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Rights of passage
Page 22
Page 23
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Dominic Perry meets the Scot who heads the regional freight council and understands why transport will never
be important.
The impressive sandstone and glass bulk of the Buchanan Galleries sits at the heart of the Glasgow's shopping district. It seems an appropriate place to be meeting Carl Olufsen, then chairman of the Freight Transport Association's road freight council and now chairman of the Scottish regional freight council, who also manages to hold down a day job with DHL Express. You could argue, with some justification, that the operators Olufsen represents do more than anyone to keep this part of Scotland's economy
(as opposed to the bit that lies closed and desolate by the Clyde) fully functioning. At the time of the interview Olufsen's tenure at the freight council was just coming to the end of its two year remit. In that time he's learnt a great deal, not least the joys of dealing with European politicians. "Brussels is always an interesting experience, although I was slightly surprised that, particularly with the digital tachograph legislation, they didn't seem entirely clear in their own minds about what they wanted to do," he says. Which goes
some way to explaining the Euro muddle we've ended up with.
He continues: "In my experience of dealing with Brussels the politicians there are less flexible than those in Westminster — once they get an idea into their heads it's very difficult to shift it." Respect for adversaries
Perhaps surprisingly, given his extensive dealings with these strange creatures, he respects his UK adversaries and their "willingness to listen" even though they don't always agree. The two years at the freight council have also taught him that transport is not one of the government's top priorities, a fact borne out by the rapid turnover of transport ministers both at Westminster and in Scotland, the latter seeing four different ministers in just three years. He says that the transport industry has got to be realistic about its importance to govern
ment:"Let's be honest," he adds, "In any government health and education are going to be the priority. Transport and freight are going to be looking for a slice of what is a fairly small cake." The problem, of course, is one of perception. Anyone involved in the transport industry is aware of its importance to the economy and its productivity, but this awareness doesn't stretch to Joe Public. As Olufsen puts it: "People think that their goods get to the shops by magic I'm sure, therefore it sits lower down the pecking order than other concerns." This, he says, is shown in microcosm in the rail industry, where rail freight has to fight tooth and nail for track access because the priority is given to commuter trains. "People notice if their train to work is late in the
morning, whereas no-one notices if a freight train is delayed for two hours because it doesn't affect their lives. Sadly politicians are also very aware of that fact," he adds. There's also the recent publication of Scotland's transport plans, which contained only the briefest mention of freight. OK, so it's evident to all and sundry that Scotland doesn't have the same congestion issues as large parts of England (although equally Scottish operators are affected by that congestion) but it does have its own specific problems. Chief among these are the curious situations of the M8/A8 and the A9. It comes as something of a shock to many people to discover that Scotland's two largest cities are connected, for a long stretch, by nothing more substantial than dual carriageway. It starts out at either end as motorway and then somewhere near Coatbridge you're having to negotiate roundabouts and lower speed limits. It's as though travelling from London to Bris
tol on the M4 you were suddenly confronted with a large stretch of slower, narrower road at Swindon. Olufsen agrees that the situation is little short of amazing. The A9 suffers from similar issues, switching as it does between dual and single carriageway on its journey through the Highlands to Inverness. Olufsen describes
its frustration: "There have been improvements over the years but travelling that road there's nothing more depressing than getting to Perth and seeing the sign that says 'Inverness 102 miles' and knowing that a large proportion of that is single carriageway road."
It's a single carriageway road with a bad accident record too; partly thanks to its altitude and partly because of impatient car drivers attempting to overtake slow-moving trucks. The problem with moves to improve the road is that it travels straight through the heart of some of Scotland's most pristine countryside and therefore any improvements are bound to be dogged by controversy.
But Olufsen says that the status quo isn't ideal for the environment either: "At the moment you have columns of slow-moving traffic crawling along in low gear — I don't see how that's benefiting the environment. Besides, we're not talking about cutting great swathes through the Highland landscape — I'm the last person who'd want to see that — merely widening the road slightly. I don't think our interests and those of the conservationists are necessarily incompatible." The answer, he thinks, is communication with local authorities through the likes of Freight Quality Partnerships, in order to foster consensus. Legislative tidal wave
With a tidal wave of legislation due to break over the industry in the next few years there are fears in some quarters that parts of it will not survive, but it's not the regulations that are the key, Olufsen thinks: 'Things like the WTD are not the crux, it's the margins. No-one else in any other industry! know would tolerate such ridiculous margins. We are not going to start fleecing people; we just want a proper rate for a proper job." That said, he's confident that the industry will survive and there will always be a place for operators, both large and small, as goods will always need to be moved. But he finishes with a disclaimer: "Maybe that's the Sagittarian in me — we're born optimists —but there are too many good people in the Scottish transport industry for it to fail." NI