Yesterday's entry on the BBC's Real Story programme concentrated on its condemnation of foreign operators in the UK, based on the BBC website's story. Watching the programme, it became clear that this was only the half of it - it was an indictment of UK operators as well, and the institutionalised practice of tachograph fraud.
And I can't add much to Brian Weatherley's analysis of the programme on BigLorryBlog - particularly when he highlights Stephen Ladyman's unimpressive performance, and makes the vital point that VOSA's policy of targeted enforcement is really just a way of making the most of its limited budget, rather than a way of wiping out the cowboy operators. We can cavil at some of the BBC's techniques (the programme was arguably over-emotional, it sometimes seemed like a love-letter to VOSA, and it used poorly-phrased statistics such as "you are twice as likely to be killed by a truck as by a car") but Fiona Bruce and the production team have given the industry an important splash of cold water in the face. POSTSCRIPT: One operator which should be particularly ashamed is a Continental outfit which was bringing in new DAFs - on clearly over-length vehicles. Here's one case in which the customer should make absolutely sure that the operator is running legally.
Comments (1)
The whole industry should hang its head in shame over last night's show. Sure the BBC picked up on the easy targets, but the fact there's so many of them is something we shouldn't try and deny. What about a blog where people can name and shame companies?
Posted by Truckwatcher | October 26, 2006 1:59 PM
Posted on October 26, 2006 13:59