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EXPLOITED HAULIERS

9th May 2002, Page 36
9th May 2002
Page 36
Page 36, 9th May 2002 — EXPLOITED HAULIERS
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Which of the following most accurately describes the problem?

When the government finally realised the need for a minimum wage, it was the first step towards eliminating the exploitation of labour. The same problem exists within the transport industry but this time it is the employers/operators who are being exploited.

The government has failed to recognise or understand the problems associated with this industry, which is one of the most heavily regulated. it is not difficult to understand the reasons and need for the regulations that protect those within the industry as well as the general public with regard to safety. However, why does the phrase `tying one's hands behind one's back spring to mind?

Hauliers are governed by regulations that dictate: • How many hours they are allowed to drive; • How many days they are allowed to work and in what sequence; • When they must take a rest; • The standards to which vehicles must be maintained; • Payment of a road tax that gives little benefit to the road network or the operator;

xi Payment of a fuel tax which is over 80% of the cast of the fuel and that goes we know not where;

• The need for a licence, which requires full financial disclosure.

With so much involvement by the government in the cost side of the business, why does it show no interest in the revenue? This is where guaranteed minimum earnings should be introduced on a pence-per-mile plus time factor basis and made law—for the client to pay and the haulier not to undercut.

Hauliers are screwed into the ground, and in the majority of cases this is by large businesses who hold the power. The government has chosen to close its eyes to this exploitation while continuing to increase costs through various means and regulations that make operation more costly.

There are very few hauliers who can work with government legislation and safety parameters unless they are transporting their own goods or have work providers who still value the quality of service and appreciate the need for a profit margin.

Hauliers are not a breed of compulsive lawbreakers who are feathering their own nests. The majority are hardworking, stressed human beings operating in the face of adversity and who only out corners to survive.

The unfortunate fact is that to pay a fair rate for transport would only relate to a fraction of a penny per item in the retail food market or a minute percentage on higher cost items. How many hauliers have increased their operating weights for their clients, yet have seen little, if any, benefit?

Why are the government advisers so detached from the industry? Perhaps they are the same ones that sat by while our manufacturing base disappeared? Their action, or lack of it, will kill off the industry and again we will sit back and watch foreign companies control one of our lifeblood industries.

Probably the faceless advisers have a hidden agenda, with the railways waiting in the wings to take over and get rid of those 'nasty juggernauts'.

Government policy has resulted in a shortage of drivers, with operators unable to afford the cost of training or to pay the wages for the level of professionalism demanded by the industry.

With the pending reduction in working hours and its vast implications, we are waiting for a disaster to happen.

Unfortunately, politicians never suffer the consequences of their decisions but fade out of the limelight having reaped the rewards of office. How convenient! tithe same rules had applied in the First World War and they had surrendered their country's rights in such a cowardly manner, they would have been shot as traitors! CE Stephens, Gainsborough, tines,

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