The Road Freight Industry and the General Public in the UK - Essay Example

Analyze how the road freight industry is perceived by the general public in the UK. Discuss how specific pieces of legislation pertinent to RFT may either reinforce or dispel some of these perceptions. Describe ways in which road haulage companies may voluntarily implement strategies to improve their public image. Introduction The road industry has gained a lot of momentum over the last decade. The immense changes in the road and transport industry are global. From large, urban cities to small, suburban towns; the concept of road freight has also changed significantly. The road freight industry basically refers to the groups of companies that manage cargoes and shipment of other luggage through the road network including railways. These goods may be for other industries or for consumer use. Over the years, road freight has become more costly and thus less prefered. This owes to the ever up surging petroleum prices, increased road taxes, lots of heavy road traffic even after the peak hours, more alternatives available and most of all stringent rules and restrictions on road freight. The United Kingdom has also seen a change in the goods that are carried by road and also the transport means that are being used for it. The road freight industry of UK has been highly criticized for its legislations and other informal regulatory policies from time to time. However, it has survived through all this and come out successful, nonetheless. The road freight industry in the UK is composed of lorries, cargoes and railways mainly. Many laws have been passed to ensure the smooth running of the industry and to minimize smuggling and other bads in the society such as trade of illegal goods. However, it has been criticized for been a lousy industry which hasn’t worked up to its capacity. This criticism can only be weighed under the facts and figures that will be described in this paper. The Freight Transport Association (FTA) has been working tirelessly to make the freight process in UK highly civilized and well planned. It has, to a considerable extent, been successful in achieving its goal. Though, there is more yet to be done. It is not just one company that will make road freight reach new heights, a lot more private companies will have to plunge in and turn dreams into reality. Road haulage companies may volunteer to give some suggestions and suggest strategies that might help improve the public image of the road freight industry. This is very important for the industry to survive and earn profits. How the road freight industry is perceived by the general public in UK The road freight industry in the UK has been highly criticized over the years. The public has had mixed feelings associated with it. While some believe that the Freight Transport Association is working to benefit the public, most citizens of UK believe that it is not doing its best. The road frieght industry is criticized most for the abrupt delays in delivery. This surely affects the businesses that rely on deliveries to and fro boundaries. This has most gravely affected the food industry where most products are perishable( Lowe, 2004). When such delays cause food items to turn stale by the time they reach the consumers, they add to consumer frustration and discontentment. In addition they ruin the industry’s repute and customer loyalty. This also leads to a lot of wastage of resources and hampers the trust on road freight. The dairy industries cannot possibly use air freight since that would quadruple their costs and unrealiable road freight causes all parties involved to incur great losses. Road freights are also highly criticized for increasing congestion on roads. This is because cargoes are usually large vehicles and they are heavy too so the cargoes cannot travel too fast. In addition to the speed limitation, they take up a lot of space on the road. The other cars get clogged when too many cargoes are present. It also becomes tangerous since heavy cargoes are likely to topple over and lead to very disastrous consequences. The public in UK is much against the road freight industry since it sees the cargoes and lorries as an added risk on road safety. The UK population believes that usually public drivers are not very careful of other cars around and of pedestrians leading to taking up a lot of innocent lives and clogging traffic for hours. In the UK, the road freight industry is also criticized for its lousy progress over the years. The cargoes used are quite old and worn off. No one takes up the responsibility of getting them painted and repaired so that they might not look that unsighty on the roads. It is believed by the public that road freights are so unsighty that the tourists are taken aback. The tourists are disappointed seeing the condition in which goods are transported and so they do not buy much of British goods affecting other industries consequently. One of the most shocking criticisms that the UK road freight industry has had over the years has been the increase in the supply and transport of potentially harmful goods to and fro road freight. New legislation passed in November 2006 gives a full list of legally allowed commodities. This is for the safety of the people who live in UK and also for the repute of the country’s freight. This may hamper some businesses but it is hoped that it would be in the best interest of the country. According to Roads Minister Stephen Ladysman, the haulage industry is very important since it helps the citizens get what they want and when they want. And as industries develop and progress, it is very important that the road freight industry also progresses and develops new strategies and techniques. Teenagers and graduates are more optimistic about the current state of the road freight industry in the UK however they have environmental concerns. This has been concluded by a survey conducted by FTA in 2006. Most cars in UK use unleaded petrol and have exhausts with carbon filters. In addition, cars on electricity and water are used by people who can afford them. However, the road freight industry is still using automotives that are highly polluting. This tarnishes the green image of UK that is being established currently. Since the criticisms to the road freight industry are large in number, they overshadow the fairly few positive impacts as realised by the public in UK. British believe that road freight has made transport of fairly rare and expensive items like jewellery, antiques, raw gold etc much more easier and safer (Lowe, 2005). It is also cheaper than translocating the same items by air. Also, the road freight industry, specifically rail freight has been in demand ever since it began because rail freight is a cheap alternative and also the only alternative for transporting big and bulky goods. How specific pieces of legislation pertinent to RFT may either reinforce or dispel some of these perceptions Since there are quite a number of allegations and suspicions with regard to the road freight in UK, there have been a number of legislations passed to ensure that the process is safe, efficient and timely. However, the working of these legislations is limited because of no follow ups by the governments. In 2006, the Roads Minister Stephen Ladyman worked on the kinds of goods that could be cargoed in UK. The list was given to all authorized road freight industry men so that they would know what is legal and what is not. This helped a great deal in curbing the crimes such as smuggling and illegal trafficing of drugs. Also, there have been stringent speed policies implied in the last decade. Previously a leverage of 10% over and above the speed limit was given but now a 2% limit has been set. This is to ensure that road freight does not pose a threat to the safety of the other citizens and they can continue their errands fearlessly. In order to satiate the female population in UK who has previously had security concerns, FTA has ordered to have an emergency contact number on all road freight locomotives. This will be there for the general public to call and tell their comments. Their comments will be heard and due and efficient action will be taken as an answer to any criticisms. Also, many students have been given part time employment in the road freight industry. This has been done so that the other non-British members are minimally kept in the road freight industry to avoid any clashes of creeds and civilizations. Race and prejudices related to it have been common in the road freight industry previously and then need to be curbed. The British Chamber of Commerce (BCC) has worked tirelessly to form the legislation for the railway networks in UK. In April 2007 BCC came up with a report called “ Sustainable Transport- Rail Freight” . In this various issues pertaining to rail freight were discussed and adequate solutions given. There have been rising costs associated with the railway industry which has sunken its profits. The BCC has enforced laws that will ensure that the rail service is properly maintained through taxes and other fundings. If the rail service is properly maintained, then only will the problems of delays and late deliveries end. Effeciency in the modes of communication is very important with business dealings. The road freight locomotives carrying valuables such as money or jewels have been ordered by the FTA to be bullet proof and with no windows (McKinnon, 2010). This is to prevent any thefts and unwanted attention by the local public. The government, no doubt, is doing its job. It may take time for the effects to show their true colors. Till then, the other agencies and companies to come forward and help the government attain their agenda that sitting back and waiting for the government to do everything. Ways in which road haulage companies may voluntarily implement strategies to improve their public image Since the public image of road haulage companies has been tarnished by some unfortunate incidents, it is incumbent on the companies to work hard and retrieve their past glory. This will help them have a more positive and encouraging environment beyond work. The public would trust these companies and so would other industries. This trust is essential because this will inculcate a feeling of mutual reliability and the road haulage companies will get better work. When more and better paid work will be delievered to the road haulage companies, they will be able to invest more in their existing vehicles, get new and environment friendly ones and enjoy a healthier working environment. The road haulage companies may ask for customer surveys and questionaires. The surveys should not be intermittent as in the past, in fact, they need to be frequent and well timed. Also, the surveys need to be fair and complete (Jourguin, 2006). This will help the companies know what is expected of them from the public. Most people don’t like the trucks and lorries during peak hours because that leads to undue congestion. This is justified and so road haulage companies can limit their work hours to suit the needs of the general public. This will also help avoid accidents. Also, these companies should let the public know all facts and figures about the costs and revenues associated with the transport. This will be helpful since most road haulage companies are currently in debt which is why they cannot afford to get green like the rest of UK’s affluent population. Once the public knows that it is because of lack of funds, they may agree to provide private funding and help improve the standards. It is also very important to have a monitoring and regulating framework in the company. Most road haulage companies give the drivers the full liberty and the drivers are inturn not questioned with regard to anything. There should be a check on how the drivers drive, how safe are they for the public and whether or not the public is being threatened by their presence. Sexual and gender specific harassment is very shameful indeed and needs to be curbed completely for UK’s road freight industry to survive. There can be other actions that these road haulage companies can take. For example, they may agree on mergers and acquisitions on a national or an international scale to increase their market share and reduce costs. This will help the already drowning industry improve its conditions a little. More over, there should be frequent follow ups on anything that is planned for implementation. Many laws and regulations are passed with regard to road freight but one seldom sees them in implementation. The government should take adequate follow up from the road haulage companies to ensure that the rules and laws are taken care of. LKW WALTER Internationale and My National Transport Company are the two road haulage companies that make sure proper follow up plans are implemented within the organization. This is a great step towards improvement because the government has a lot of other agendas than seeing if milk reached the market on time, for example. Last but not the least, since social networking and online dealings have become very popular these days, the road haulage companies should have very wisely made websites and help forums. The websites should contain all the important information and contacts. It should also have the company’s annual reports and cost benefit analysis (Banister, 1998). This will help the public know about the transparency of the organization and be more comfortable using it. Conclusion The recent state of road freight in UK is deplorable and not much can be done to emiliorate the conditions unless other organizations besides the government plunge in and do something big. This is because the laws and legislations on road transport have been as ancient as in the 1930s and their amendments and additions must be passed very soon so as to comply with the recent needs and demands. Otherwise, there will be no coming back for the industry and it will never be able to retrieve its past glory. Enough said, the road freight industry is nevertheless a very important one for UK for the transport of smaller and valuable items. Therefore, the road freight industry is there to stay. However, it would be great if actions might be taken to ensure that it is up to the standards specified by the government and is a source of benefit and help for the public and not a source of discomfort and pain. Also, it must be realised by the general public that the FTA is already doing much to help the road haulage companies but public funding will never be enough for such large scale projects. Individuals and other groups should be encouraged to give private funds and help out in the administrative tasks so that the road freight industry in UK may see prosperous times again. References Lowe, D. (2004).A Study Manual of Professional Competence in Road Haulage (p. 145-147). Kogan Page. Lowe, D. (2005). Intermodal Freight Transport (p. 23-35). A Butterworth-Heinemann Title. Banister, D. (1998).Transport Policy and the Environment (p. 35-78). Routledge. Jourguin, B. & Reitveld, P. & Westin, K. (2006).Towards Better Performing Transport Network (p. 60). Routledge. McKinnon, A. & Cullinane, S. & Browne, M. (2010).Green Logistics: Improving the Environmental Sustainability of Logistics (p. 116-119). Kogan Page. Read More