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Hauliers hit in the wallet by Darling's fuel duty hikes
Page 8
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CM COVER STORY OPERATORS' ANNUAL fuel bills will rise by £1,893 from January 2011 for every 44-tonner they run, following Chancellor Alistair Darling's latest fuel duty increase announced in last week's Budget.
Although the 3p/litre increase is being staggered 1p/litre from 1 April: lp/litre on I October; and 0.76p/litre on 1 January 2011the increases will affect hauliers' bottom lines considerably.
The lp/litre increase from today will result in an annual rise of £631 for a 44-tonner that covers 100,000 miles a year and averages 72mpg.
For an 18-tonner doing 60,000 miles a year at Ilmpg, the lp rise will add an extra £248 onto a haulier's annual fuel bill; for a 7.5tomer doing 60,000 miles a year at 16mpg, it adds £170; and for a 3.5tonne van doing 30,000 miles a year at 25mpg. it adds £55.
In nine months time, when the full 3p/litre rise has been added, an 18-tonner will cost an extra 1:744 a year; a 7.5-tonner 1510; and a 3.5 tonne van E165.
The total 3p hike will also increase the charge per mile (cpm) for operators. To maintain the average industry profit margin of 4%, an operator of a 44-tonne r will need to raise its cpm by 1.2%.
Comparing the pump price of diesel last May of 90p/litre (excluding VAT) to a pre-Budget price of 99.74p/litre, and then adding the I p/litre increase today. a 44-tonner's annual fuel bill will have gone up £6,780, from £56,830 to £63,610, an increase of close to 12%.
Matthew Marriot, commercial director of Hellmann Worldwide Logistics says: "The tax increase on fuel duty. despite being staggered. still has a direct impact on an industry which is already suffering from the recession."
He says a similar scheme to the LKW-MAUT toll system in Germany, which taxes all HGVs that use the autobahns, should be introduced in the UK.
"It would allow us to reduce local UK road taxes for UKregistered hauliers, but levy a tax across all trucks utilising our network-enabling the government to lower fuel duty." adds Marriott.
• Calculations by John Phillips.