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Another ex-RHA chair bows out
Page 6
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o Bob McKinnon, the former national chairman of the Road Haulage Association, has put his family haulage business into voluntary liquidation blaming the foot and mouth outbreak for killing off the firm.
At one time the company, James McKinnon Jnr Transport, ran 35 trucks working on animal feed and milk distribution, although following the loss of a contract with Scottish Milk in 1999 the fleet has shrunk to 12.
McKinnon says that he felt that it was time to pull the plug before he was forced to start trading illegally: "It was getting to the stage where I wasn't going be able to pay my debts so I simply shut the door.
"My drivers have all got redundancy
and I've got nothing, but I can't tell you what a weight has come off my shoulders —I'm a new man."
He says that until the foot and mouth outbreak earlier this year the seventyyear-old company was handling 11.000 of work per day which dried up virtually overnight.
He adds: "I went to Scottish Enterprise to see whether I could get compensation for the loss of business and they told me that I could only delay my VAT payments.
"So I asked them if they could go outside and burn my trucks and then give me compensation."
McKinnon adds: If you look at all the legislation that's going to hit us over the next few years then you have to wonder if haulage is the right Industry to be in." He Is the second farmer FRIA national chairman to give up the family haulage business; earlier this year Jahn Bridge sold his company GW Bridge to distribution giant City Logistics.