Hauliers warned: take Peace breaks out
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at the Royal Mail
advice on used trucks
• The Trading Standards Institution is supporting an ownerdriver's warning that hauliers buying older commercial vehicles should get legal advice before signing any purchase contract.
Harry Hogg lost at least £7,000 including earnings after his A-reg Volvo F10 was given an immediate prohibition and impounded six days after its annual vehicle test and a fortnight after he bought it.
Hogg, 60, has re-mortgaged his house to pay off his debts.
"I have taken legal advice to find out I have no redress," he says. "The dealer fulfiled his contract to me by supplying a vehicle and test certificate. The fitter who prepared the truck for the test was not directly employed by me and the Ministry are virtually bomb proof."
The Vehicle Inspectorate in Plymouth has told Hogg that 11 faults were discovered during its own inspection on 29 June which would fail the annual test. • Strike action by mail workers has been averted in a last-minute agreement that robs private parcels carriers of business opportunities in London area.
The truce between Royal Mail and the Union of Communication Workers came last week after four days of intensive negotiation. The UCW, backed by a ballot endorsing strike action, says it has won improved compensation for workers affected by the proposed closure of five sorting centres in the capital.
Although the 21,000 city membership, including 5,000 drivers, will be balloted to endorse the deal, UCW officials believe this is only a formality.
Disruption could have led to a bonanza for private hauliers— Royal Mail handles 3.5 million letters and packages a day and the Government would have considered suspending its monopoly on handling letters for less than £1.