Cuts fear for coal men
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• Coal hauliers are bracing themselves for a further decline in business from British Coal with the threat of further pit closures.
As CM went to press road transport operators working in sectors as diverse as the tipper and road cleaning markets were waiting for British Coal's expected announcement of the closure of 20 of its 50 remaining collieries.
The ability of British Rail's Trainload Freight to compete with road looks set to take a hard knock if it loses large volumes of coal which is its most lucrative market. Last year Trainload Freight carried more than 75 million tonnes of coal.
The slump in coal volumes will also hit British Coal's own fleet of several hundred CVs.
NPT Transport is expected to be hit hard by the closures. Although the company will not comment before British Coal's announcement, it is believed it took over sections of British Coal's transport and plant business in Nottinghamshire around two years ago.
Management at Blurton Transport Services is searching for new work as it prepares for the closure of nearby Trentham Colliery. The Stoke-on-Trent company has 10 vehicles sweeping roads and cleaning drains and tankers at the pit. It earns up to 95% of its turnover from British Coal.
Director Anthony Walchester says: "We're going to lose it and that's the end of the story but we'll carry on and hope something else will turn up." The company has so far failed to win any local government contracts.
Dennis Bladon, managing director of R Hanson and Son, fears his Barnsley depot will be most affected by any more pit closures. "For the past 18 months we've tried to look and not commit too much of the business to it," says Bladon.