British operators miss Euro growth
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BRITAIN's road transport market was the busiest in the EEC. in the first three months of this year, according to figures published in Brussels last month, but British operators are still losing out.
The bad weather early in the year meant that overall transport activities were flat.
Road tonnage expanded by just under one per cent during the quarter and road's share of the EEC transport market rose to a record 44 per cent.
The British market continues to amaze the experts with tonnage exported during the quarter leaping by 10 per cent and imports up by five per cent.
However, the joy is dampened to some extent by the fact that British haulage firms are getting less of the cake.
In 1980, Britain still dominated the market with imports and exports being carried on 177,000 UK registered lorries compared to 123,0(10 foreign vehicles.
The first quarter figures for this year, continuing a recent trend, show that the tonnage was shared by 46,000 UK lorries and 56,000 foreign.