More firms join RHA
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EM BERSHIP of the RHA is up this year for the first time since the early 1970s, director general Freddie Plaskett reported. It now stands at around 11,000.
Reviewing the past 12 months, he said dery prices is one of the most emotive areas he has to deal with. Following complaints of unfair trading made against oil companies, he will be meeting officials from the Office of Fair Trading and presenting them with documentary evidence.
He reported that Transport Minister Lynda Chalker had given him a lecture about an increase in ill-mannered behaviour among lorry drivers and that this had been followed up with a letter to the RHA and the Freight Transport Association complaining again about excessive speeds.
The next general election will be one of the most crucial to face Britain for many years, he said. "The RHA does not pretend to support any political party," lie added.
Plaskett paid tribute to the
.`considerable courage" of George and Richard Read, the two Gloucestershire hauliers who challenged the National Union of Mineworkers in the High Court.
"Tyranny is tyranny whether it comes on a bowler and an old school tie or a cloth cap, and people who fight it deserve the support of all right-thinking people.
George Read responded by thanking the RI IA. "The RHA's support has been most important," he said.
"We are now operating properly, without blacking," be added. Legal costs are still caught up in the system, though, and a claim for compensation is still to be heard, he said.