Welcome to the third edition of Commercial Motor’s Power Players – the list of the 20 people and organisations we believe have the most influence and exert the most control over the road transport industry.
On the list you will find operators, clients, industry stakeholders and a few off-the-wall choices – some you may have heard of, some you may not. Some make the list because they exert power themselves, others because the organisations they lead have power. A handful are on the list because they represent a sector that has power.
What they all have in common is a direct influence (for good or ill) over the transport industry.
In the 22 December issue of Commercial Motor, we revealed those in 20th to 11th places; they were:
20. Dave Rowlands, technical services director, Wincanton
19. Iain Speak, chief executive, Bibby Distribution
18. David Hunt, vice-president and MD, Ryder Europe
17. Jim Hedderwick, senior vice-president, road logistics, North-West Europe
16. Malcolm Wilson, MD, Norbert Dentressangle Logistics UK
15. Hilary Devey, chief executive and chairman, Pall-Ex, and Dragon
14. Graham Inglis, CEO UK & Ireland and EEMA
13. Geoff Dunning, chief executive, Road Haulage Association
12. Theo de Pencier, chief executive, Freight Transport Association
11. Ian Wainwright, road freight programme manager, Transport for London
Now read on to find out who’s in 5th place.
5. Cowboy operators
As the battle for fair fuel duty hogged the headlines this year, the industry’s desire to be rid cowboy operators waned a little: in August’s Trucking Britain Out Of Recession survey, 66% respondents said they would impose harsher penalties on rogue operators if they had absolute power for a day compared with 79% in August 2010’s survey.
Nevertheless that’s still a significant majority who recognise that rogue operators are a pest at the best of times and that during a recession they are on the shortlist of the industry’s worst enemies. Indeed they are the enemy within.
Whether domestic or foreign, running overloaded with exhausted drivers in poorly maintained trucks and undercutting genuine rates, cowboy operators are a cancer striking at the hear of the industry. VOSA and the traffic commissioners must continue to do all that they can to eradicate them.
We’re revealing who’s made the rest of the top 10 here, day by day. Here’s the schedule:
10th place – Tuesday 27 December
9th place – Wednesday 28 December
8th place – Thursday 29 December
7th place – Friday 30 December
6th place – Saturday 31 December
4th place – Monday 2 January
3rd place – Tuesday 3 January
2nd place – Wednesday 4 January
1st place will be revealed in the 5 January issue of Commercial Motor
