PDF document - Faymonville

LEGISLATION TO THE MAXUK AgencyFlying start for TraffcoSPECIALIST HAULAGE INDUSTRYUniform legislationPeter Dougan, his brother Mike andpartner David Phizacklea set up Traffco inMay 2004 to capitalise on their longexperience in the transport industry.“We established our base inWellingborough in central England, andbegan by selling traffic managementproducts made at David’s Acklea factoryin Swindon. It was my task to seek a semitrailersupplier partner – and Faymonvillewas at the top of our list”, explains PeterDougan.“I approached John Green, whose RydamUniversal was marketing their vehicles intandem with his primary activity of spareparts, service and repair. He kindlyintroduced me to the principals inBelgium, and we reached an agreementto work together.”Further increase“After a few months, it was decided thatTraffco would take over as the sole agentfor new semi-trailer sales, while Rydamfocused on the after sales, service andparts side. The fact that Rydam haveremained in position has been anenormous benefit as we believe we areable to offer a superb all round package.”Peter continues. “That meant we could bemore proactive in approaching customers,and it quickly became clear that there wasa ready market for tailored transportsolutions. In fact, we topped the salesobjectives for 2005, and hired a newrepresentative to cover northern Englandand Scotland. We expect to show afurther significant increase by the end ofthis year.”The European Union is working on a guide for ‘exceptional transport’,which will bring together the directives set by each Member State.For safety reasons, the driver or escort should therefore speak thelanguage of the country that they cross.This was the answer given by Jacques Barrot, theEuropean Commissioner for Transport, when questionedby Finnish MEP, Henrik Lax.The specialist haulage industry is exceptional atmany levels. A regulatory uniformity has been inplace in traditional road haulage since 1996 already.In order to avoid over-regulating, specialist andexceptional transport has been governed strictlyat national and regional levels. As a result, a differentset of regulations is applicable in each countryor region. It was therefore high time some orderwas created in this chaos.Various consultants have examined the main problemslinked to this type of transport, and compileda guide on directives, which is due for publicationlater this year. It is worth repeating this again:even though the guide contains directives, the relevantregulations remain under the national or regionaljurisdiction.The directive whereby the driver or escort is requiredto know the language of the country is one ofthe directives set down for the sake of safety. It isalready being implemented in Germany. The commentmade by European MEP Henrik Lax, whobelieves this goes against the free movement ofgoods and people, was not heeded by the EuropeanTransport Commissioner Jacques Barrot.“I had to seeka semi-trailersupplier partnerand Faymonvillewas at the topof our list”,explains PeterDougan (middle).Will a driverneed to takelanguageclasses in orderto speak thelanguagesof the countriesthrough whichhe travels?P. 06