1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136 
KILLING BUSINESS?
Page 58
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
'Mad cow disease' has wiped thousands of pounds off the profits of British international livestock hauliers, hit by the halt in cattle exports to the Continent.
• International livestock hauliers are beginning to bear the brunt of a ban on exports of cattle over six months old to the Continent because of mad cow disease. The hauliers are furious because while farmers have been compensated for their losses by the Government, they have received nothing.
The regulations, which came into effect on 1 March, are a result of Bovine Spungiform Encephalopathy (BSE), commonly known as mad cow disease, which has struck over 3,000 cattle in Britain (CM 1-7 February). Animals suspected of infection are slaughtered by Government vets.
Farmers are being paid over £600 for every animal that has to be killed by the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries & Food (MAFF). Hauliers on the other hand, whose businesses have suffered catastrophically, are having to come to terms with losing up to 50% of their export trade.
The Road Haulage Association's South East area livestock division is urging the RHA head office to appeal to the Government for compensation. It represents 20 farm hauliers and wants livestock operators to be paid at least 15% of the revenue they have lost — which it says is a haulier's profit margin on an international journey.
PESSIMISTIC
But Richard Rolls, the division's chairman, is pessimistic: "We'll probably get nothing in the end," he says.
Rolls, managing director of Rolls Livestock Haulage, of Weyhill in Hampshire, which has 15 trucks, criticises the Government for not liaising with hauliers before it made the regulations: "My company has been in the business for 54 years, and we've never been asked what we think," he says.
The move will hit livestock hauliers particularly hard because they have to spend a lot of money on their vehicles to comply with health and safety regulations, says Rolls. He has spent about £50,000 adapting three new livestock boxes, two of which were being used for Continental work. He reckons hauliers will find it difficult to win other livestock or general haulage work, because of the design of their vehicles. Boxes used on Continental work cost about 20% more than units for national deliveries. Extra lighting, 40% better ventilation, more partitioning and a 1.2m clearance between each deck have to be provided. Often the units are not watertight enough for general haulage and the door ramps would prevent unloading with fork-lift trucks. To fit curtains as a sealant and conventional doors for unloading would cost about £3,000, "Many hauliers are stuck with vehicles worth about £80,000 to £100,000," says Rolls. Even to win other livestock business, for smaller animals like pigs and sheep, the boxes would have to be converted. It costs about 22,000 to fit extra tiers for smaller animals.
One haulier which has been hit is Essex-based GW Martin Transport, which has taken delivery of a £35,000 doubledeck livestock trailer. It has deferred its . order for another trailer and is spending 0,000 on conversion. The trailer, which would have been used for cattle, will now transport sheep, pigs and calves. The unit is getting extra ventilation and a different loading mechanism for small animals.
Director Kelvin Cracknell estimates the disease will cost him £90,000 a year. Of its 18 vehicles, five were used to export about 700 cattle a year to Europe. This amounted to 15% of the company's overseas trade, and 3% of its total business — its cattle exports stopped last August, when Continental countries were already banning British beef.
Because the firm has diversified into other livestock haulage, its losses are not critical, but Cracknell still feels the situation is unfair: "If you look at the cold facts, a farmer might lose half his cattle and is compensated, while a haulier which could lose its entire livelihood receives nothing," he says.
BSE has caused all of the 10 livestock hauliers which Commerical Motor con
tacted major losses. The disease is believed to be caused by feeding cattle meat and bone meal from sheep infected with scrapie — a practice banned since July 1988. MAFF estimates the ban in exports amounts to about 10% of Britain's £47 million annual cattle export trade.
RESTRUCTURE
Bury St Edmunds-based Owen Farming Transport has had to drastically restructure its mainly livestock business since February, with 70% of its trade now in general haulage.
The company, which has lost £90,000 because of the disease, now hires two trailers for dry freight work. It also plans to do more livestock haulage work between European countries — it already runs between Holland and Greece.
Company director Richard Owen is philosophical: "In transport one door closes and another opens," he says.
Reading-based Harpers, which will lose £150,000 — a third of its total business, had also been forced to expand its general haulage work. The company had to cut its fleet of 12 to eight in July. Although no redundancies have been necessary, staff numbers have been reduced through natural wastage. The weekly load of 20 cattle into Europe accounted for 50% of Harpers' total export trade.
Director Eddie Harper has concentrated on general haulage since the beginning of the year, which now brings in a £50,000 turnover. But this type of business is hard to come by, "because a lot of other livestock hauliers are doing the same," he says.
However, Gloucestershire-based international livestock haulier Peter Gilder & Sons says livestock hauliers are not suffering as badly as they claim. The company was hit 18 months ago with a slump in cattle exports and since then it has taken on nine extra drivers and concentrated on pig export.
Rolls is disturbed that the Government has not made a decision on what will happen to possible BSE-infected cattle: "If all the cows are eradicated it would be disastrous for the farming and livestock haulage industry, since 50% to 60% of farmers would not go back," he says. 11 by Juliet Parish