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RHA pleads for small firms
Page 17
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• More recognition and assistance for small hauliers is being sought by the Road Haulage Association from the Board of Trade's independent committee of inquiry on small firms. The RHA, putting its case to the committee, has drawn attention to the problems facing the many thousands of small operators who make up the greater part of the road haulage industry.
Explaining that taxation and Government restrictions weigh more heavily on a small firm than on a large one, the RHA memorandum gives examples of some of the pressures on operators. Capital is becoming increasingly difficult to get: credit restrictions and high interest rates prevent much use of bank loans, hire purchase rates are often excessively high, while profit margins have become so tight in recent years that little ploughback capital is available.
Estate duty, too, is a major concern in an industry where private ownership is so common, and the RHA suggests that to safeguard the future of the industry urgent steps should be taken to ensure or encourage the retention of capital within a business of this type for expansion and development.
Withdrawal of investment grants on new vehicles has encouraged operators to keep vehicles longer than is perhaps sensible from an efficiency point of view, says the RHA.