Conference Report
Conference Report
Transport matters post Brexit
WITH THE IMPLICATIONS OF BREXIT TOP OF THE AGENDA , ATTENDEES AT THE FREIGHT TRANSPORT ASSOCIATION ’ S TRANSPORT MANAGER CONFERENCES FOUND THERE WAS ‘ A LOT TO ABSORB ’.
Fuel Oil News was present at the Warrington conference where James Firth , FTA ’ s head of licensing policy and compliance information , said :
“ The FTA is working on Brexit related issues that may affect logistics – implications for our sector could be huge .”
A note on the implications of Brexit in an FTA briefing note states
Nothing changes for freight transport operations until negotiations for the UK to exit the EU have been completed and then much will depend on the agreement ( s ) that is / are reached . Until then there will be no change in the way in which EU legislation applies in the UK or to international operations , even after that point the extent to which some laws will change is currently unclear .
“ Not all EU law is bad ,” said James referring to widely reported
Continued on page 25 .
suggestions that the country should get rid of certain aspects of EU law post Brexit .”
But what did the audience think ? Armed with a click pad , attendees were asked to vote to keep , change or scrap legislation affecting logistics . The following were among the Warrington responses .
Keep Drivers ’ hours –‘ the rules are just about right ’ Tachos – 90 % voted to keep – the next generation of tachos are due in 2018 / 19 meaning they should be in vehicles before Brexit
Change Operator licensing ( 62 %) Driver CPC ( 85 %) ‘ far over the top ’
Scrap ? The Working Time Directive attracted a more fragmented vote ; intended to prevent exploitation some felt it ’ s heart was in the right place whilst for others it is a useless bureaucratic measure
The general consensus where Fuel Oil News was sitting was that most EU laws relating to transport should be kept with some changes made . Several sighted that international trade deals may limit significant regulatory changes to UK road transport ; potential border issues in Ireland were also discussed .
“ The new buzzword in government is strategic objectives ,’ said conference chair Karen Dee , FTA ’ s director of policy . Conference content was designed around being compliant , excellent , connected and responsible and to provide the knowledge and tools to prepare for legislative challenges in the coming year , with the need to ‘ exercise a level of pragmatism ’.
The FTA ’ s Yearbook of Road Transport Law 2017 , sponsored by Bridgestone Tyres , is now available . Compiled by FTA ’ s team of transport legislation experts , the 55th edition has been fully updated for 2017 . A copy of the Yearbook is free to FTA member , the cost to nonmembers is £ 80 with discounts for multiple orders . www . shop . fta . co . uk
Does your company have an occupational road risk policy ? Do you know what your drivers are doing outside work ? Just two of the questions asked by Beverley Bell , senior traffic commissioner for Great Britain who retires in May 2017 . With respect to the latter question Beverley said that the enlightened employer will find out .
Reminding the audience that being a transport manager carries a statutory responsibility , Beverley said that one in six deaths on trunk roads involve a driver who is asleep and most crashes occur within two hours of a journey . “ Never say it will never happen to me .”
Revisions to the revised statutory documents published on 22nd December 2016 were introduced last month – www . gov . uk / government / organisations / trafficcommissioners .
Compliance , OCRS and Earned Recognition DVSA senior vehicle examiner , Steve Lyon , updated on changes to the Operator Compliance Risk Score ( OCRS ) system and the Earned Recognition programme which will be introduced during 2017 .
Enabling DVSA to adopt a different approach to operators depending on level of compliance , operators will earn the new Earned Recognition status by proving a strong track record of compliance and by allowing DVSA to access their real-time driver and vehicle data .
The aim is to reduce the burden on the compliant and for DVSA to better target the grey fleet of non-compliant operators . Carrying out ‘ remote ’ fleet checks on the compliant will significantly reduce the requirement to stop complaint vehicles at the roadside . With the expectation that operators will be lifted out of OCRS , Karen Dee is ‘ very positive ’ about Earned Recognition .
Earned Recognition is ‘ a light touch of enforcement in return for sharing data ’ said Malcolm Bingham , FTA ’ s head of policy for the north of England .
“ Nothing will stop you from random checks ,” said Malcolm who discussed a plethora of schemes – Transport for London , Eco Stars , Logistics Carbon Reduction Scheme , CLOCS , FORS ( fleet operator recognition scheme ) and FTA ’ s Truck Excellence Accreditation scheme ( fleetexcellence . co . uk ) which accredits a fleet against 63 ‘ O ’ licence requirements
“ The Earned Recognition scheme looks promising ; when we have more detail , we will be able to make a better assessment .” Fuel Oil News | February 2017 11