The Road Haulage Association (RHA), which represents a large proportion of the country’s truck operators, had a stand at the Conservative Party conference last week to ensure that those in power become aware of the state of Britain’s freight industry. the freight organisation wanted to show just how hard a lorry driver’s job actually is, and how the chronic shortage of staff entering the HGV industry is a matter of importance to the country.
Conference visitors were invited to the RHA stand to take part in a ‘Top Gear’ style challenge on a truck simulator. A lot of MPs took the challenge including secretary of state for transport Patrick McLoughlin, logistics minister Andrew Jones and ports minister Robert Goodwill whilst former RHA chief executive and transport minister Steve Norris also visited the stand.
Meanwhile the other main representative for the UK’s road industry, the Freight Transport Association (FTA) supports government action proposed for the near future. The Department for Transport (DfT) intends to introduce a bridge marking system that will show both imperial and metric height, width and length limits.