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Fears unfounded
Page 36
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The CM operators' panel breathes a sigh of relief over the Working Time Regula tions. Its members tell Pat Hagan how they have negotiated the obstacles so far.
After all the anticipation and worry, the Working Time Directive is up and running in the road transport industry. Arising from the directive, the Road Transport (Working Time) Regulations 2005 were passed into UK law on 4 April and, as operators will know, the first significant milestone has just been crossed.
The beginning of August marked the end of the first 17-week period over which average weekly working hours are to be calculated.
Many firms appear to have reached agreement with their workforces to extend this calculation period to 26 weeks — as permitted under the directive.
But four months in, how have the new rules affected business? And are profits, as many feared, really being eroded?
To gauge how hauliers large and small are coping, members of the CM Operators' Panel — our very own barometer of industry sentiment —give their views on the first four months of life under the Working lime Regulations.