Our response to the government’s letter to HGV drivers and the unlimited cabotage proposal

This column is due to publish in the November issue of T&D on Friday Oct 22 but we have decided to post it today, in light of all the current events. The following link takes you to the website where you can voice your objection to the government’s proposal to allow foreign trucks unlimited cabotage. They say it’s temporary, but we find that unlikely. Is there big corporate money leaning on the gov? We suspect that there corporations do not want to have to pay a fair rate where hauliers dictate the prices. Shady freight forwarding companies will cream off loads of work from supermarkets and food supply chain and pass it onto the foreign operators with no O-licence or compliance to worry about, keeping the rates nice and cheap, enduring the big fat profits they are accustomed to to continue. It’s impossible for a UK operator to expand and help reduce the shortage of trucks under these circumstances. The supply chain will get addicted to it and the enforcement authorities will turn convenient a blind eye to layby operating centres and drivers living in trucks.

Instead of giving out industry a leg up, they’re giving it a boot in the nuts. The proposal link is HERE: https://t.co/P3QfVZEwUN?amp=1