Rising fuel costs worrying, says haulage boss

A Coventry haulage boss fears "very worrying times" for the transport industry amid rising fuel costs.

Danny Gould from Slam Transport said profit margins were already too tight for firms to absorb further financial pressure.

It comes as Chancellor Rachel Reeves faces growing calls to reverse a planned fuel duty hike after war broke out in the Middle East and prompted concerns in the UK over disruption to fuel supplies and a knock-on effect on pricing.

Gould, whose firm operates a fleet of more than 240 trucks, said the industry had already been under severe strain before the latest spike in energy prices.

He explained most firms were operating at margins of about 3% and the future looked uncertain.

"We're not earning enough profit to absorb the higher cost of the fuel," he said.

"There have been four or five national haulage companies that have gone to the wall recently.

"That was before all of this, so that's going to cause more unemployment, unfortunately, and it's going to cause problems in the supply chain."

Gould said competing pressures, including a shortage of about 50,000 drivers in the industry, would continue pushing costs up.

But he told the BBC that unlike retailers, transport firms had little power to bring in extra income.

"We're not Tesco," he said. "We can't go and put our apples up 5p a pack. If we suggest a price to a customer they can say 'no', simple as that."

The senior transport manager called on the government to postpone the planned fuel duty increase, suggesting it would be unfair.

"They're taking liberties really with the amount of tax they take out of fuel," he added. "They're robbers really without the masks."

The tax rate on petrol and diesel is due to rise from September, when a 5p cut introduced after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine is set to be phased out.

Reform UK, the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats have all argued the chancellor should keep the cut in place.

It was first introduced in 2022 as a temporary measure by then-prime minister Rishi Sunak, but has since been extended several times.

Speaking in the Commons on Monday, Reeves said the "most important thing" ministers could do was help "de-escalate" the conflict.

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