P LETTER OF THE WEEK
Page 22
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Breaking even would be a bonus for this owner-operator subcontractor
FURTHER TO your story `DSV: subbies must share customers' price pressures', [CM 18 March] I would say breaking even for most subcontractors would be a bonus.
work as an owner-operator for a major freight forwarder and I am beginning to be very quickly swallowed up in the cost of diesel. It is now €.150 (£13237) per 1,000 litres of diesel, more expensive than it was last year, so monthly it is between €600 and E750 more expensive for me to operate.
When I have broached the subject, I hit a 'wall of silence: Insurance costs are rising and service levels from insurance providers are declining while the main dealers arc so far removed from reality And which of my providers would accept 30-day terms for payment? None! But I have to provide my forwarder with 30-day credit terms.
Why I am not naming my client is the fact that on the whole they are very nice people to work for. I enjoy the work and I am aware there is a credit crunch, but why is it acceptable for me to soak up costs like a sponge?
I will tell you why — they know everything have to pay for on finance and fuel and insurance will all be subject to personal guarantees and I will do everything in my power to get by and not lose everything 1 worked hard to build up.
We are handcuffed so that we will never be able to be anything other than whipping boys. No profit means no expansion but they will still have the best service available as they pay by the mile.
I have lived, breathed and given my all to transport in every guise imaginable and everything is about to implode.
The Freight Transport Association asked me to renew my membership and spent 45 minutes trying to convince me to stay. I asked it to provide me with details of what it had done for me and others like me to justify the fee — nothing but answering a question with a question, no answers. The Road Haulage Association would have been just the same.
I have just looked up and realised I have written a letter when I was wanting to write only a couple of lines. Thanks for listening. I feel a little better now.
Name and address withheld by request