MAN RENTAL - Export & Freight

soapbox
A regular column from
Phil Flanders
RHA Regional Director
Scotland and Northern Ireland
Soapbox
Haulage Image Takes
Another Bashing
Most freight people will now be
aware that a Northern Ireland
haulier and his son have been
jailed for two years and 18
months respectively at Carlisle
Crown Court for interfering
with the tachographs and
falsifying the records. They were
also disqualified from acting
as company directors, which
includes having any management
position within a company,
for a period of 5 years.
At the time of writing a timetable
has been set out for future
hearings into confiscation
proceedings relating to the assets
of the company and the directors.
Fifteen drivers, who all pleaded
guilty, were given suspended
sentences. This news has been
lapped up by the main media
particularly in Northern Ireland
but also in the West of Scotland
as thirteen of the drivers are
from this part of the UK. The
lurid headline of “Truckers on
the Road for 22 Hours” was
prominent on the front page of
the Evening Times on 9th May.
Public reaction in Northern Ireland
has been not surprisingly largely
negative so a lot of hard work is
needed to address this imbalance
and to highlight the positive side
of this industry we care about and
change the current perception.
We are not all cowboys breaking
the law and putting peoples’ lives
at risk. Some of the best and
most professional operators in
the UK are from Northern Ireland
but so are some of the worst!
One of the positive messages
this court case sends is that the
authorities will act and others
who break the law will feel the
full rigour of the law. The law
needs to protect those who are
trying to play by the rules and
force others to start playing
by the same rules. A long time
ago someone told me that you
can do anything you want……
as long as you are prepared to
accept the consequences!
These consequences may now
include some time in prison.
There are more consequences for
the drivers as well. The thirteen
Scottish drivers will be called to
a conduct hearing before the
Scottish Traffic Commissioner who
has the power to give a severe
reprimand through to revoking
their LGV licences. This has
happened before when drivers
have broken the law. It makes
other drivers think twice. Do they
really want to risk losing their
livelihood for a long period and
possibly have a criminal record
At the moment there is no
legislation regarding drivers
conduct in Northern Ireland
that the Transport Regulation
Unit will be able to use but I
believe it is only a matter of time
before it will be considered.
As I said in last months
article, if everybody operates
legally, all will make money
and sleep easy at night.
Assembly Help
Now that the dust has settled
after the Assembly elections
we can hope that the powers
that be will perhaps turn their
minds to ways of helping the
freight industry. We have had a
good relationship with previous
Northern Irish administrations
and want this recognition of
the importance of road freight
transport to continue and flourish.
Due to the economic situation
we know that large projects to
improve road infrastructure during
the next session will be difficult
to deliver but working together
there will be opportunities for
smaller wins that can improve the
competitiveness and sustainability
of a vital sector of the economy.
Speedy and effective repair of
roads where necessary should also
be a top priority and that means
protecting and ideally increasing
road maintenance budgets.
Some other issues
that would help are:
As an organisation promoting
professional standards in the
haulage industry we welcome
sensible enforcement measures to
ensure that efficient law abiding
companies are not undermined
by illegal operators. We strongly
support the introduction of
extended freight operating
licensing rules and hope that
MLA’s will continue to do so too..
Currently little help is available
towards hauliers’ training
needs and in these difficult
economic times any measure
of financial help to improve
the industry’s efficiency by
investing in training would be
greatly appreciated. More so as
Northern Ireland hauliers never
got their fair share through the
Road Haulage Modernisation
Fund all these years ago.
Whilst fuel duty is not a devolved
issue, we would strongly welcome
the next Executive to pledge to
lobby for reducing the cost of fuel
to hauliers in Northern Ireland.
Fuel now accounts for nearly
40% of operational costs in many
cases. Even a slight decrease of
prices to bring into line with the
Republic would bring economic
benefits. For every extra litre
bought in the North the treasury
would gain the fuel duty. At one
time this would have been worth
hundreds of millions of pounds. It
probably is still worth a significant
amount and would help stimulate
the economy at a difficult time.
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Soapbox 1pg.indd 32 24/05/2011 12:15