Big five win in milk shake-up
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by Juliet Parish II Hauliers now working for the Milk Marketing Board are angry that five big newcomers have creamed off an annual £30m of distribution for the board's successor Milk Marque.
NFC subsidiary Tankfreight, United Transport (UK), Lloyd Fraser Holdings, Ryder and Gregory Distribution netted the first batch of contracts put out to tender for Milk Marque.
Many of MMB's 40 mainly small hauliers had tendered to operate the board's 23-owned depots, which handle around 30% of the milk moved between farms and purchasers in England and Wales. Bruce Flintham, chairman of the Road Haulage Association's 29-member milk functional group, is "surprised and disappointed" that none of the MMB's existing hauliers were chosen.
From July and August the newcomers will take over the haulage from the MMB's processing arm's transport division, Dairy Products Transport. DPT looks set to concentrate on supplying in-house
creameries and dairies.
It will be November before the five start three-year contracts with the farmer co operative Milk Marque. They will operate with staff and trucks acquired from
DPT and sites leased from the MMB. Last week the Government gave the go-ahead to liberalise the milk market, freeing farmers to sell milk to the highest bidder, instead of having to dispose of it through the board.
Milk Marque expects to clinch deals with 75% of the milk producers, so it will have to scale down to subcontracting up to 20 hauliers with their own depots.