Recent poll conducted by the
RHA shows the majority of people working within the road haulage industry sees a Conservative government best represents the interests of the industry.
The poll was conducted as people were leaving the CV show on 14th Apil 2015.
244 haulage industry professionals were asked ‘’which political party do you consider best represents the interests of the road haulage industry?’’
57.7% went for the Conservatives.
8.2% opted for Labour.
The SNP and The Green Party shared 2% between them while only 0.8% of those questioned plumped for Liberal Democrats.
13% of industry professionals questioned thought none of the main political parties had the industry interests at heart. A further 13% said they didn't know and 5% refused to answer.
Which party has the haulage industry interests at heart?
Keeping the cost of fuel down is a major concern for hauliers and several of the visitors leaving the show mentioned that they feared that if Labour were in control they would increase fuel duty at the earliest opportunity to help fund its manifesto pledges.
RHA chief executive, Richard Burnett, said “These results are no revelation. Under the last government our industry and the UK’s consumers benefited from a sustained fuel duty freeze. This has helped to keep distribution costs down, helped the cash flow of haulage firms, has put pounds in the public’s pockets and has directly contributed to the economic recovery. Other political parties have a track record on fuel duty, treating it as a cash cow.’’
“As we have highlighted in our manifesto, an investment in roads is vitally important to us and the economy as a whole. The promised £100b of infrastructure spending, pledged by the Tories in their manifesto, is good news, providing a sizable chunk is spent on the roads, reducing the £14b per year, that congestion costs the UK economy.’’
Burnett added that all the political parties needed to make clear where they stand on the issues of fuel duty and road infrastructure investment. These are two serious issue for the industry and the economy as a whole.
The Green Party recently publicly recommended the removal of innocence from HGV drivers that are involved in accidents with cyclists. This recommendation will not help the political party gain votes from drivers within the road haulage industry.
UKIP, who either didn’t get included in the poll or didn’t get any votes have promised to
scrap the Driver CPC and commit to no road tolling if they are elected.
It would be interesting to see who HGV drivers, the workhorses of the industry, feel has the industry’s best interests at heart.