MP for the area, and will also be attended by four other hauliers and a farmer.