Poorly performing foreign haulage drivers 'should be named and shamed'
Date: 01 April 2008
A group which represents the interests of haulage professionals has said the government should do more to track the foreign lorry operators who frequently break motoring laws in the UK.
The Freight Transport Association (FTA) said that the Vehicle and Operator Services Agency (VOSA) should publish a list of the foreign haulage professionals who had frequently broken regulations on roadworthiness, overloading and drivers' hours.
According to the FTA, the action would mean that haulage firms in the UK thinking of hiring foreign workers would be able to easily see the extent of the applicant's compliance or law breaking.
FTA director of external affairs Geoff Dossetter explained: "Lower fuel costs and slack maintenance standards mean that foreign lorries constitute unfair competition to the UK transport industry. But, more importantly, they present a serious road safety problem.
"The UK transport industry operates to very high standards, which have resulted in a good safety record for the domestic lorry fleet.
"But the same cannot be said of foreign lorries coming to the UK. We need to see the guilty operators named and shamed - hit in the pocket and put off the road."
The FTA recently cited figures that showed that 44 people were killed in Britain in accidents involving foreign haulage vehicles and a further 1,300 were injured in 2006.
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