RHA tackles the legislators
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In meetings held between the RHA and the HSE it has been agreed that this must be done, whereas when we meet with DfT officials they say it cannot be done as it would be outside C&U Regs. The only advice the DfT has given is to let the courts decide.
To resolve this problem, it was proposed that the RHA, officials and engineers meet separately and report back to the forum.
National guidelines to be set on decriminalisation of parking enforcement The association was invited by the Department for Transport to represent the road haulage sector at a workshop to discuss the publication of new national guidelines on decriminalised parking enforcement for use by local authorities.
Among others in attendance were representatives of several local authorities, the Federation of Small Businesses, the British Parking Association and the National Parking Adjudication Service.
DfT officials said that they were conscious of the many issues that needed addressing before a national roll-out of this initiative took place.
They are keen to involve the association to ensure that guidance is clear and concise and that the specific problems of loading and unloading were given sufficient emphasis and consideration.
Although parking and the loading/unloading regs are a local issue the association has been lobbying for some time for national guidance to be issued that ensures that all local authorities are fully aware of what they need to consider before outsourcing their parking enforcement to private providers of this service.
Reform of sugar regime will have a negative impact on the haulage industry The restructuring scheme for the reform of the EU sugar regime was formally tabled in Brussels at the end of last month and it will have an impact on the 1500 UK-based haulage companies involved in the transport of sugar based products.
The proposals include cutting the sugar beet price to £17 per tonne over two years, which equates to a 43% reduction, as well as a 39% cut in the price of sugar to £258 per tonne.
When the RHA sent its comments to the DEFRA committee inquiry into the reform of the sugar regime in March 2004 we asked that a 10-year timescale be used for implementation of any reforms to allow the sector time to adjust to such a major change.
Brussels has stated that widespread and swingeing reforms have been made necessary by the impending flood of imports under the 'everything-but-arms' agreement and the World Trade Organisation's ruling that much of the EU’s subsidised exports are illegal.
It has been estimated that up to 75% of beet growers will either cease or greatly reduce their production and therefore the need for road transport will be slashed.
With member companies across the UK relying on beet and sugar product movements for at least a percentage of their revenue the future in this sector looks challenging.
Lincolnshire would be especially affected as the NFU is being quoted as saying that there will be few sugar beet growers left in that region.
Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire account for more than 20% of the nation's sugar beet production and sugar beet is grown on 7600 holdings in the region, producing around 1.8 million tonnes of raw beet, with a present farm-gate value of £51.2 million.
