Co-op cost campaign
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by Juliet Morrison • A group of "smaller" international operators is planning to form a co-operative to force cheaper prices from ferry companies, truck manufacturers and fuel suppliers.
The hauliers—most of whom wish to remain unnamed—are concerned about the buying power of large competitors. Some larger operators are able to negotiate much cheaper deals because of the high volume of orders handled.
They are paying as little as half as much to cross the Channel as smaller hauliers, says group spokesman Paul Frampton, managing director of Shepton Mallet-based Framptons International. "Dover-Calais rates range from £120 to £150 per truck for mega companies, while smaller competitors are having to shell out ,C250 to £300."
Frampton, who operates 40 trucks, is appealing for other hauliers to contact him says: "Smaller operators must respond to the situation or lose business. If we don't act now we'll all end up as subcontractors to Norbert Dentressangle, GB Express and the like." He says the Channel Tunnel and ferry operators will also lose out unless they offer better deals to smaller customers: "All that they'll end up doing is carrying more vehicles for less money."