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Vote of no confidence
Page 22
Page 23
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Only one in seven operators thinks the VVTD will help the transport industry at ail. Our CM/Michelin survey counts the votes.
HERE'S A SURPRISE... very few operators believe the Working Time Directive will provide any benefits for the haulage industry. In fact just 15% of Michelin's customers in the latest CM/Michelin Business Monitor expect the Directive to have a positive effect and 76% fear it will do real harm.
However, the effects of the WTD will not be confined to operators and drivers. According to 89% of firms surveyed, the cost living will climb as staple goods become more expensive. And with driven forced to work fewer hours,coupled with the driver shortage, 38% of operators believe the supermarket shelves could be left bare. Despite this, 78% of operators have now prepared for the legislation, although of these only 45% have begun to implement new working practices.
This suggests one of two things: either it is not going to have the dramatic effect that many operators fear (such as exacerbating the driver shortage, changing distribution times and forcing up drivers' pay); or that operators are simply burying their heads in the sand and waiting till the legislation comes into force on 23 March before they do anything about it.
Brian Holine, transport manager at Widnesbased GussionTransport, says:"There are many rumours circulating about what the Working Time Directive will entail. We are Road Haulage Association members and it has been keeping us up to date with what's happening.
-So far we haven't changed the way we work but we will have to make changes before the end of the month. We have two people coming in to assess what we need to do."
The survey also reveals that the number of operators with driver vacancies has fallen for the second quarter running: 27% of operators now have vacancies, compared with 28% in the last survey.
However, of the companies that do have vacancies, 6% need more drivers now than in November. In fact 17% of these companies now need two or more extra drivers, compared with 15% last quarter.
Mark Swale& transport manager at Hartlepool-based Clevestone Transport, says: "We're lucky as most of our drivers have been here for a long time. At the moment we only have one vacancy but that is proving hard to fill. It's definitely getting more difficult to recruit drivers."
Michelin's findings mirror the latest figures from the government's Skills for Logistics body, which shows that over the past year there's been a 12.1% rise in the number of driver vacancies in the UK; up from 59,398 at the end of January 2004 to 66,573 a year later.