Road Haulage Sector Still Struggling Despite Cut In Fuel Duty

On the 23rd March 2011 the Government announced strategies to combat the rising costs of fuel in the UK. For the first time ever, fuel duty was actually reduced by 1p per litre, down to 57.95ppl and fair fuel stabilizer measures will be put in place.

The move received a cautious welcome from road haulage companies in the UK. Despite the reduction, duty on fuel in the country remains the highest amongst most EU countries. One third of the running costs for road hauliers is diesel. A 44 tonne articulated lorry averaging 7.5mpg and covering 70,000 miles in a year will now cost £48,775 per year in diesel costs alone.

Each time the cost of a litre rises by one pence, an extra £424 is added to the cost of keeping a truck on the road. Pump prices for the consumer reached an all-time high on Wednesday 6th April with a litre of diesel at 140.43p. Even buying in bulk, haulage firms now face prices of 114.93ppl ex VAT.

These continued increases, despite the fuel duty decrease, means fuel has seen a 22.3% rise in prices since the start of 2010. This in turn means haulage businesses are having to find and extra £7220 per year just to keep their lorries on the roads.

Over in Ireland the situation has got so bad, that the Irish Road Haulage Associations is reporting members are due to vote on strike action by withholding VAT and pay related social insurance payments (PRSI) over the fuel price debate.

Vincent Caulfied, president of the associations said: “Rising fuels costs are crippling haulage companies both in the UK and here in Ireland. Over 250 road haulage companies failed or ceased trading in 2010 and almost as many are currently on the brink of closure.”

Daniel Parry, who runs a consumer-orientated website for individuals looking for quotes for the transporting of goods in the UK, Europe and worldwide commented: “We have seen that some of the road haulage firms who work with us have been obliged in offset these fuel rises with an increase in quotes. It would be beneficial to both hauliers and the economy in general in the UK if fuel prices took a downwards trend. We can only wait and see what effect measures such as the fair fuel stabilizer will have in the future.”

For more information contact press@deliveryquotecompare.com

Daniel Parry is CEO of online transportation website Delivery Quote Compare (www.deliveryquotecompare.com), offering free quotes from haulage companies, both UK based and International companies as well as other transportation and delivery services.

Vincent Caulfied is president of the Irish Road Haulage Association (www.irha.ie)

Geoff Dunning is chief executive of the Road Haulage Association in the UK (www.rha.uk.net)

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