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Written by Vascoingles
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Monday, 01 December 2008 |
Road - Fuel costs, tolls and height restrictions have forced hauliers to look for new markets
Irish hauliers that specialised in construction have either diversified or hung up their keys. Some own-account operators are known to have handed their vehicles back to the finance companies.
"There is a significant downturn in business, " emphasises Jimmy Quinn, head of the Irish Road Haulage Association. "Construction transport was enormous and the downturn is felt deeply. But it is not just affecting construction. Other companies are laying off staff, and that trickles down to transport.
"Our membership is down by 60 and we’re trying to find out if these companies have gone bust." Things are so bad that issues that kept road operators awake at night just six months ago are not on the radar. The only thing that matters is the economy and fuel prices.
And, says Quinn, the falling price of oil per barrel is not helping. "Because the reduction hasn’t filtered through to the pumps, our members are paying the same - but their customers read the headlines and expect a rate cut." In reality, other issues also matter. "Tolling is a huge cost, " points out Owen Cooke, chairman of The Pallet Network Ireland (TPN). "And it’s going up automatically by 21% because the state is taking over management and collection and Vat will be included in the price, which means hauliers won’t be able to claim it back.
"There are also new tolls, such as the Cork by-pass.
Ireland now has five toll roads." Height restrictions are also causing problems. "Since November, it has been illegal to run a new trailer that is more than 4.65 metres high, " Cooke explains. "Within five years, all bigger units will have to be taken out of service.
"We use double-decker trailers that are 4.95 metres high - a height accepted across Europe and on the ferries. The only reason the low height has been introduced is that the Dublin Port Tunnel was built too low.
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Written by Vascoingles
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Monday, 01 December 2008 |
The number of UK hauliers crossing the English Channel has dropped 3% on the third quarter of last year, according to new government statistics.
The Department for Transport (DfT) has published National Statistics that found 695,000 lorries travelled from UK to mainland Europe, that included 185 thousand unaccompanied trailers, down 2% from the third quarter last year.
Source IFW |
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Written by Vascoingles
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Monday, 01 December 2008 |
UK haulier vows to win new contracts despite economic slowdown
UK haulier Deben Transport is confident it can remain profitable in a shrinking container haulage market, and believes there is still plenty of work in the market to be won.
Last month, the Felixstowe-based company completed a management buy-out, reclaiming 50% of the shares from the CEL group.
Paul Dawson, Deben’s founder and MD, said that despite the economic downturn, the timing had been right to go it alone.
"We got into some difficulties with funding [in 2004] and we needed some support and we’ll be ever thankful to CEL for that. They did a fantastic job, but the time was right for us to move on." UK container volumes have seen a significant downturn since March, but Dawson was confident there was new business to be won.
"There has been a definite downturn since March/April, and I suspect we are looking at a 20%-30% downturn [across the sector], " he said.
"Last year we turned over £20m (US$31m) and we are on a good growth plan, " he said.
"It is tough out there and I think it’s going to get a little tougher, but we don’t accept that there is no business there; it’s setting your eyes on that and winning some of it.
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