ACTION STATIONS!
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It's not just the weather that is getting warm. Temperatures are rising around the country with the highest diesel prices in Europe and the prospect of Continental hauliers undercutting rates and stealing business when cabotage regulations disappear next month. Consequently blood is near boiling point. Are we about to face a summer of national haulage strikes?
Disgruntled workers on the Continent are used to taking matters into their own hands. If it's not farmers in Greece blockading roads to protest against foreign imports it's French hauliers blockading motorways protesting against low wages or the import of British meat.
Britain's sixty thousand hauliers have been mainly a docile lot, complaining about rates and conditions among themselves, but leaving the talk and Government lobbying to their representatives. Changes in the haulage industry, mainly concerning legislation, have been won by trade associations and the unions that represent the industry. A CM survey of hauliers around the country at the beginning of the year found the overwhelming majority of respondents were against direct action like the French-style blockades. Six months on, views have changed radically: there is a groundswell of opinion saying hauliers should do just that. It all started with Chancellor Gordon Brown's first Budget back in March. While hauliers have bemoaned poor rates and returns from their industry for years, there was disbelief at the 5.5 pence pricehike in diesel duty announced in the Budget. The rise means 85% of the cost of diesel ends up in the Government's pockets and the cost of a litre, at almost 70 pence, is the highest in Europe. The Labour Government's pledge to raise fuel duty by 6% over inflation each year is going to guzzle operators' profits in future years, if it isn't already. Outraged at the Chancellor's two fingers to the industry, a group of hauliers in Kent met to talk about what could be done and a new group, Trans-Action, was formed. Numbers quickly grew and in April Trans-Action led a peaceful demonstration in London with the aim of making the public and Government aware of what is happening to the industry. "Vehicles taxed and fuelled on the Continent have an annual advantage of 211,000 compared to a UK haulier, which amounts to 12% of total operating costs for a vehicle travelling 90,000 miles a year," says Ron Wood, Trans-Action treasurer and owner of Sheppey-based RW Haulage. "If this situation is allowed to continue, more hauliers will go to the wall, causing more unemployment, to the tune of 22,000 by the end of this parliamentary term. The Government will also lose 2800 million in duties from fuel being purchased abroad and the GDP of the country will fall by £1 billion," says Wood. The call for some action to be taken immediately is music to many hauliers' ears: membership is now approaching 60 with 120 pledges of support. Another nationwide day of action is planned for next week (8 June).
For people like Wood, the lifting of cabotage restrictions in July adds insult to the injury of fuel price hikes; foreign hauliers will then be allowed to undertake domestic work over here. Not even the industry's own trade associations escape criticism: "If the associations want to continue to take our money, they should represent the industry more strongly. This is a major problem," says Wood.
While keen to express sympathy for the plight of hauliers, the Freight Transport and Road Haulage Associations, along with the Transport and General Workers Union, have refused to support direct action, such as blocking roads, that may be deemed illegal. Such support would also be hypocritical, says the FTA, given the anger of British hauliers and their demands for compensation for being caught up in French blockades during the past two years. The associations argue that they fight long and hard for their members. The RHA has proposed its Essential User Rebate Scheme which would reduce diesel duty for hauliers but protect The Government's tax take by increasing duty for car users. Bob Terris, chairman of the Southern and Eastern RHA region and managing director of Southampton-based haulier Meachers Group Holdings is convinced this scheme is the answer: "The problem we have is that it's a slow process talking to Government. We believe it is a solution and that Government will listen. It may take two years which will be too late for some operators but we're putting pressure on to get urgent action. We can't see any justification for not giving it to us." Wood also agrees this scheme could be the answer. "But if we can't get that, leave us alone," he says. One successful operator it's definitely too late for is RJ Risby Transport of Ashford in Kent. The husband and wife partnership operated eight vehicles mainly transporting animal feed and agricultural produce. The Risbys were founding members of Trans-Action but stopped profitable trading on 20 April and sold their vehicles. The Risbys decided to leave the industry because of high diesel prices and cabotage: "Europe's supposed to be about equal rights," they say. With French hauliers threatening to disrupt the World Cup by blocking roads, it's probably only a matter of time before UK hauliers carry out their threat of blocking ports to prevent too many more hauliers following the the Risbys. E by Nicky Clarice Action to date...
• March: Chancellor announces 5.5 pence rise in diesel duty.
• March: Kent hauliers meet to form Trans-Action.
• April: Trans-Action holds peaceful demonstration in Park Lane that receives national media coverage.
• April: Trans-Action membership swells to around 46 with SO pledges of support. Much support voiced in press. RHA and FTA say they sympathise with hauliers' concerns but cannot support direct action.
• May: Trans-Action meeting attended by Dover Labour MP Glyn Prosser and RHA director general Steven Norris.
• Mar Kent hauliers arrange to meet other hauliers from around the country. Day of national action arranged for 8 June. Membership growing daily; now at 60 with 120 pledges of support.
• July: Cabotage restrictions end. Foreign hauliers will be able to bring their load here, then pick up and drop off another load in Britain en route to their own country, ie do domestic work that would have previously been done by a UK haulier.
If you're interested in joining Trans-Action ring: 01795 503059 or fax: 01795 662010. Membership costs £25.
Guaranteed to be in the front line of any blockade will be Joe Cook, director of Tammy Cook Truck and Trailer Hire. "I don't mind being arrested; we're only fighting for our futures," he says. The company operates 20 trucks on international haulage, which means Cook is well versed with weekend driving bans in France, and increased costs of paying for tolls and vignettes in other European countries. He is sick of the inequality of diesel costs between UK and Continental hauliers. "£30,000 of diesel here gives you around 75,000 lorry miles but the French or Spanish would get 138,000 miles. How can you compete when it's so much cheaper to operate over there?" asks Cook. "Something's got to be done. All UK hauliers are going to be out of work. We're supposed to be in the common market but diesel costs 38 pence a litre in Spain and 41 pence in France and 67.9 here—how can you compete with it? We work hard. We work seven days a week and we're going to end up losing it all," says Cook.