Saw this on the BBCwebsite:-
A haulier has been stopped on the A90 in Fife after driving almost non-stop through Europe for 14 days.
The man, who was from Azerbaijan, was driving a 44-tonne articulated lorry and was stopped in a random check. Tachograph readings showed the only significant stop by the driver was when the truck entered the UK by ferry.
The law states that drivers must not exceed an average of 48 hours a week. The driver was ordered to take a 45-hour compulsory rest break.
He will now be reported to the traffic commissioner who will decide a course of action.
The driver was stopped on Wednesday afternoon heading north, police said.
Inspector John MacDonald, of Fife Constabulary, told the BBC Scotland news website: "I am delighted that we stopped him because when things go wrong, you can imagine the damage an articulated lorry is going to do if he fell asleep at the wheel.
"We will continue to run operations like this."
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This is very well known througout the haulage industry and is part of why so many UK hauliers are going out of business.
They are unable to compete with the Continental drivers. One of the most repeated complaints is they they drive over here with large fuel tanks filled in Luxembourg or other cheap fuel places and a load to deliver.
Using often two drivers they spend the week non stop transporting UK good across the country before returning home with a load.
A friend in the business tells me that 4 hauliers in his small town have gone out of business in the last year unable to compete on rates.
wemyss
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Is road freight cabotage legal in the UK? Cabotage is domestic haulage undertaken by foreign vehicles.
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Four or Five years ago I remember signing for a delivery in the UK from a truck from Stuttgart at about 9.00 AM. The next day at about 9.00 AM another delivery. Same driver, same truck. Surprised, I natually asked him the obvious question...and yup he had been back to Stuttgart and returned to the UK in 24 hrs. I quizzed him a bit about it and from what I could understand he was a "casual" driver and just took jobs as and when. Looked pretty tired mind. Scary !
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Looked pretty tired mind. Scary !>>
Yep - almost every day on our local news we hear about another crash caused by an HGV on the A14 to/from Felixstowe docks. Scary is the right word!
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Is road freight cabotage legal in the UK? Cabotage is domestic haulage undertaken by foreign vehicles.
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Does anyone care any more, the legal powers are only interested in nicking UK drivers and companies, nice easy money, no hassle, no contest.
Another nail in the coffin of GB?
Very soon there wont be any domestic industry of any description, not just haulage, the way things are going.
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Strange things happen in this industry. Only a few months ago I was walking with my son in law in his Midlands city and he was talking about this subject.
We went past a very wealthy type house and on the side of his drive were two newish 3 axle tractor units with some East European plates on.
He told me they had been there for a few months and the drivers worked out of a company very well known on this site pulling their trailers.
He said the drivers flew home from EMA periodically and returned after a day or two at home to continue their work of virtually non-stop driving in the UK.
Never heard of cabotage but this sounds like a good example.
Incidentally on the same subject I asked him what the green L plates were on the front of Continental units expecting it to be something to do with recently passed learners.
Forgotten his answer but it was something to do with the drivers as I recall but nothing to do with learners.
Perhaps someone would remind me.
wemyss
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Complain all you like. First problem. Nobody to complain to. Anyone here of a certain age and disposition will know EXACTLY what I mean. We have HAD IT in the UK in all areas of Business and trade of any description, through rules and reg's which I am sure pervades the lives of other peoples, but anybody under the age of 45 thinks it is the norm and just sit back and take the flak dished out by the men in grey suits. I used the word men TIC.
I used to employ folk. Can't do it anymore. Not poss'. Ask any Business man aged over 45 why. Most don't get irate like me and they don't swear and rant. They do worse, They just shake their heads. That's how bad it's got.
UK no more...No manners...No sense...No scruples...No pride...No...........Just a load of those things that the Oars fit in, in a Rowing boat!
V B R to those that understand.............MD.
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There's plenty of business people making plenty of money in the UK, believe me! These trucks and truck drivers are here because business people want CHEAP. Go round any dealers these days and you will find a lot of the basic labouring and valeting done by East Europeans - many earning very low wages. In fact most will be earning below the minimum wage because they get the job on the basis that they work more hours than declared - there's an 'understanding'. Funnily enough I was talking about this very topic to a mate of mine this morning. He was fuming over a story in the paper that £££'s are going in child benefit to kids in Eastern Europe. I reminded him that he was actually employing Polish valeters and so was in some sense contributing to this.
Everybody wants to force the costs through the floor - that's why these drivers are here and driving over hours. If there wasn't the demand they wouldn't be here.
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Aprilia, your right there are lots of East Europeans doing jobs on the cheap, and vehicle cleaning is just one of them.
Trouble is if valetter gets the job wrong and makes a big blunder the chances are very little damage by consequence.
Slightly different when someone in charge of a 44 tonner is virtually exempt from our very much needed rules and regs.
It will change though, when a politician or celebrity gets hurt in a road crash involving one of these, then you watch it hit the fan.
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It will change though when a politician or celebrity gets hurt in a road crash involving one of these then you watch it hit the fan.
Yes; the government will immediately announce that they are having a "crackdown...."
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Yes; the government will immediately announce that they are having a "crackdown...."
They can't crackdown on crack so what hope have they got in other theatres?
'They' took all the handguns away to crack down on gun crime!!!!Ho hum.
VBR..........MD
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whatever happened with the guy on here quite some time ago who reckoned he could make a living doing courier work between the UK and Italy in a small Citroen van? Someone else must remember him...
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Think it was all talk, wasn't it?
The worst I've done is 17 hrs on the go. Left home at 0400, Dover by 0630. 0700 ferry, drove 3.25 hrs, picked up a tiny caravan, back to Calais for about 1700. Off the ferry at Dover at about 1900, home by 2200. 650 miles.
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Martin
"They' took all the handguns away to crack down on gun crime!!!!Ho hum." only a few of us understand what you mean.
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2 of my clients have packed up in the last 3 months, that's 4 UK registered 44t trucks with 4 UK drivers off of the roads.
Why?
Well funnily enough they were struggling to run the trucks on £1.15per mile, when you consider that they are doing about 8mpg on average and fuel costs what they are it is easy to see why so many are going to the dogs!!!!
I was called by a potential client with an eastern european accent the other month, wanted my services to get him an operators licence, he was then prepared to put at least another 20 drivers my way to do the same - He had a contract lined up with a major UK Logisitics Company (name and shame rules probably apply so I wont mention who) for £0.85ppm!!!!!!!
Ludicrous!!!!
Then there are the likes of one of the large supermarket chains (no name and shame problems here as this is not hearsay but fact) - (Sorry TU, you may know it as 'fact', but we don't, so edited in accordance with BR policy) who will happily keep a truck on a bay for 4 hours or more once it is unloaded to check the paperwork!!! thats one driver at normally £7.50ph and one 44t artic with trailer sat doing nothing so said supermarket can check a load!!!!! so a truck that maybe could do 3 loads a day may only get to do 2 at best, and this is aside form them keeping you waiting hours past your tip time as their warehouse is full and they use your truck as a mobile warehouse and pay no more for it!!!!!
Now this supermarket make a couple of Billlion pounds per year profit at the expense of otheres - just look at one of their RDC's and see how many of the trucks delivering are UK!!!
Then this week the Govt give out FREE window diverter things to trucks from the continent, why not make them pay for it!!!
As for Cabotage, thats the biggest joke going - the UK has the FTA and the RHA, both of who sit and do nothing - give it a few more years and there will not be a haulage industry in this country - it will go the same way as our manufacturing industry!!!!
Forgot to mention the fact that it is becoming increasingly difficult and expensive to get an LGV Licence. In a couple of years each driver will have to undertake a Drivers CPC, this is structure training, of 45hours every 5 years - many older drivers will not bother and just give up their licence, new drivers may find it too expensive - Already if you are a 21 year old LGV Class 1 (C+E) driver you will find it near impossible to get a job, companies want min age 25 and 2 years exp. There is very little new blood coming up through the ranks.
Crisis point!! Not yet, but not too far away if things carry on the way they are!
(slight amendment to post - if in italics, then it has been edited.)
Edited by Webmaster on 07/12/2007 at 20:05
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And lets not forget the other inequalities stacked against uk hauliers!
When i`m on a european trip i have to park up in various countries at the weekend (switzerland and i believe austria even park you up at night). Most make you stop driving from 10pm on saturday until 10pm on sunday.
Uk= 24-7 hence the percentage of foreign trucks streaming up the m20 at the weekend.
When abroad i also have to pay a toll to use the roads- france, Italy and spain have the peage`s, Germany have a "maut" box-like a dart tag but used all the time your on the autobahn
The benelux have the "eurovignette" which is around £5 a day
Uk= no no please come here and drive all year for free.
Personally tu i`m all for the cpc if it rids us of some of the numpties on the roads (and i dont mean the Foreigners either).
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As someone who works in a business that has to compete with goods that have a lower tax rate on the continent I do have sympathy with lorry drivers.
What I would do is allow them to use red diesel. It would mean that they would probably not be able to use regular fuel stops but I am sure that they would not complain. Either that, or charge less Duty that is offset by a massively higher rate of VAT, which they could then claim back. Rather than 17.5% why not 40% which would mean that the £1.05 litre would come down to £0.75 ex VAT
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