Uneven tracks? Nv Ith the current spate of rail strikes hopefully
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now behind us, I wonder if those involved have given any consideration to the long-term effect such strikes have on potential freight customers?
One of the key selling points of the rail freight Operating companies is service reliability so when that claim is destroyed by strikes that are beyond their control the effect is all the greater.
Customers with timecritical products to move are forced to make last-minute temporary arrangements that are inevitably more expensive. And they know their goods are being handled by people who will not know their customers special requirements. In short, they expose themselves, and their customers, to unwelcome aggravation.
Such knowledge will have a cautionary effect on potential users of rail freight or intermocial solutions to their logistics needs. Their willingness to change from road distribution will be reduced greatly in view of the perceived unreliability that arises, perhaps unfairly, from those one-day interruptions.
My own company, Wineanton, will always propose the use of a rail link in a customer supply chain when that is an economic and reliable solution. But now we must add a preplanned alternative in the event that trains are unable to run. What a sad situation to face when it appeared that a rail renaissance was underway Pat Lee Wincanton director and chairman of the Road Haulage Association.
Safety last?
Tam writing to express my utter disbelief at the recent sacking of the Iceland driver John Hammond after it was found he was avoiding a village with a steep hill on grounds of safety (CM 13-19 July).
How can a organisation holding itself up as law abiding and safety conscious, defend such a decision? And what has it come to when drivers are being watched by "spies in the cab" such as satellite linked technology? Iceland should immediately re-instate the driver and hold him up as a good example to others working for the firm.
As the haulage industry does its best to try and improve its image in the eyes of the general public, what sort of a message does such an action send out?
C Reeves Peterborough.
Limited effect
Ft my view, speed limiters 1.are the worst thing to happen for many years. I am of the opinion they have been introduced partly to reduce
exhaust emissions (why else would the Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution recommend that all lorries over 7.5 tonnes be limited to 56mph?), and partly to pander to public prejudice about "taming the lorry menace," and that no-one has considered the safety aspect.
Contrary to the defeatist attitude apparent in much of the transport press,! would like to see speed limiters removed, or at least reset. All we need is "56" altered to "68," and the problems will disappear.
C A Lamb Litchfield, Staffs.