VOSA needs cash FTA
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JOHN RUSSELL, president of the Freight Transport Association, has called on the government to provide more funding for the enforcement agency VOSA.
In his speech at the FTA's annual dinner earlier this week Russell said that while UK truck operators are some of the safest in world, a minority still chose to flout the law. "I am passionate about road safety and about the high standards which my company and most other businesses set." he said.
"But I am angry that a small minority of operators and drivers are determined to break the rules and that the enforcement system allows them to get away with it. The vast majority of operators work hard to comply because they want to, not from fear of detection. VOSA has limited resources insufficient to meet the needs.
Russell proposes a three-point action plan: • The industry must stop giving work to cowboy operators. OVOSA must be granted the funds it needs to update its systems and Lest stations.
• Data on foreign vehicles operating in this country must be made available to VOSA.
Russell concluded: "Illegally operated lorries and their drivers arc not only a road-safety hazard but unfair competition."