Euro trade UK share drops
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• Britain's hauliers are losing their share of the cross-channel freight market, according to a new report from the EEC.
The report, European Communities' Observation of Transport Markets 1985, shows that last year there was a 2% drop in the number of British registered commercial vehicles crossing to the continent, while the total number of commercial vehicle crossings increased by 11%.
This is partly due to a 16%, increase in the traffic of unaccompanied trailers, and partly
due to an 11% increase in the traffic of foreign registered commercial vehicles.
Britain's hauliers now account for only 40% of freight carried by hauliers across the Channel.
One possible explanation for British hauliers' poor performance in the cross-channel market is provided in the report's comparison of hauliers costs changes during 1985. Last year Britain's hauliers experienced an overall increase in costs of 5.3%, compared with 1% for French hauliers, a 3.4% increase for Dutch hauliers, a 0.5% increase for West German hauliers and a 1.4% decrease in costs for Danish hauliers.
The report shows there was little change in the number of haulage journeys to traditional destinations like France (up 0.2%) and Germany (up 0.4%), but there was a pronounced increase in the number of haulage journeys to southern Europe. Haulage journeys from the UK to Italy increased by 27.1% last year. and those to Greece increased by 33.3'4.
The biggest percentage increase in haulage traffic between the UK and the EEC came on journeys to Luxembourg which increased by 150% on the year before.
The only EEC destination to see a drop in UK haulage traffic was Ireland, which saw a 21% decrease.
The report also shows that road haulage is now the predominant transport medium for the movement of freight in Europe. For the first time ever, road haulage moved a greater weight of freight than either inland waterways or railways. Last year Europe's road hauliers transported 198.3 million tonnes of freight, up 3.8% on the previous year, whilst 185.8 million tonnes of freight was carried on Europe's inland waterways, a decrease of 4.3% on the year before.
Road haulage now accounts for 43.6% by weight of all freight transported in Europe. rail accounts for 15.6% and in land waterways account for 40.8%.
fl Sealink plans to close its Harwich to. Zeebrugge train ferry service on January 31 next year, when its contract expires with British Rail. Up to 155 jobs are at risk.