The FTA has been strongly critical of VOSA’s plans to close test centres without having any viable alternatives in place.  In the past few months alone, three centres have been closed, leaving commercial vehicle operators high and dry and with no alternative but to travel some distance to fulfil their legal duty.

Peter Staines, Vice Chairman of the FTA’s Road Freight Council and member of the South East England Freight Council, said: “If I change my maintenance arrangements for my fleet I need to get the Traffic Commissioner’s nod that they are ok.  By closing test stations, VOSA is changing the arrangements for annual testing on hundreds of operators so why not get the Traffic Commissioners to check that the alternative arrangements offered by VOSA will not jeopardise road safety and operating practices?”

This year VOSA has closed three test centres, in Cornwall, Cheshire and Wales, with a fourth schedule

d for closure in West Yorkshire, early next year.  The seemingly random closures have made it more expensive and difficult for hauliers to find suitable testing facilities, adding pressure to an already fully-stretched system of testing.
James Hookham, FTA’s Managing Director of Policy and Communications, concluded:

“The bottom line is road safety, and, especially in this heavy recession, we should not be making it harder and more expensive for honest, compliant operators to meet their roadworthiness commitments.”

The site off the M74, which currently provides parking for 140 vehicles and a range of services for haulage drivers, has been purchased by Tesco, which intends to use the area as a site for a new superstore, according to reports.
The Freight Transport Association (FTA) and Road Haulage Association (RHA) have responded to the potential closure of what the FTA described as a “popular truckstop” by suggesting it may be a potential issue for many drivers in the area.

James Hookham, FTA’s Director of Policy, said: “The Transport Select Committee is absolutely right when it says that the driving public has lost faith in the way they are taxed.  This is amplified in the logistics sector, where the ability to remain competitive in difficult economic times is compromised by a government that seems to see hauliers as a cash cow.  As a sector, we take our environmental commitments very seriously, investing where we can in cleaner, greener vehicles.  However, taxing us through fuel duty in the name of the environment means that such investments are made less possible, with many of our members putting fleet investments on hold.

“It is time for all political parties to be honest about the taxes they intend to levy and to stop hiding behind greenwash.”

Jo Tanner, FTA spokesman, said: “We have seen a complete about face from the Welsh Assembly Government who had promised that the M4 relief road would be open by 2013. Without it the future of the South Wales economy is severely hamstrung.”

“It is bitterly disappointing that despite industry’s best efforts to convey the importance of better traffic flows in and out of Wales to its economic well being, there is no apparent compulsion amongst the Assembly Government to invest in Wales’ future.”

Speaking at the Welsh Assembly on Wednesday, Ieuan Wyn Jones, Deputy First Minister and Minister for Economy and Transport, cancelled plans to build an M4 relief road between Magor and Castleton. In 2007, he announced that the scheme could go ahead with construction as early as 2010 to open in 2013. The Minister claimed that the scheme cost had risen almost threefold from £340 million to around £1 billion, citing this as the reason for cancelling the scheme.

The series of seminars is being sponsored by leading European commercial vehicle manufacturer Iveco and will take place at locations spanning the length and breadth of the UK between September and December 2009.  The programme reflects many of the cost and compliance challenges currently facing transport managers.

The seminars will feature:

* Vehicle and Operator Services Agency (VOSA) setting out its vision for testing transformation and enforcement targeted at the least compliant;
* Legal experts Backhouse Jones reviewing the changing role of the transport manager in ensuring safe operating practices;
* Health and Safety Executive discussing developments in duty of care responsibilities, and;
* A Police representative discussing effective drink and drugs policies within the workplace.

The seminars will also focus on smart ways for transport operators to manage costs, including presentations from the senior management team at Iveco, which manufactures vehicles from 3.2 to 44 tonnes.  These will focus on how the latest developments in commercial vehicle design and technology can be used to improve safety and cut operating costs.

Simon Chapman,the  FTA’s Chief Economist, said: “The industry is under intense pressure from cost unpredictability, falling levels of activity as a result of the recession and a constant stream of new legislation and compliance practices.  Transport Manager 2009 is intended to alleviate these headaches by ensuring that operators are well equipped to make business decisions about 2010 and that they do not take their eye off the ball when it comes to operating safely and within the law.”

“Iveco’s contribution is particularly important as the choice of vehicle has significant implications on many of the key costs of goods vehicle operation.  Even relatively small incremental savings through making the right vehicle choice can quickly add up and ultimately help the operator’s bottom line.”

However, the leading trade body is wary of the lack of commitment that French authorities have previously shown in preventing economic migrants from entering the UK as stowaways.

At an official Anglo-French summit, the UK government agreed to invest £15m of taxpayers’ money into new technology to search vehicles at French ports heading for Britain. This sizeable commitment will be met with a concerted effort by French authorities to return illegal immigrants to their home countries.

Don Armour, FTA’s Head of International Services said: “Historically, the French authorities have lacked the will to prevent illegal immigrants at their borders from crossing the Channel and becoming a UK problem. We hope this new concord between the UK and France will usher in an era of working together, protecting the UK’s international lorry drivers from stowaways.”

Given the increasing severity of attacks on lorry drivers orchestrated by human traffickers near known problem areas such as Sangatte, calls for a more Europe-wide approach to tackle the problem of illegal immigration have become more urgent.

“The FTA advocates a joined-up approach to solving the problem of illegal immigration into northern Europe, with greater liaison and intelligence sharing between the UK Borders Agency and Immigration Service on the one hand and the French authorities on the other. There is also just cause for the European Commission to become much more involved,” Armour said.

Criminal gangs are becoming increasingly technologically savvy and the fund that has been set aside by the UK government will allow enforcement officers in France to keep one step ahead of the human traffickers in the scanning war.

Armour concluded: “For the purposes of protecting our drivers and businesses the UK borders should begin at the other side of the Channel – we cannot afford to continue taking on other country’s responsibilities. Tighter border controls are needed, if only to protect UK lorry drivers from being fined for unknowingly carrying stowaways.

“The FTA is actively engaged in working with the UK Immigration Service to achieve just this. But by working together with our continental equivalents we can develop much more meaningful answers to illegal immigration.”

Chris Yarsley, FTA’s EU Affairs Manager, said: “Freight’s interests are best served by a truly multi-modal approach. A holistic approach to transport will not only serve the logistics sector better, but will also mean that businesses get optimal performance from their supply chains. We are pleased that the Commission seems to agree.”

The FTA has long-supported the inter-operability of road, rail, sea and air as the best means to achieve greater efficiency and improve environmental performance.

The EU Commission’s communication document supports the ideal that freight should be able to choose the mode that best suits its needs.

The infrastructure planning needed to optimise freight flows will look to minimise external costs, such as congestion, pollution and noise. However, the crucial question of how future projects will be funded is still unresolved.

Yarsley concluded: “A combination of public funding and user-charging is the method of funding advocated by the European Commission. Of course, there is understandable public support for the ‘polluter pays’ principle but there is also a strong argument from the industry that transport already contributes via taxes, tolls and charges.”

FTA Chief Executive Theo de Pencier said: “We congratulate Sadiq Khan and Chris Mole on their ministerial appointments and look forward to helping them shape the future of transport. I am sure they understand that transport cannot be defined by parliamentary terms but underpins the future success – or otherwise – of UK plc.

“We also congratulate Jim Fitzpatrick on his promotion. He was a transport minister who clearly understood his brief and was prepared to respectfully listen to the views of the transport industry and our members. Transport’s loss is certainly DEFRA’s gain and we wish Jim well for the future.“