Haulage rates up by 3.4% in 2011
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HAULAGE RATES rose by an average of 3.4% in 2011, the highest increase since 2008.
The cost of buying road freight services is part of the government’s Services Producer Price Index (SPPI), produced quarterly by the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
The data, released last week, shows that rates rose in each quarter of last year, but that the pace of growth was slowing as the year wore on. In Q1 2011, rates were 1.1% higher than in the final quarter of 2010, but the Q4 2011 rates were just 0.3% up on the Q3 figure.
According to the SPPI data, the last time haulage rates fell was in Q1 2010, when they slipped by 0.3% compared with the last three months of 2009.
Taking the year as a whole, last year’s average haulage rates were 3.4% higher than the 2010 average. The rise in 2010 was just 1.4%; the previous year rates were almost flat-lining, up by just 0.4%.
The ONS says VAT is not included in its SPPI data, so the hike in January 2011 VAT rates is not a factor in the latest rise.
By comparison, the Freight Transport Association’s most recent quarterly survey shows that the cost of operating a 44-tonne GCW truck rose by 7% in the same period.