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Good news, in respect of congestion charging and road pricing, has been in short supply of late. So I was pleasantly surprised to find that one of my nagging concerns was addressed last week in the Government's Local Transport Bill...
Good news, in respect of congestion charging and road pricing, has been in short supply of late. So I was pleasantly surprised to find that one of my nagging concerns was addressed last week in the Government's Local Transport Bill.
The new bill attempts to find a balance between local authority autonomy, in that local promoters will no longer have to apply to the Secretary of State for permission to implement a scheme, and national co-ordination of road charging systems.
This 'national' co-ordination or, to be more technical, the inter-operability of road charging equipment, has thankfully emerged as one of the cornerstones of the new bill. It is proposed that central government will be granted additional powers to ensure compatibility of systems by specifying standard data formats, unique numbering systems for equipment, standards for encryption and security and new rules relating to the exchange of information between local authorities and central government.
Anyway at face value the inter-operability focus is welcome news for both leasing companies and their customers who were beginning to worry about the potential for an uncoordinated approach and the nightmare scenario of administering tolls, fines and penalty notices from multiple systems across the UK. It will however be essential that these powers deliver real consistency of application and administration otherwise road pricing runs the risk of becoming a "local poll tax".
Furthermore, the draft bill, if passed, should also ensure that the UK remains in line with the EU's goal of ensuring inter-operability of toll roads and road pricing, with the long term objective of ensuring that technology and pricing systems correspond across the EU to reduce transport bureaucracy and, in turn, lower business costs.
That is a goal we can all get behind!
Until next week
Mike
23 May 2007: Low Emission Zones - the first of many?
This week my attention has been drawn to the announcement that London Mayor Ken Livingstone has approved plans for a London-wide Low Emission Zone (LEZ). The aim of the zone is to reduce harmful particulate emissions from larger diesel vehicles, such as buses, coaches and HGVs.
Now for those of you that don't work or operate fleets within the London area, you may think this is something that you don't need to think about. However, the question you should be asking yourselves is: Is this the first of many and if so, where will be next?
The new zone is due to be launched in February 2008 and if successful we may well see a number of other authorities looking at this as a mechanism to improve air quality. A number of the larger cities have already mapped out their air quality performance with a view to introducing measures aimed at tackling the problem.
You could ask, what does this mean to me? Well, in February the zone will only apply to lorries over 12 tonnes that don't meet the Euro3 standard; in July the zone extends to lighter lorries, buses and coaches, and over time the zone will extend to include light vans over 1.2 tonnes.
Clearly an increasing amount of regulation is focused on the environmental performance of company vehicles, and in the case of the LEZ the penalties for non-compliance can be severe. So it's important to understand your fleet profile from an environmental perspective so you can avoid unnecessary and punitive costs.
Firstly, evaluate you fleet's emission performance as early as possible, highlight potential problem areas such as older vehicles that will have increased emissions in all categories. With commercial vehicles it can often be hard to obtain good environmental data, if you are struggling seek expert help.
In most cases the introduction of new environmental regulation is well trailed. The vehicle manufacturers insist on this as they have long-term R&D plans that are expensive to change. So the information you need to specify company vehicles that will offer some degree of future proofing against the development of environmental regulation is out there. You just need to know where to look.
Climate change and a requirement to reduce harmful emissions will lead to increased costs to use certain vehicles, regulation, vehicle specifications and fuel types will all evolve.
Are you ready?
Mike
10 May 2007: Future of corporate killing bill in doubt - so what's changed?
Home Office ministers have for many years been trying to bring the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Bill onto the statute books. Current news on the grapevine tells us that unless it receives approval by July 17 it will fail to become legislation. But the question is, so what?
It concerns me that some companies believe the potential rejection of this bill means they can breathe a sigh of relief in terms of their responsibilities, as they can no longer be held accountable. However, and I say this with the utmost respect. you are wrong!
As I'm sure many of you will have read, a twenty year old driver was paralysed after being thrown from behind the wheel as a result of falling asleep whilst driving - what's worse, his boss was asleep next to him! The case, which is currently being fought in the House of Lords, has found the manager of the company responsible and the victim is now seeking damages of over £400,000.
The Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Bill states that companies as a whole may be held accountable for deaths at work. Under current health and safety legislation it is necessary to show negligence by individuals within that company before mounting a prosecution. As this recent case has shown, even if this legislation is not approved by the House of Lords, you are still accountable for any negligence towards your staff which may lead to an injury or death - particularly when driving on company business.
My advice, don't focus on what legislation may or may not be coming through. Your duty of care to your drivers remains unchanged now. Ensure you have a clear health and safety policy that covers at work driving and instill a strong ethos of responsibility amongst all of your drivers. Encouraging safer driving practice whilst at work should also lead to a safer driving culture when outside of work and surely that can only be a positive outcome.
Until next time
Mike
1 May 2007: The Ultimate Excess Mileage Penalty!
Last week's Court of Appeal ruling which declared that an employee can sue his employer after being forced to drive after 19 hours of continuous work, which almost inevitably resulted in a serious crash and paralysis for the driver, is a salutary warning to UK employers about the dangers of driver fatigue and the need to take duty of care obligations seriously.
In this case, the employer may have willfully created the seeds of disaster with a company culture which encouraged "macho" working hours with a motto of "you can sleep when you're dead".
Fortunately most organisations are much more responsible than this, but my fear is that many may unwittingly be creating a fatigue problem with the pressure they are placing on employees and the inflexibility of their internal business travel policies. The modern business world is high pressured and deadine driven and all too often this pressure manifests itself in drivers being on the road early, before 7am, and late in the day, after 8pm.
This situation can be exacerbated by business travel policies which may be forcing drivers onto the road in a fatigued state. Many employees, for example, are not allowed to stay in overnight hotel accommodation unless permission has been received from a superior or the finance department. This is easy to get if you know well in advance that an overnight stay is going to be required, but what about the unscheduled meeting that overruns deep into the evening?
I also know that some companies continue to restrict the use of alternative transport, such as rail or air, if the employee has been given a car. The culture of "you've been given a car, use it" is alive and well but it may be putting employees at risk.
In effect, what I am saying is, employers must take into account a much wider range of issues than just pure driving hours when assessing their driver fatigue risk. Efforts to save a few pounds by limiting overnight accommodation have the potential to rebound on you. Much better to encourage a culture of journey planning with the onus placed on arriving at your destination safely, regardless of whether it involves an overnight stay or even alternative transport.
Until next week
Mike
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