Small hauliers lose out...
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by Lee Kimber IN Small haulage companies are losing in the battle to improve profit margins as big companies reap the benefits of limited economic recovery.
Smaller firms are failing to improve on the dismal 3% profit margins they were making last year—despite a 15% increase in turnover, according to industry analyst Plimsoll Publishing, But big hauliers, those with sales over £16m, nudged their margins up from 4% to 5%.
"Companies such as this....are growing at the expense of the weaker companies," a Plimsoll spokesman says. "I'd hazard a guess that the larger companies can operate on scale efficiencies and get their costs down."
Plimsoll singles out Harpenden-based Star Cargo as a successful company even though its turnover growth, at 13%, was below average. "its profit margin has grown steadily since the recession, as had its £28,000 turnover," he says, "and it's improving its debt levels."
The report says medium-sized hauliers, with turnovers between £5m and £16m, are seeing their turnover grow by 20%. It is this that makes them a likely target for big companies planning to increase their market share with a wellplaced acquisition or two.
A year ago its haulage industry health check found 40% of companies in good financial health, compared with 35% the year before. And the number of companies showing warning or danger signals has slipped from 47% to 44%.