Irish trucker group’s protes to put Dublin in “complete” lockdown

The Irish Truckers & Haulage Association Against Fuel Prices group has announced a protest action this coming Monday. The group has warned that Dublin “will be in complete lockdown and for as long as it takes.”Gregor GowansJournalist Trans.INFO

31.03.2022

Photo: Irish Truckers & Haulage Association Against Fuel Prices

Regular readers may recall that the same group organised a haulier protest over high fuel prices last year. Its slow moving convoys caused a noticeable agree of disruption in Dublin, and also received plenty of media attention. However, the protest was not supported by the Irish Road Haulage Association and the Irish Government did not change its policy following the demonstration.

Since then, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has seen high fuel prices reach new heights. That has resulted in the Irish Government deciding to cut fuel duty by 15 cents per litre. Many road transport firms, motorists and farmers are nonetheless still less than impressed, and some are preparing to take part in Monday’s protest.

The Irish Truckers & Haulage Association Against Fuel Prices is demanding that petrol and diesel be capped at €1.10 and €1.20 respectively. It is also calling for green diesel and home heating to be capped at 65 cents per litre. On top of that, it wants Ireland’s carbon tax to be scrapped and for the country’s Transport Minister, Eamon Ryan, to resign.

The group says the protest will attract vehicles from all sectors and organisations, as well as individual members of the public. This includes farmers, fishing operators, truckers & hauliers, taxi & bus operators, nurses & private care Workers, builders and plant operators.

The Irish Road Haulage Association (IRHA) has disassociated itself from the Irish Truckers & Haulage Association Against Fuel Prices, and did not support the latter group’s protest last year.

However, the IRHA has been more vocally critical of the Irish Government in recent times. Earlier this month, the IRHA warned the government that a “very serious” protest would take place if action wasn’t taken to address high fuel prices.

In addition, despite fuel duty being cut and a €100-a-week subsidy implemented, the IRHA still expressed disappointment with Ireland’s 2022 budget.

In a statement recently published by Fleet.ie, IRHA President Eugene Drennan said:

“The licensed haulage sector is undergoing a period of unprecedented challenge. Faced with the direct obstructions imposed by Brexit, a decline in business activity through COVID 19 and unprecedented labour shortages, we needed to see some measures in Budget 2022 to support the sector. No such measures were forthcoming – instead we saw an increase in fuel costs and a repeat of the Government’s stubborn unwillingness to recognise that licensed hauliers have no option but to use diesel.”

However, this criticism hasn’t been enough for the Irish Truckers & Haulage Association Against Fuel Prices, who have repeatedly taken shots at the IRHA on its Facebook Page.

On Tuesday, the group said that support from any one of Ireland’s largest hauliers like BM Transport, Hendrick European and Dixon International Logistics, “would be enough to shut the country down”. The group then added “IRHA Members do as they are told unfortunately,” before going onto say that the IRHA is “part of the blame for this situation”.

Italy’s fuel price protests end as government agrees measures

Following weeks of sporadic protests across Italy, the country’s government has reached agreement with haulage groups on measures to alleviate high fuel prices. Gregor GowansJournalist Trans.INFO

22.03.2022

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Photo: Rebecca Siegel / Flickr / CC BY 2.0

The Council of Ministers proposed a reduction in the price of fuel duty by 25 cents per litre for everyone until the end of April. In addition, 500 million euros of state funding will be allocated to tackle the critical situation of road transport.

The agreement follows meetings organized by the Fai-Conftrasporto road transport association in Brescia on Saturday.

Although agreement was reached on the above, Fai-Conftrasporto President Paolo Uggè still stated that “there are several issues that still remain on the table „. One of those is national insurance, the other is a less specific demand for the “understanding on the part of the Executive of the absolute need for the logistics and transport system to be the decisive element for the country’s competitiveness”.

The agreement should put an end to the strikes that have been seen in the country for the last fortnight, particularly in Sicily, where ports have been blocked. In reducing fuel duty, Italy has now followed the lead of Ireland, Sweden and France. Meanwhile, Poland has scrapped VAT on fuel and the likes of Hungary, Croatia and Slovenia have introduced fuel price caps.