I told you so!

The current driver shortage has just reminded me that I had some correspondence a few years ago with my local MP on this subject. It was initiated by our local council fining lorries for parking in the large public car park in the middle of Llandovery; much to the annoyance of both the drivers and the local food outlets who made a bit out of them especially outside of the tourist season. It was precipitated of course by a couple of whiney incomers who “didn’t like being woken up by noisy lorries”.

Dear Simon (Hart)
Firstly my thanks for your prompt response to my query. It would appear from the reply received by you that in this case, regrettably the council is legally justified in its actions. I appreciate the fact that you took the trouble to pursue it.
However, the response highlights a worrying ignorance of the needs of lorry drivers and operators, together with a misunderstanding of the law on this matter which for someone so highly ranked (and therefore presumably experienced) in the transport sector I find frankly disturbing. Mr. McEvoy seems to be under the impression that all lorries should return to their bases once their day’s work is done; this might indeed be the case for council vehicles but it is obviously impossible or at least impractical in other parts of the transport sector. I shall contact him directly to appraise him of the true facts of this matter, and to ascertain whether alternative measures have been, or will be considered by the council.
You will be fully aware that since Carmarthenshire and Pembrokeshire lie on a main traffic route to Ireland, it is inevitable that HGV’s travelling along the A48/A40 corridor will by necessity have to stop en route in order that their drivers may observe the rest periods which the law specifies, and some of this will of course involve overnight parking. Add to this the HGV’s which are delivering to, and collecting from, businesses and particularly farms in both your own constituency and neighbouring ones, and the sum total is a considerable number of vehicles whose drivers should be able to find somewhere in the vicinity to park safely and with access to local facilities. Put simply, a remote lay-by in the middle of nowhere isn’t good enough; as a former soldier like myself you will be accustomed to “roughing it” for the odd night or two but in the 21st century we really shouldn’t expect an ordinary working man to experience on a day-to-day basis such inconvenience, or more to the point, a lack of accessible conveniences!
I appreciate that you are a busy man, and that there are more pressing needs at this moment in time; but I would urge you to put any weight you can behind any motions to improve the general lot of lorry drivers. The United Kingdom as a whole treats them very shabbily compared to the rest of Europe, particularly where accessible overnight parking and facilities are concerned, and this is a major factor in the difficulty which operators experience in recruiting and retaining suitable candidates. This, I suspect, will only worsen once the “Brexit” vote is passed, and many EU nationals forsake UK employment. We desperately need more designated, or at the least, available and accessible lorry parking, this is not an issue which is going to go away. Any positive actions on either your part or that of the government in general would win you many friends in my sector of employment both at driver and operator level.
Once again, my thanks for your efforts, and wishing you my continued support.

I’ve just sent that back to him, commenting, “I hate to say “I told you so”… but I did”!

So, you’re owning the ‘because of Brexit’ myth? At last, we have someone to blame… :laughing:

LazyDriver:
So, you’re owning the ‘because of Brexit’ myth? At last, we have someone to blame… :laughing:

I don’t quite know what your point is. I wrote this letter in 2016, it was fairly obvious even then that there was going to be a shortfall in driver availability.

Sidevalve:

LazyDriver:
So, you’re owning the ‘because of Brexit’ myth? At last, we have someone to blame… :laughing:

I don’t quite know what your point is. I wrote this letter in 2016, it was fairly obvious even then that there was going to be a shortfall in driver availability.

I get what you mean mate, the crap t.s and c s and way we are perceived was always going to put sensible people off the job as soon as the EE mercenaries ■■■■ ed off home,.and the one aspect you illustrate is parking.

I can never see the logic of local councils shutting town truck parks, with all the positive aspects it brings to the local economy.
The negative aspects like mess left by the anti social among us could be funded by the parking charges.
Pontefract, is a classic example, the local chippy, and a couple of the better pubs thrived on revenue brought in by drivers, and afaik the parking land is still there, but they would rather keep it empty, and ban those nasty juggernauts from darkening their towns, than capitalise on their drivers.
Shirt sighted pompous twunts. :smiling_imp:

robroy:
I get what you mean mate, the crap t.s and c s and way we are perceived was always going to put sensible people off the job as soon as the EE mercenaries [zb] ed off home,.and the one aspect you illustrate is parking.

I can never see the logic of local councils shutting town truck parks, with all the positive aspects it brings to the local economy.
The negative aspects like mess left by the anti social among us could be funded by the parking charges.
Pontefract, is a classic example, the local chippy, and a couple of the better pubs thrived on revenue brought in by drivers, and afaik the parking land is still there, but they would rather keep it empty, and ban those nasty juggernauts from darkening their towns, than capitalise on their drivers.
Shirt sighted pompous twunts. :smiling_imp:

Yep. Even when I started for Owens in 2004,most towns and cities had somewhere near the centre for lorries to park overnight. I actually came across an absolute classic a couple of years ago, in Sherborne, Dorset. There’s a well signposted lorry park, easy access for artics, has public toilets on it and a short walk from the town centre which is a lovely place if a bit posh. Yet believe it or not, you can’t park there between 6pm and 6am; I got there one night nearly out of time, council chap came along shortly after and (politely) informed me of the rules; he’d been called out by one of the local curtain twitchers. Equally politely, I told him I couldn’t move because I had no driving time left, he said okay, no probs this time but please don’t do it again. That’s just one, there are hundreds of others.

On the other hand, there are some towns (Builth Wells being a stand-out example) where an enlightened council has accepted that lorry parking is going to happen and has made provision for decent facilities; if you didn’t know, Builth Town Council did a make-over of the public toilets a few years ago, installing a coin-operated access (costs a pound I think) which includes a shower. Cheap enough to not worry about the cost, but it also has the distinct advantage of deterring the local yobs and druggies from going in there and wrecking the place. Similar at Welshpool where there’s a 24 hour toilet; though it did irk me the other night to see a driver peeing up the side of his trailer with the open door of the bog 50 yards away in plain sight. Sometimes we are our own worst enemies; but that’s not the subject of this thread.

Sidevalve:

LazyDriver:
So, you’re owning the ‘because of Brexit’ myth? At last, we have someone to blame… :laughing:

I don’t quite know what your point is. I wrote this letter in 2016, it was fairly obvious even then that there was going to be a shortfall in driver availability.

My point, the EE’s didn’t jog on because of Brexit. They waved cheerio to these green and pleasant lands when it became obvious they were going to be asked to contribute via IR35 tax changes.

Yes IR35 made the difference when they had to pay their dues
IT contractors I worked with had the same the other year and they were all suddenly looking for permanent role in the company

Wermy:
Yes IR35 made the difference when they had to pay their dues
IT contractors I worked with had the same the other year and they were all suddenly looking for permanent role in the company

“Because of Brexit”.

:stuck_out_tongue:

Sounds like the BBC obsession with Brexit for anything that happens nowadays

:unamused:

Wermy:
Sounds like the BBC obsession with Brexit for anything that happens nowadays

:unamused:

That and of course climate change…

ah yes and meanwhile applauding space tourism travel :open_mouth:

back of lorry.jpg

bigstraight6:

Wermy:
Sounds like the BBC obsession with Brexit for anything that happens nowadays

:unamused:

That and of course climate change…

Notice how the old “Climate Change” excuses - keeps getting mixed over with the two entirely seperate issues:

Climate Change - Real, Happening, and something to prepare FOR rather than trying to prevent.
Covid 19 - Real, Happening, and something to prepare FOR rather than trying to prevent.

MAN MADE Climate Change - isn’t all it is cracked out to be, just like Man Made Covid. I don’t suggest it is a “Hoax” as such - just exaggerated to make us all believe it is worse than it really is, and we should all cough up our last pennies to go into a pretence of “doing something about it”.

The “Hoax” is that the governments everywhere - ‘are actually doing something about it’, when they are clearly NOT having much useful effect whatsoever.

Look at what the Government intends to do with regards to the “Driver Shortage”.

If “Driver Shortage” is a THIRD such exaggeration - then the government seems to have already lost control of THIS one as well - haven’t they?

Establishment “resistance” to ordinary workers becoming “upwardly mobile” - is the real thing to blame for all this.

Office workers - routinely get headhunted, promoted, and re-located - often with lucrative packages to do so.

Not so the ordinary worker, who once they quit their underpaid and over-worked position - the employer missing that much-needed staff member can only think of replacing them as cheaply as possible, and then moan that Brexit happened that puts barriers in place to do just that.

There are PLENTY of Eastern European workers who’ve chosen to STAY in the UK, having already worked here for more than five years, paying taxes, and devloping a kind of “under-economy” all of their own.

The ones that have gone home - have done so more because there are better opportunities back home now than before, and of course the fact that their beloved old country currency - the Euro - is still over-valued, and therefore to be paid in it in one’s old country - is now marginally better than UK crappy wages for doing the same job.

Raise the Rates, Keep them raised, enshrine the higher rates into cast-iron contracts.

To the Establishment - I suggest “Resistance is Futile” when it comes to naked market forces that are at play now for the first time in our lifetimes, and that is really the only concept “Because of Brexit” that applies here. :bulb:

This is one I remember that backfired.

The council received complaints about HGVs damaging Britannia car park’s surface, about the noise and pollution and refrigeration vans leaving their motors running all night.

Complainants also pointed out that millions of pounds were spent on building a bypass for Tadcaster to remove through-traffic and HGVs.

Having spent the money and removed so much traffic they ask why should we now invite them back? They also raised concerns about implications for accidents and safety. On the basis of their complaints, Selby District Council took a democratic decision not to support a lorry park some years ago. Since then, extensive public consultation confirmed that decision.

Councillor R Wilson,

Selby District Council,

Civic Centre,

Portholme Road, Selby.

Updated: 11:46 Tuesday, December 10, 2002

Tadcaster had a lovely little lorry park, but the council banned lorries only to be replaced by boy racer types, noisy exhausts and horns blowing, most councils could stop the noisy cars by allowing lorries to return, local pubs and food outlets might gain some custom and it may give added security to local business.

^^^^^^^^^^^
Poetic justice. … ■■■■ em :grimacing:
Hope their house values drop. :laughing:

LazyDriver:

Sidevalve:

LazyDriver:
So, you’re owning the ‘because of Brexit’ myth? At last, we have someone to blame… :laughing:

I don’t quite know what your point is. I wrote this letter in 2016, it was fairly obvious even then that there was going to be a shortfall in driver availability.

My point, the EE’s didn’t jog on because of Brexit. They waved cheerio to these green and pleasant lands when it became obvious they were going to be asked to contribute via IR35 tax changes.

In 2016, when I wrote this letter, there was no thought of scrapping !R35. However, whilst I’m happy to be corrected, I don’t think that scrapping would have been possible without Brexit. Therefore my point stands.