Inland Freight Transport Systems - Essay Example

INLAND FREIGHT TRANSPORT SYSTEMS – TRANSPORTATION THROUGH LARGE GOODS VEHICLES: HOW SAFE AND RELIABLE THEY ARE? A CRITICAL ANALYSIS CONTENTS S/NoSubject Page Executive Summary 2 1.0 Introduction 3 2.0 Various Inland Freight Transportation Modes 4 3.0. Transport Regulatory Systems and the common Legal liabilities of the Operator/Drive Under the Regulatory provisions Legal Liabilities of the operator of the Transport System 4 3.1 Regulatory Authorities and Their Roles 5 3.2 An Overview of Operator Licensing, Safety and Driver Licensing Regulations 6 4.0 Impact of the Various Regulations on the Safety of Road Transport 11 5.0 Shortcomings of the Regulations 12 6.0 Conclusion 13 7.0. References 14 Web Links EXECUTIVE SUMMARY There has always been criticism about the operation of Road Transportation system, especially the Large Goods Vehicle (LGV), that they are holding the primary responsibility for the fatal and other major accidents happening on the highways. However there may be multifarious reasons for such mishaps. In general it becomes the responsibility of the government operating through its various authorities to bring in to operation, a foolproof system that prevents the causes leading to the accidents. In this context there are many regulations put forth by the government concerning the operation of the system as well as regulating the issue of licences to the drivers with a view to keep the transport system safe and legal. This paper studies the depth of such regulations in maintaining the road safety and makes a critical analysis of the effect of the regulations on the operators and drivers in that direction. This paper also takes a role of a counter campaign against those criticising the operation of the LGV transport system as unsafe by analysing the regulations and at the same time bringing out the shortcomings or lacunae in the system. It also attempts to suggest some useful hints for the future developments. Note: To make the paper more user-friendly, some provisions have been adapted as such or paraphrased from the original Handbook prepared by Vehicle and Operator Service Agency (VOSA) and the regulations of other statutory bodies. 1.0 INTRODUCTION: With globalization of the industrial and business activities, the effective management of supply chain system ensuring the availability of the right material at the right time and at the right quality has become an immediate and important necessity to any business organisation. . This also necessitated the development and maintenance of new and speedy ways of inland freight movement systems and thereby to succeed the fight against the time to reach the merchandise at the destination at the proper time. In such an effort, due to human errors there are umpteen possibilities due to the improper maintenance of the vehicles or the carelessness of the people operating such transport vehicles that accidents do happen on the city roads and the highways. Under those circumstances it becomes absolutely essential to find out the cause of such an incident to fix the onus of compensating the aggrieved party and punishing the erring person. This analysis will lead us to so many debatable issues which will finally culminate on the government’s responsibility to efficiently administer the system of operating the transport system and the issue of licences to those who handle the vehicles. In this direction the government; (though it cannot be considered to be one hundred percent foolproof), has prescribed certain legislative measures to control the operations of the system and regulate the issue and renewal of driving licences. The government has also formed regulatory authoritative bodies to ensure the adherence of these measures and also to ensure the safety and legality of the inland transport system. In this present study paper we will make an attempt to have an in-depth insight into the various regulations which govern the inland freight transport systems and their possible effect on the safe administration of the entire transport system with particular reference to the Large Goods vehicle transportation. 2.0 VARIOUS INLAND FREIGHT TRANSPORTATION MODES Inland freight transportation in all parts of Europe and UK has made tremendous inroads into the Economy of the various participating EU Nations and the UK. The common form inland freight transportation takes the following modes: Road Transport-involving trucks and containers Inland rail Transport Transportation through river ways Transportation by sea – coastal shipping Of all the available means of goods transportation road freight is of vital economic importance. The broad trends in the freight transport market over the past few decades indicate rapid and continuous growth of transport and stagnation of other modes. The transportation by road freight has almost trebled since 1970 in Western Europe. In central and Eastern Europe the road mode is shortly going to become dominant. The underlying reasons for these developments include the growth in trade, the creation of the single European market and shifts in societal and industrial structure and habits. The speed with which this transport segment operates has also contributed to their fast growth. 3.0 TRANSPORT REGULATORY SYSTEMS AND THE COMMON LEGAL LIABILITIES OF THE OPERATOR/DRIVER UNDER THE REGULATORY PROVISIONS: In order to maintain and control the safety and legality in the transport system the government by acting through various agencies has provided the basic rules that every transport operator must follow to run his business smoothly without entangling in to the legal net of criminality of non-adherence to the various safety and other regulations governing the transport operations. In this part of the paper we will study the various government authorities that run the transport system and the underlying regulatory provisions of safety, licensing and running of the operations. 3.1 REGULATORY AUTHORITIES AND THERE AREAS OF CONTROL: According to the Highways Agency Report of 2003, the road freight sector of UK is made up of the following two transport segments: Own Transport System-using one’s own transport system for the transportation of one’s own goods. Hire or Reward Operation consists of third party contract transporters to move the merchandise belonging to the general public. It was also estimated that the there were around 108,000 transport operators in the UK with Over 70% of the UK domestic road freight operated via the hire or reward mode of operation and 85% of these haulage firms in 1995 had 1-5 vehicles. However 54% of the total vehicle fleet was operated by firms with 11 or more vehicles. With the passage of time these figures would have surpassed anyone’s imagination. These statistics go to prove the necessity of an efficient administration of the transport system to make it safer. The Department of Transport UK is administering the control and safety regulations through the following regulatory bodies which operate under its control. Driving Standards Agency (DSA): responsible for promoting road safety through improving driving standards. Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA): responsible for facilitating road safety and general law enforcement by maintaining registers of drivers and vehicles and collecting the vehicle excise duty. Vehicle Certification Agency (VCA): for the approval of motor vehicles and components and a leading certification body. Vehicle and Operator Services Agency (VOSA): provides a range of licensing, testing and enforcement services to improve the roadworthiness standards of vehicles, ensuring the compliance of operators and drivers with road traffic regulations. Highways Agency (HA): responsible for operating, maintaining and improving the strategic road network in UK. Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA): responsible throughout the UK for implementing the Government’s maritime safe policy. 3.2 AN OVERVIEW OF OPERATOR LICENSING, SAFETY AND DRIVER LICENSING REGULATIONS: Safety of the mode of transport comes first in deciding the utility of any transport mode. Any freight transport system which is run legally would naturally be safe so long as the rules and regulations provided by various laws are followed in every respect. The regulations governing the safety and legality of the running of the freight transport systems are provided in the guidelines prepared by ‘The Vehicle and Service Operating Agency’ (VOSA), a wing of the Department for Transport in the UK. These guidelines also specify the penalties that will be levied on the operator for the non-compliance of the various regulatory measures provided by the Guidelines. In addition to these guidelines which provide for the safe conduct of the business of the operator, the Department for Transport UK has also laid down the various licensing procedures for the issue of drivers’ licence and their renewal. Some of the important regulatory provisions and the legal obligations on the part of the operator for his negligent or wilful non-compliance of the various provisions are listed below: Operating Regulations: ‘The safe operator’s guide’ issued by VOSA provides the regulations in connection with the licensing of operators. These guidelines take the following broad heads to prescribe the regulatory provisions: General monitoring procedures and systems providing for driver’s hours and record keeping by the operator Provisions relating to Drivers as regards their employment, contracting and safety issues. Provisions relating to vehicles their usage and maintenance, loading etc., Provisions relating to compliance of the various legislative measures and the governmental checks on the adherence of those measures. The regulatory provisions are so exhaustive and elaborate; the enumeration of them in detail would make the purpose o f this paper futile. Hence a condensed and summarised briefing of the provisions for the easy understanding of the readers is given below: The Traffic commissioner is given enormous powers under the guidelines to revoke, suspend or specify various conditions for the operation of the vehicles, where he finds the operator is not meeting the regulatory provisions mentioned in the guidelines. He may at any time visit the workplace of the operator for inspecting the documents and records being maintained by the operator. The Traffic commissioner may also impound the vehicle of the operator and the goods being carried by the vehicle, if has reason to believe that the operator has not kept his workplace and the records of his freight transport system in accordance with the provisions of the guidelines. In the event of the driver driving the vehicle with an expired or cancelled licence, the traffic commissioner may impound the vehicle. He has also the powers to impound the goods being carried by the vehicle. Under the guidelines, the legal obligations of the operator are very exhaustive to cover the undertakings given by him at the time of getting the licence with respect to the maintenance of the workplace as well as other records prescribed by the guidelines. He has to keep records concerning the drivers’ hours and other records like tachograph for at least a year from the date of issue. Similarly the operator is under legal obligation to maintain the equipment in a proper working condition. He has to maintain documents like drivers rosters and tachograph kept in his workplace for examination by the Traffic commissioner. The operator has to inform the Traffic commissioner within 28 days of any convictions or prohibitions relating to the driver or any happening with respect to the conduct of the business of the operator which has the effect on the good standing of the operator. Monitoring Regulations: The Traffic commissioners are vested with enormous powers to look after the efficient administration of the road safety and other operating regulations by a continuous monitoring of the various activities of the operators. The table adopted from the VOSA guide provides the monitoring responsibilities of the Traffic commissioners and other authorities: From the various points being checked by the authorities it may be observed that a considerable thought process has been undertaken to ensure the safety of the road transport system. Regulations governing the Drivers’ recruitment, licensing etc. The guide book also contains detailed provisions relating to recruitment, licensing, training, drivers’ handbook, sanctions and rewards, driver performance evaluation s using agency drivers and sub contracted operators working working time and working conditions regulations There are various other exhaustive provisions relating to the monitoring of the vehicles providing for the usage and maintenance of vehicles, driver defect reports, provisions relating to loading of vehicles which provides for efficient running of the transport business. Drivers’ Hours and Tachographic Rules for Goods Vehicles in the UK and Europe: These guidelines provide advice to drivers and operators of goods vehicles whether used privately or commercially. It explains the rules for drivers’ hours and the keeping of records. These guidelines make it obligatory on the part of both drivers and employers to ensure that they comply with the drivers’ hours and tachographic rules. Enforcement of these regulations is the onus of the Licensing Authorities through the VOSA and the police. Deliberate falsification of tachograph records can result in 2 years imprisonment and/or a fine. Convictions may be taken into account by Licensing Authorities in deciding whether to grant or renew an operator’s licence or HGV driver’s licence. While the above are for Large Goods Vehicles, separate guidelines have been issued for Passenger Carrying Vehicles. Thus it may be observed that the mandatory provisions regulating the operation of inland road transport systems are quite exhaustive and the operator should have the patience and the ability to comprehend and follow these guidelines. 4.0 IMPACT OF THE VARIOUS REGULATIONS ON THE SAFETY OF THE ROAD TRANSPORT: The main contention of the campaign against the road fright operation is “trucks are dangerous in mechanical condition and through drivers illegally working excessive hours, leading to incidents and that they are subsidised through the taxation system.” We have discussed elsewhere in this paper the various legislative provisions regulating the operations of the road transport organisations. It may be observed from the discussion that there are exhaustive provisions prescribed by the government in the following respects: Safe maintenance of the vehicles Maintenance of transport records Drivers’ hours Recruitment, training, working conditions and licensing of the drivers The provisions are so exhaustive that they cover almost all the aspects pertaining to the safety transportation of the commodities. Moreover, the government has not just stopped with the laying down of the regulations, but also has provided provisions for monitoring and ensuring that the operators adhere to these provisions. Hence the argument that the mechanical defects in the vehicles and the excessive working of the drivers only lead to accidents cannot be maintained. This argument fails to take into account the subjective issues which might have lead to the accidents like the mental conditions of drivers and weather conditions which definitely have a say in the safe operation. In spite of these detailed guidelines there may be occasions beyond the control of human beings that may result in the accidents. That is why they are ‘Accidents’ 5.0 SHORTCOMINGS OF THE REGULATIONS: Even though the regulations made in respect of safety and the conduct of drivers is exhaustive they are not left with the inherent shortcomings. They are: The regulations are so exhaustive that make them the operators allergic to even understand what he is required to do under these regulations. The same aspect of the regulations being quite voluminous make the regulatory authorities also complacent in strictly monitoring the adherence of the regulations, with the result that the provisions are analysed and corroborated only at the time of accidents. Too many statutory obligations make the record keeping nullifies the true purpose of maintaining them and make them papers with systematic useless data and information to satisfy the government machinery. The only way to make the operators follow the guidelines for the safe and legal running of their business is to educate them in the effective ways of following the regulations. Secondly prescription of stringent punishment measures in the form of fines and cancellation or revocation of licences for major and minor offences may create a fear in the minds of the operators and drivers to follow the guidelines effectively. 6.0 CONCLUSION: The government and the concerned regulatory authorities should constantly aim at providing coherent, integrated and long term solutions which results in the commitment and involvement of all the road transport operators for achieving and assuring an efficient transport sustainable for health, safety and environment, at the same time ensuring economic development of all the countries concerned. This exercise can be taken by a periodic review of all the regulations; their applicability to different situations (there may be some provisions which just exist from time to time as a part of the regulation without any purpose being achieved) and an analysis of the circumstances and factors which lead to various accidents. All these measures will render fruitful results only when all the parties concerned understand the importance of these regulations and decide on their own to follow them without any legal compulsion. Word Count: 2695 Reference List: 1. Vehicles and Operator Services Agency VOSA (2005) [online] Available from: http://www.vosa.gov.uk (Accessed: 04th January 2007) 2. Drivers and Vehicles Licensing Agency DVLA (2005) Drivers information page: bus, lorry, operators and drivers information. [online] Available from: http://www.dvla.gov.uk/drivers/operators info.htm (Accessed: 04th January 2007) 3. Highways Agency Guide to Freight (2003) Road Freight Licensing Regulations [online] Available from: http://www.haguidetofreight.co.uk/IndustryStructure/id387.htm (Accessed: 12th January 2007) 4. Highways Agency (2005) Road Freight Licensing Regulations [online] Available from: http://www.haguidetofreight.co.uk/ (Accessed: 12th January 2007) 5. Vehicle Certification Agency VCA (2005) [online] Available from: http://www.vca.gov.uk/ (Accessed: 12th January 2007) Read More