Anger over Day rate cut
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• Tipper operators have reacted angrily to a decision by Brentford-based contractor Day Aggregates to slash 5% off the rate for all loads delivered after 4 March. Day says the cut is a result of "depressed economic conditions".
"We must cut our costs to a level where the operation returns to viability", reads a letter to sub-contracted hauliers, having explained that Day's margins have been cut to "uneconomic levels and we do not see any improvement this year".
But the Road Haulage Association's South Eastern District has hit back, saying it "finds it difficult to believe Day Aggregates should imagine that hauliers' margins are not also at 'uneconomic levels'." The RHA is disturbed that the rate cut has been imposed without prior consultation with hauliers.
According to the RHA survey of prices, a minimum increase of 8.4% is required on 1990 rated and a 5% cut will put affected operators 13.4% behind.
One haulier told the RHA that "several owner-drivers and haulage contractors have expressed disgust at Day's decision". Day has depots at Purfleet, Greenwich, Isle of Grain, Brentford, Ashford and Rochester — up to 35 operators work from one depot alone, so that as many as 200 owner-drivers and hauliers could be affected by the rate cut.
The RHA believes this is not a solitary example of rate cutting. "We suspect it is prevalent in the tipper industry where rates are more informal than general haulage," says Roger Wrapson, RHA Southern District manager, adding: "The guy doing the job often doesn't know the rate until he has delivered."
Day Aggregates declined to comment when approached by CM. Its letter concludes with the hope that "when the industry achieves a healthy level of activity, we can increase rates to a more generous level".