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Demand for services has plummeted, say hauliers
Page 6
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CM COVER STORY
13y Lindsay Ci.ark THE NUMBER OF HGVs using UK roads in the first quarter of the year fell by 12% compared to 2008, as worrying statistics for the economic health of the road transport industry continue to mount up.
Compounding the decline in road usage by commercial vehicles, van traffic fell by 2% in the same period, the first quarterly fall in van journeys since the Department for Transport started measuring statistics in 1993. By comparison, van traffic increased 40% in the past 10 years. Overall traffic volumes fell 3.5% in the same period.
Meanwhile, the number of people claiming Jobseeker's Allowance looking for work as an HGV driver has risen more than four and a half times in the past year, to reach 15,255. Figures by the Office of National Statistics show the number of people seeking such work was 3,280 in March 2008. By March this year, it was more than 15,000, Jo Tanner, Freight Transport Association's head of communications, says: "What more proof does the government need that parts of our sector are on its knees?" Operators tell CM the demand for their services has dropped. Brocks Haulage operations manager Anthony Brown says: "The phone used to ring 50 times a day, and now it's only 10. Out of 60 vehicles, eight of them are parked.
"We have not had to lay off any drivers yet. We're fighting Sc) we don't have to, but if work continues to drop off, it's something we're going to have to consider.
"We've also noticed an increasing number of drivers are calling to see if we have work," he says. David Salter, director of Atlas Freight, agrees there is not the demand for as many HGVs on the road. "There is not so much freight and a lot of forwarding. It makes it a struggle to make the vehicles competitive.We use pallet network Pall-Ex, and we are using it more. We cannot run the trucks unless they are full. We've no idea when demand will pick up."
• See investigation on page 22.
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