Help-lines swamped
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• Operators reeling from the effects of the Budget have been phoning the trade associations in their thousands looking for financial advice.
The Freight Transport Association fears that 500 haulage jobs have already been lost due to the Budget—it has handled some 3,500 calls from operators desperate for ways to minimise the cost of the diesel duty hike. Many are asking for advice on flagging out.
The Road Haulage Association's flagging-out help-line had received more than 1,000
calls by Monday Pressure is mounting on the Government— last Monday The Times published a letter from leading industrialists claiming 53,000 road transport jobs could be lost over the next three years.
Around 750 hauliers rang the RHA's flagging-out help-line on the day following the Budget. They were warned that they would have to switch their entire operations abroad to escape UK vehicle and fuel taxes—and many callers said they were prepared to do just that.
• See feature, page 38.