The EC yesterday released the first of the three consultations about changes to operator licensing; it poses a range of questions about the way two key pieces of transport legislation work and how they could be changed.
But James Firth, FTA’s head of licensing policy and compliance information, said enough legislation already existed to ensure van operators were safe and compliant.
He said: “Rules for vans already exist regarding roadworthiness, overloading, driver licensing and insurance, but no one is out there enforcing them.
“Introducing new laws when there’s no enforcement simply means those who play by the rules are stuck with more costs while the cowboys carry on doing what they think they can get away with.”
FTA has been striving to help van operators shake off the ‘white van man’ image with its Van Excellence programme, which has more than 100 members including household names such as BT, Asda and Kwik-Fit.
Firth said: “The operators who are Van Excellence members maintain their vans properly, run safe fleets and train their staff effectively – this shows that more rules are not the answer.”
Issues in the consultation include: whether the current rules are fit for tackling businesses that set up in a low-cost country but conduct transport operations in a higher cost economy, using drivers paid at the lower level; whether the threshold for legislation such as operator licensing and cabotage should be lowered from 3.5 tonnes; and whether the cabotage rule of ‘three operations in seven days’, following an international load, should be amended to allow better enforcement.
Earlier this year, the Department for Transport consulted on proposals to generate more funds for enforcing against unsafe vans, but the FTA points that that when the final strategy came out a few weeks ago there was no mention of it.
FTA members will have the chance to give their views on the EC consultation at Freight Councils, which are currently taking place throughout the country: click the link below for more details.