The Council, which consists of FTA members elected from the Regional Freight Councils across the UK, directs FTA policy in its representations to government, Brussels and other authorities.
Rowlands takes over from Eric Fisher of DS Smith after a two-year term which saw the Council defeat proposals from DVLA to increase fees on all vocational licence transactions from zero to £20, steer the Department for Transport in its approach to the Driver CPC review in Brussels, and get the tolls removed from the proposed new A14 near Cambridge.
Commenting on his election, Dave Rowlands – who is currently chair of FTA's West Midlands regional freight council, said: ‘I am delighted to receive Council's election in this special year as FTA celebrates its 125th anniversary of representing the logistics industry. FTA's freight council process is critical in ensuring that the association speaks for the freight industry with well informed views which reflect the experiences of operators in the real world.
‘I'm grateful to Eric for his chairmanship over the last two years, in which FTA has led the way in effecting real change in the industry. I'm looking forward to carrying on that essential work during my term.'
Road Freight Council also elected Vincent Brickley of Tandem Transport and Chris Hall of Asda as vice chairs.