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Time to have your say
Page 20
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The FTA is worried that industry apathy may thwart the government's plans to radically overhaul the 0-licensing system. Chris Tindall reports.
In just over a month's time, the industry will have had its final chance to register its feelings on overhauling the 0-licence system.
The proposed shake-up will be the biggest since this complex set of regulations was put in place 40 years ago.
After 10 years of campaigning for the paper windscreen disc to he dispensed with, the Freight Transport Association (FTA) claims everyone now has the chance to dramatically curtail illegal activity among rogue operators and enhance the reputation of the freight transport industry.
Conversely — and this is of great concern to the FTA — operators and hauliers could reject the idea of change. allowing the Department forTransport (D1T) to believe that the current system gives us the best of all possible worlds.
FTA chief executive Richard Turner says proposals to simplify the fee structure and remove the 28-day margin concession are of such importance that operators must accept the changes. Not only will they help to modernise the 0-licensing system, he argues. they will turn illegal vehicles into "flashing red lights", clearly visible to the enforcement agencies.
Currently, when an operator adds more vehicles to his licence there is a 'margin concession', or a period of grace, of 28 days. Turner sees this as a "free gift, an open door" for rogue operators to flout the law and withhold payment.
"It destroys the industry's reputation and undercuts the market for many people," Turner warns. "We've got to leave no cushion for [illegal operators] to rest on."
Cutting red tape Overhauling the lee structure will also reduce red tape, Turner believes.There are mutterings that this will mean larger operators that run more trailers (which currently enjoy cross-subsidy for enforcement activity) could pay more while smaller operators will be forced into overcoming their technophobia because everything will eventually move online.Turner admits the mooted system is not 100% perfect."but it's very close".
But the industry's notorious apathy could ruin the chance to grab the 21st century with both hands. "Some operators have got together and want to retain 0-licensing and flexibility," Turner says. "Change is something we have to deal with.
"I'm worried that if we're equivocal when we go back to the government, they might back off from the enormous pressure we've been putting them under to change their practices." •