I get my information from driving on the motorways everyday.

Its a saturation of lorries that has drove businesses under, not any tax hike.

As for the supermarkets, you just stated the shelves would be empty, then admit to them having their own arrangements???....So they actually won't be empty???...

On your first paragraph I ask why do you want a major tax hike in fuel prices seen as you do so much motorway driving? I would have thought you'd be the first to campaign for a drop in fuel taxes.

As for your second paragraph try checking how much it costs to own & operate an articulated lorry. Let me tell you also that I collected from one of the aforementioned hauliers who have gone bust the other Friday, it's a mix of the recession & the fact that Britain has some of the highest fuel taxes in the western world.

As for your third paragraph no supermarkets don't have their own arrangements. A third party haulier will come into a regional distribution centre & deliver on behalf of their own customer, lorries are a vital part of the supply chain whether owned by one of the big four supermarkets or not.

I walked to school every single day as a kid...It annoys me when i see gridlock around schools because of the shear volume of traffic...

Not only do they clog the road up making it dangerous for the kids that do walk to cross due to having to cross between parked cars...
Most of them insist on dropping them off right outside the bloody gates sometimes stopping in the middle of the road with they're hazards on...

1. I do not neccessarily want a hike in fuel taxes. However, I do disagree massively with the Haulage industries claims that it is the tax issue that is driving them under....As I have pointed out, in my opinion, a massive saturation of competitors in the industry is more likely to blame for any company's downfall.

2. Dream on. The supermarkets are the most powerful player in British industry today. Full stop. The demise of a few small haulage firms will not affect them one little bit. They practically run their own farms, producing their own goods, so putting together a transport system to service their needs is small fry.

You're totally wrong on both points fella. To put to you in real laymans terms (as you say you drive on motorways a hell of a lot) have you seen the sticker on the back of lorries that says 'Why tax our haulage industries to death?'

As for your second point I work for one of these third party hauliers who service the big four supermarkets on a daily basis. We put around 500 pallets into each RDC over a 24 hour period. You say that supermarkets produce there own goods, I say that supermarkets 'own brand' products are made by other companies. My company hauls 'own brand' products on a daily basis.

....A car sticker isn't exactly proof...

....Why not just have one that says 'Let me drive for free' or 'I'm a Lorry Driver, that's why I hog the road', for that is what the haulage industry really wants.

Keep fantasising about how important individual haulage firms are....The supermarkets dictate to them, not the other way around....

Let me reliably inform you that if a well known supermarket doesn't tip one of the well known hauliers within an hour the well known supermarket gets fined, thats not a dictatorship.

This is one of my biggest hates on the motorway along with people who insist on driving in the middle lane without actually overtaking anybody. You usually find that these 2 situations are a major cause to motorway congestion.

Middle lane hoggers...

......I must admit, I enjoy nothing better than going past them on the inside lane, beeping my horn, whilst giving them random hand gestures....It can liven up an otherwise dull day...

...Ask yourself, who is hunting whose business?....I reckon its more the hauliers scrambling for the Supermarket's contracts, than the other way around.

Ultimately, its the simple world of dog eat dog capitalism.....The supermarkets are making bucketloads of cash, your hauliers are scratching for a living because there are so many of them undercutting one another, desparate to get the supermarket's business....

Can you try to comment on my original posts rather than diverting from them? I'm happy to carry on this debate if you'll comment on my posts & not try to steer me away from them, off to the pub now though.

fantastic! three pages on a road that links two of the biggest shatholes in the country.

Not quite sure what there is to comment on, as your sole argument seems to be the misguided idea that the Haulage industry holds the key to the British economy and so should be treated leniently when it comes to tax issues, rather than just being like many other businesses that have to COMPETE with their competitors.

What about the m25

Read your posts fella. You've contradicted yourself so many times on this thread I've lost count.

....Feel free to highlight those contradictions....

Lets get to the point here, what we all want to know.

Is my Grandad right, and Smartprice beans that retail at 8p, are really Heinz without the "fancy-dan" packaging. Am I paying for the label ?

Milk in different company stores are usually the same. Infact alot of times the same milk is in two/three different containers and different prices.

you moved to the chiller section?

We network.

Sometimes all you do is go over with a two pinter and nod as you put it back on the right shelf. Typical customers putting the full fat with the fresh n lo.

Not sure about "networking"; I understand your colleagues would prefer it if you just did any work at all.

For somebody who has in his time slagged-off the job that just about every one connected with the club, from builders to maintenance men to markerting department, does its amazing that you can't even pull your weight on a ready cooked chicken counter.

Wow, that's dead interesting.