Haulage Companies and Owner Operators Unite!

I read a fairly alarming survey earlier this week - itvehicles to make them more green, to pay
estimated that 33% of haulage companies would go£200 a day to enter London or to avoid
out of business over the upcoming year. I can't thinkEngland's capital altogether. Due to the squeeze the
of any other industry facing this kind of crisis, and I'dindustry has been facing thanks to fuel hikes, the
be lying if I said it didn't concern me.first two options are beyond the reach of most
The main reason for the decline is, of course, risingindustry workers, forcing a large portion of drivers
haulage fuel costs. A full tank of diesel fuel nowout of previously profitable London work.
costs around £450, which I think we can allLong Working Hours
agree is an extortionate amount. Now, the biggerDespite European direction insisting haulage workers
haulage companies can pass these fuel expenseswork no more than 56 hours per week, a recent
onto the consumer no problem, but the little guys -survey on our site showed the majority of our
especially the owner operators - are really strugglingmembers worked an average of over 60 hours per
here. This is reflected by the average growth figures,week. The truth is that to be profitable in our
with small companies showing no expansion, andbusiness, you often have to break health and safety
even the larger companies displaying minimal 6-7%codes - that must tell you something of how our
growth. Plimsoll Publishing who carried out the surveyindustry is suffering at the moment!
stressed that in times of crisis, the niche operatorsLooking at all these problems, I see two conclusions -
tended to perform better, but this trend is beingfirst, the industry is indeed struggling at the moment,
reversed with the haulage industry - probably to dowith zero help from the government, and secondly
with the huge costs and upkeep involved in stayingthe only way we can help ourselves is to stick
profitable in this line of work, with the larger haulagetogether! Working together through a freight
companies boasting only 1% margins, which couldexchange or through a local network of contacts can
easily be wiped out by further fuel hikes or throughincrease profitability by eliminating dead mileage,
wear and tear of vehicles.which can also reduce those long hours because we
From talking to hauliers, there seem to be three mainno longer need to break our backs to be profitable.
issues which prompt the most grumbles...And as for the LEZ, it can be avoided altogether by
Haulage fuel costssubcontracting loads out to those who meet the LEZ
Without a doubt, the biggest issue affecting ourrestrictions already!
industry is haulage fuel pricing, which shows no signsWe haulage companies and owner operators need to
of slowing. Since 1999, the price of bulk diesel hasswallow our pride and help each other out. It's
increased by over 50%, and in recent months wetempting to think it's a sink or swim situation, but the
have seen an almost weekly rise. It's no secret thatonly way we're going to remain profitable enough to
the industry is deeply unhappy about this, and thatfight another year is to increase the number of
everyone related is facing a massive squeeze to turnbackloads and cut down on dead mileage. By
out any kind of a profit. We need tax breaks forcooperating as a collective, more of us can stay in
haulage companies and owner operators desperately,business, and the more of us in business means
but so far we have seen nothing.there's more to be outraged and protest the next
LEZtime the government brings in over-the-top fuel
Previously, hauliers with aging vehicles could makehikes. Cooperation can help limit the damage of all
pretty good business by taking loads to and fromareas above - let's swallow our collective pride and
London. The Low Emission Zone (LEZ) tax has nowmake it happen.
given us the tough decision to either upgrade our