By Valerie Jones BBC correspondent in Paris

Everyone had been fearing the worst. A strike in France by lorry drivers was bound to cause chaos.

In past disputes, they had been able to bring the country to a virtual standstill, blockading roads, ports and fuel depots.

At the weekend, the French had already started queuing at service stations to stock up with petrol.

But by Monday evening, less than 24 hours after the strike had begun, the crisis had gone away.

Jean-Pierre Raffarin's tough stance has paid off so far

Unusually prompt and decisive action by the comparatively new centre-right government of Jean-Pierre Raffarin had worked.

The strikers had been threatened with arrest and the removal of their driving licences. They decided to dismantle the blockades.

It was part of the "methode Raffarin", described as a mixture of negotiating to get a compromise, but being tough if it does not work.

And in the first real tests of the policy, the general agreement is that Mr Raffarin has come out of it well.

A dispute with the farmers went away after talks.

The lorry drivers have been left in disarray, split amongst themselves about accepting a new pay offer.

Change ahead?

Not that Mr Raffarin's government can be complacent.

Some of the public service workers, on a protest march in Paris on Tuesday, raised the spectre of "1995", when another new centre-right government, under Alain Juppe, had to back down from reforms of the public sector in the face of a wave of industrial action.

There are issues that Mr Raffarin will have to deal with.

For some time, it has been suggested that France can no longer continue to support its well-protected and arguably oversized state workforce.

The chill winds of economic recession and greater competition within Europe mean the nettle of job cuts, greater privatisation and pension reform will have to be grasped.

The "methode Raffarin" will face greater tests. Staunch trade unionists will mount their opposition.

But perhaps the quick retreat of the lorry drivers shows a change in the industrial climate in France.