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Logistics UK secures raft of wins for vans during pandemic
During the year-long COVID-19 pandemic, Logistics UK has helped secure a number of impressive policy wins for the UK’s vital van sector.
The first was successfully ensuring all transport workers, including van operators, were designated as key workers, quickly followed by advocating for the extension to MOTs for vans during the first national lockdown in March 2020.
“Getting the extension to MOTs for vans at the end of March was a huge win,” said Denise Beedell, Logistics UK Policy Manager – Vans and Urban. “People tend to think it was just a few vehicles that required the extension, but some of the really big van operators were in despair, because they were trying to deliver through the pandemic, fulfil their online deliveries and make sure that households got what they needed to keep themselves supplied. At the same time, they had vehicles that were due for their MOTs but had no way of getting the tests done.”
Another policy win for the van sector, was educating police forces to give them a better understanding of the vital role the sector plays in the UK economy.
“We did receive reports early on in the first lockdown of some misinterpretation by police forces and possibly individual officers,” Beedell said. “There were reports of van drivers making deliveries being asked what was in their parcels and to cease what they were doing because they were unable to prove they were essential deliveries. But if a customer has ordered something online, they have the right to have it delivered, and after a few conversations the police agreed that this was within the rules.”
Many of these policy wins came about as a direct result of discussions with members of Logistics UK’s Van Policy Working Group. This working group was formed in 2019 and now meets three times a year to help shape and inform Logistics UK's van policy.
“If you are a Logistics UK member who operates a van or use a van you would be very welcome to join,” Beedell said. “It’s been a very challenging year for the van sector, but one of the few upsides of the pandemic is that the wider public and the government now have a much better understanding of logistics as a whole, and the van sector in particular.”
*www.logistics.org.uk/membership/fta-councils/van-policy-working-group
Published On: 25/02/2021 17:00:10
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