Budget boosts dery past 40p per litre
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• Hauliers' total running costs rose by an average of 1.8% this week when Chancellor Kenneth Clarke's Budget increased diesel duty from 37p to just over 40p.
Jonathan Jempson, managing director of 55-truck general haulier John Jempson & Son of Rye, Sussex, is angry that his diesel bill will increase by at least £60,000 a year—increasing his operating cost by up to 2%.
But many hauliers have welcomed the freeze on Vehicle Excise Duty—and the reduction in employers' National Insurance Contributions for employees earning Z57-E205 a week.
Rob McHugh of Owner Operators UK says that reducing national insurance could create part-time jobs in haulage.
Recovery operators have attacked the Chancellor for increasing their VED bill from a standard rate of £85 to a sliding scale ranging from £135 to £5,000, based on vehicle weights.
The Road Haulage Association welcomed the introduction of VED on special vehicles such as snowploughs and agricultural vehicles including tractors—they will pay £35 a year: other "specials" will pay £150.
The National Association of Waste Disposal Contractors says it will lobby to ensure that the new Landfill Tax, due to be introduced in April 1996, should be levied on on waste producers—not on waste hauliers. Many industry observers were disappointed by the Chancellor's failure to increase capital allowance in a bid to boost truck sales.
Michael Daly is managing director of London-based Daly Transport Services, which operates 93 trucks in the clothing and logistics business. He says the lack of movement in capital allowances will encourage him to lease, rather than buy, some of the 18 trucks and £750,000 worth of materials handling equipment he plans to acquire next year.