Richard Smith Managing Director, Road Haulage Association
As a trade association, campaigning on behalf of our members is one of our key roles and it’s something we do very well. We make a noise so that our members don’t have to. And let’s face it, there’s a lot that we need to shout about right now and I’m pleased to say that the RHA’s voice has never been louder.
Our three main campaigns, our focus points, are skills, the environment and driver facilities are all gaining traction. It’s unfortunate that right now, the political scene is, to put it mildly, in a state of disarray. But for the people we talk to on a regular basis, it’s business as usual until they are told otherwise. Before I go into more detail, it’s important to know that our campaigning is much more than just cutting a ribbon and saying, “this is what’s happening.” Each campaign has its own identify but rest assured, whatever it is, we constantly monitor its progress through member feedback, stakeholder opinion, and MPs. It develops as it goes along, ensuring that we get maximum coverage and exposure.
So, let’s start with driver facilities. We began with a petition which, to date has well over 12,000 signatures. In addition, we have gained the interest of the motorway service area operating companies who are all keen to do their bit. We recently held a parliamentary event at Westminster on the issue which attracted over 30 cross-party MPs, again, all wanting to find out more and asking how they could help.
Our skills campaign is gaining momentum and we have recently completed roundtables in Cardiff and Birmingham, comprising members and local stakeholders including representation from other trade associations, discussing what an ideal training scheme would look like, including how best to fund it. These events are proving to be very successful, and we have more planned throughout the summer.
Our third campaign is the environment. We’re focussing on defined goals that will help us as an industry achieve net-zero. We’re working with our members, politicians and civil servants at both local and national level, vehicle manufacturers, other trade bodies and other stakeholders, discussing and formulating the strategies that are needed to drive down emissions These are just three examples of how we’re actively working on behalf of our members and in turn, we ask them to raise awareness of what we’re doing because the more noise we can make the better. But spreading the word isn’t just down to our members. If you too can take every opportunity to raise awareness of what we’re doing – retweeting @RHANews, commenting on our LinkedIn and Facebook pages or even posting photos of trucks doing a great job on your Instagram accounts, it’ll help us enormously.
If you can help us spread the word, we’ll do the donkey work so that you can concentrate on your businesses. You’ve heard the expression ‘don’t keep a dog and bark yourself’? Well, we want to bark on behalf of all transport and logistics operators.
For more information, visit: www.rha.uk.net