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True Lee, Mad Lee, Deep Lee
Page 66
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Man Lee's efforts to prepare his customers for new legislation backfires... and he explains how he copes with the surprises his staff sometimes throw at him...
I've just enjoyed five days in Rome with Rena. It was our first outing alone in 35 years, the last being our honeymoon at the Butlin's hotel in Blackpool.
It was during Glamour Grandmothers weekend.
While standing at the kerb at a busy intersection during the Roman rush hour, I noticed a particular car come by.The driver acknowledged the traffic cop and went back to her mobile phone conversation, continued smoking her fag and the book she was reading remained on her knee.
I mention this incident because my operations manager Terry and I attended a Transport Law Legal Update session the other night. We were informed that the purpose of the Workinglime Directive, according to the civil servants giving the seminar, is to provide a level playing field across Europe where all drivers comply with the same rules. How is that going to happen if some countries ignore all the rules going? After all, even the Italians will tell you that their road signs are merely suggestions.
I'm also worried about VOSA jockeying for position to be the monitoring police. I worry about VOSA's powers to stop. I'm not saying I think it's a bad idea — it's just that everybody and his dog wears a yellow jacket nowadays, including naughty folk who want to part the driver from his load.
The most worrying piece of legislation we learned the other night was the need for HGV drivers to gain a CPC or, failing that, the need logo on a National Vocational Training Course for at least six months.The world must have gone stark raving bonkers! Why should somebody, whose skill is manoeuvring a large, cumbersome lump along the highways and byways delivering the essentials to our society, need to take a semi-academic qualification that will not contribute to his wellbeing or his and the general public's safety? I can only presume that to redress the balance,senior civil servants, nuclear professors and government ministers past and present will need to obtain an HGV Class 1 to do their jobs.The EC directive 2003/59/EC promoting this idea is available on all good government websites,and should be labelled daft.
Life's little ironies
Meanwhile, we've been visiting our customers recently, trying to educate them on what we think will be the impact of the new legislation on our company and the service we provide. I feel that both Terry and! are reasonably articulate and we've cobbled together a plausible Powerpoint presentation. However,our only success up to now is to have come away with a 5% decrease in haulage rates from one major customer. Paradoxically, the best advice! can give is not to listen to any advice from mel Those of you who have seen my photograph before will have noticed that I'm slightly overweight. But I'm working on it, so when the lunchtime bell goes here,! abandon my pinstripe suit and don my cycling shorts and safety helmet and negotiate the single country lanes on my 21speed bicycle.
Not only is the weight coming off, but the exercise helps me to plan the afternoon's traffic sheets and prepares me for those little surprises which staff always have up their sleeve.
Earlier this week,having parked my bike,! was confronted with the words,"It was only a little scrape, Guy!" Bob clipped another vehicle while leaving the yard which 'only' cost £500 on replacement parts. And then there's Paul,who's just had his wagon repainted and every little dent smoothed out. It was perfect for two days... before he went and scraped the paint along the yard wall.! manage to stay calm, knowing Paul's weekend will be worse than m ine. •