EU week 'raises costs'
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by Lee 'Umber • EU plans for a 48-hour working week will hit drivers and operators harder than the rest of British industry because it will force operators to buy more trucks and cut overtime.
Almost 60% of the hauliers questioned for the latest quarterly survey of the Freight Transport Association say they would have to buy more trucks and 45% report their fleets would have to grow by more than 10% if a 48hour maximum working week were imposed.
Such a move would leave hauliers squeezed between the law and the rest of industry as they tried to recover costs, an FTA spokesman warns.
He says surveys of other industries found few fears over the costs of restricted working hours—possibly because only the haulage industry has to buy a £100,000 asset for each driver to work with.
He adds: "Distribution costs make up 12% of supermarket turnover. As they turn over billions, a small change in haulage costs would make a very big difference."
The FTA dismisses claims that hauliers should use the vehicles they already own more effectively, saying operators already work flexibly.
But restricted working hours could severely dent drivers' earnings because overtime is commonplace in the industry, although the restriction is likely to be voluntary.
The FTA believes the law's strength will depend entirely on the views of the government that drafts the national laws that enforce it here.
The survey also revealed a slowdown in the growth of British demand for haulage work but the FTA plays this down, stressing that demand is still growing albeit at a slower rate than last year.