Transport

Organising transport for an event, gathering or an action camp is not an exact science. Every event is different in terms of geography, size, finances and expectations. It is essential that an understanding of these parameters is made prior to embarking upon the task of organising transport.
It is hoped that the following document, which is drawn from the experiences, adventures, trials and tribulations of a few who have burnt some rubber, shed some tears and had a lot of fun and great experiences along the way, will go some way to assist with the planning of transport for events in the future.

Be prepared.

As a transport collective you will be much in demand, many of the other working groups before, during and after the event will be seeking your assistance.

Once you have attended endless meetings focussing upon going round in circles and then you have stopped going to meetings but assessed the transport needs of the gathering, you ideally should present a prospective budget to those that hold the purse strings. Considerations here are hire costs of vehicles, fuel costs and possibly insurance to cover the vehicles and drivers. Without some cash it is very hard to provide transport as a transport collective and transport falls back to whoever has a car and is willing to chip in, which can work if twenty people are going away camping for a tofu weaving weekend but not if you are planning to supply the infrastructure for a 2000+ attendance at a week long direct action camp.

Transport can be categorized into two sections, one is providing transport for materials on and off a site and the other is transporting people to and from a camp or gathering or simply providing a shuttle bus service. These two facets of transport have their own off shoots, of which some explanation will hopefully follow.

Transporting materials.

An assessment at an early stage of where your equipment is being stored around the country will assist in planning your itinerary for collecting said equipment and thus help to maximise the potential of your vehicles, personnel, time and fuel efficiency.
There is no point having too much equipment for collection and it then not fit in to a van. Equally having spent big cash on hiring a lorry and it only being half full, or sat idle whilst the calls are made to arrange pickups is both expensive and frustrating.
When taking on the role of collecting equipment it is important to establish with the provider, the dimensions of the equipment, the long lengths of marquees poles can cause you hassle if your van is to short, or the number of marquees that you have crammed in to your transit which then subsequently overloads it and both van, marquees and drivers licence are confiscated by the law.
It is essential to manage your schedule, driving can be arduous and time consuming and an over ambitious number of pickups in a day can be detrimental to the overall efficiency of the collective. A drivers mate to assist with loading and unloading, providing topical and stimulating conversation and buying the teas is a priority for any transport collective when considering the welfare of those involved.
You must remember that you will be collecting generously donated yurts and tee-pees from people who have a different understanding of time management to the efficiently clockwork like and synchronised transport collective. An element of frustration at this point is inevitable but unfortunately understandable. The transport collective must also take into consideration the access to where equipment is stored. If a kind donator lives in a quite cul-de-sac with limited access and no where to turn round then leave the 7.5 tonne at home and take the transit.

Very often different working groups will have their own transport, cars, vans, rickshaws, home build recumbent and stilts these subsequently can, with agreement, be used to help facilitate the collection of materials, food produce and the like whilst the camp or gathering is in operation. For example a barrio kitchen will bring equipment from their local groups and then be able to provide a recycling vehicle for trash or produce collection from local suppliers. Liaising with the working groups throughout the gathering is a must to help coordinate this.

Vehicles up to 7.5 tonne are generally used for providing infrastructure to a site at the first instance. A lot of equipment can be deposited in a short space of time to provide the essential elements that go to building the communal aspects of a camp. These vehicles are often in short supply within our networks and often have to be hired. Most hire companies will not lease a 7.5 tonne vehicle on a short term contract. Salford hire is one of the few that currently do.

A vehicle over 7.5 tonne presents a number of issues. Again they are difficult to hire, the driver must have an appropriate licence to drive a Heavy Goods Vehicle and you must also consider the access issues to the site you intend to go to and of course the premises that you may have equipment stored at. On the upside they make a great blockade.
Very importantly do not take for granted that the person who happens to have past their test prior to 1995 who is therefore eligible to drive a 7.5 tonne can actually drive it. They are big, difficult to manoeuvre with out experience and under the pressure of getting on off sites sometimes in a stressful situation; it can cause the driver a lot of problems. At this point you may have wished you had considered the damage waiver policy with the hire company, expensive at the time but less expensive than the “You bend it you mend it!” policy.

Transporting passengers

Ideally the two categories of transporting equipment and people should be managed by separate collectives; experience has shown that the energy and resources required and the management of both these aspects of transport can be a huge task for one group to undertake.

Once the decision has been made to have a camp or gathering, the geography of the area should be looked at. Utilising local public transport networks is ideal, past practice has seen good working relationships with staff at train stations and coach stations with members of the transport collective hosting a welcome desk to assist the ease of passage of participants at the event; promoting cycling through a bike library scheme is a great idea, lift sharing can be advertised through the campaigns website. Encouraging people to travel as ethically and environmentally considerate as possible reduces the impact that any shuttle service has to provide.

Providing a shuttle service is a mine field of considerations.

Depending upon locations of pick up points the service can prove to be fuel intensive, increasing the running costs. There are a number of bio diesel providers who will provide a large tank supply of bio diesel and a pump to administer it with, details of which can be found in the glossary.

The service must be seen to be free. This is very important, if fares are collected aboard the shuttle service then it becomes a commercial enterprise and public service vehicle regulations then apply which most transport collectives can not comply with.
The roadworthiness of vehicles is the responsibility of the transport collective as a whole. Some events (some more than others) attract attention from the police. The driver is inevitably the person responsible for the vehicle at the time it is stopped. The driver should satisfy him or herself that the vehicle is fit for purpose before driving it, otherwise despite who ever owns the vehicle, the driver takes the rap for any defects that the police wish to prosecute for.

As a transport collective it is important to satisfy yourselves that insurance for a vehicle is in place, this is especially important when borrowing vehicles from well meaning donators.

It can not be over emphasised the amount of attention that vehicles and the drivers get from the police when entering and exiting a gathering or camp. If they can hinder or shut down the transport they know how much it will affect the efficiency of the running of the gathering and the ability to travel to other venues.

Whether it be out of boredom, to frustrate you or an over zealous traffic cop checking your tyre pressures the responsibility always falls to the driver.

It is a good idea to provide a “what to do in the invent of” pack. A lot of drivers who volunteer to drive may have never been stopped before by the police and it can be a traumatic experience. The driver is the one who has to speak to the police, the driver has to produce their name and address and documents etc. A transport collective should provide information on these issues and of course the support for drivers when these occurrences with the law happen.

Drivers would appear to be in short supply. As a transport collective one of the hardest jobs is to find drivers, it’s then even harder to get them to stay for the duration. Once you have found one, hang on to him or her by any means, usually the way to do that is to be nice and consider their welfare. Driving can be hard and it can be stressful if you are constantly being stopped and told to produce your documents. It is worth having the insurance and MOT documents for the vehicles available and encourage the drivers to have their drivers licences with them. This will reduce the problems of then having to produce documents at a police station within seven days which in itself can prove a problem if you are penned in to a camp surrounded by police and fit team. Consider the number of hours that a driver should drive for and share the jobs of driving, refuelling, coordinating the schedule, consider sharing staffing the transport collective’s phones around. It is often a good idea to have a family sized tent made available to the transport group so drivers can gather to discuss issues that have arisen, it is also a place to relax where tea and coffee can be provided and a card school can be started. A transport tent also provides a meeting place for people wishing to avail of the shuttle services or where they can be seen to be cool hanging out with the transport collective. It is also a good place to have a notice board advertising lifts or where transport announcements can be placed.

The location of the tent should be organised with a site group should one exist. Its location near to an entrance to a site is usually a preferred option, although past experience suggests that tucked away in the woods at the back of the camp with no outward indication as to what it is, also has its merits as well.

The well being of the drivers is the transport collective’s responsibility, someone who appears to tired to drive, maybe has had a drink or whose licence does not cover them for the vehicle they are driving represents a risk to themselves and to any passengers that they may be collecting.

Communication is vital between members of the transport group although often degenerating to sarcasm, tears or a few terse and sharp words between gritted teeth at the end of the week it is a good idea to initially have a mobile telephone system. If the budget allows the following system has worked well in the past.

A public phone number, if you have someone to staff it, that transport enquiries can be made to or a recorded message with your transport details can be left on. A private phone number that is left in the transport tent and monitored. This number is linked to a phone in each of the shuttle busses that you are operating. This phone number can also be given out to any other groups that you wish to help during the camp examples being, medics, prisoner support or legal observers. Transport collectives for previous mobilisations have had a prioritising scheme for the needs of others. Of course driving whilst on the telephone is illegal and should be discouraged.

This is by no means meant to be the definitive transport collectives how to manual, it has been compiled from collective experiences and hopes to provide an insight in to organising transport for a gathering/camp. It does comes with a warning that is to say, it is hard work, it is hassle but if planned and prepared for adequately it’s a lot of fun and very rewarding.
Lumsk.

Useful resources:
www.lowimpact.org
www.sundancerenewables.org.uk
www.nationalrail.co.uk
www.greengoldbiodiesel.co.uk
www.direct.gov.uk/en/Motoring/index
www.salfordvanhire.com
www.samaritans.org