Crushed on the road to oil armageddon

Another week, another set of dire omens and fears for the UK haulage industry. Last week it was the turn of Unite, Britain’s largest trade union to warn that unless the government implements an essential users’ rebate on diesel tax, small companies will go bust and employees will lose out on wages.

With the industry reeling over the price of diesel and the massive amount of tax commercial users have to pay, Ron Webb, Unite’s national secretary for road transport, said: “The government needs to listen to the trade associations. Unless they introduce a method of returning some of the tax to road haulage companies they will simply not be able to continue to operate. Not only will small companies go bust but larger companies are informing us across the bargaining table that unless they see a change soon it will mean lower wages for employees.”

A vast swathe of the transport economy is hit by record oil prices. It includes not only obvious victims such as the Freight Transport Association and Road Haulage Association, whose members share 300,000 vehicles between them, but also the Automobile Association and the RAC. Add to them the British Association of Removers (whose profits are already “wafer-thin”, according to president Jonathan Hood), the enormous public transport industry, small businesses, supermarkets (roughly 15% of the price of goods on shelves is due to transport costs), farmers (hostages to costs beyond the farm gate), petrol retailers (who lose business as prices rise), airlines and taxi drivers among many others.

Sunday Herald