Fuel cost changes 'don't hit profits'
An Angus haulier has said that changes in fuel costs, whether up or down, will not make a haulage business more or less profitable.
- By Chris Hardy
- Published in the Courier : 12.08.10
- Published online : 12.08.10 @ 10.48am
As sections of the road haulage industry wring their hands at increased diesel costs and call on the government to ease the burden, Mark Cessford, who runs his Angus Agencies business from Kinnell, near Friockheim, said that the industry would be better to look at itself.
"In my opinion the price of fuel is not the fundamental problem," he said.
"Heavy trucks are getting an average of seven miles per gallon and we all have to work with that.
"If fuel prices were to drop by 50% tonight, it would not make us more profitable because we would have the customer expecting a commensurate drop in charges. There are other factors that have an impact on operating costs.
"The biggest problem in road haulage, I feel, is ourselves. We, as an industry, don't communicate enough. We are very disjointed, there is great distrust between us and we all have different pricing structures.
"Our customers take advantage of our weaknesses to drag down the price of haulage."
He said the industry should become better organised and make sure the prices it quoted were fair and correct, and not driven down to fit the customer.
"The pricing structure should be more standardised. If you call a taxi in Montrose, for example, you know the charges are standardised and won't vary from one operator to the next," added Mr Cessford.
"In the long term it could be argued that higher fuel costs will have an impact on the whole economy as every other business has to absorb increased freight charges.
"That is a bigger issue and is something for the Chancellor to consider, but not something the road haulage industry should be fighting," Mr Cessford added.
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