Theresa Villiers, shadow secretary for transport, visited Wincanton's Greenford, Middlesex, depot earlier this month to gain a greater understanding of the driver's role.
Speaking to MT, Villiers says: "I meet with people involved in the logistics and haulage sector every week and my visit to Wincanton's site reinforced exactly what the key challenges are for the industry at the moment."
Holly Porter, group marketing director at Wincanton, says: "We spent some time explaining the
role of 3PLs in UK logistics and discussing business drivers and challenges, such as changing customer demand, aircraft duty, the London Low Emission Zone, the proposed Agency Labour Bill and factors such as the skills shortage, migrant workers, fuel duty, and the credit crunch."
Asked how she thinks the government can help hauliers survive spiralling fuel costs, Villiers says:"It's hugely important that we find a way to create a more level playing field and get foreign hauliers paying their share to the Exchequer. We've been looking at road user charging as one way to tackle this."
Villiers ended her visit with a driver induction, before doing some driving herself in the yard.
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