Drivers claim loads rise reduces rates
Page 8
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
• by Ian Wylie The move to new payload limits has caused dismay at Rugby Cement, with some owner-drivers claiming that the company has effectively cut their rates.
In the wake of last month's Budget, Rugby Cement has reviewed the rates paid to contracted owner-drivers, who move to a higher tonnage. But disgruntled drivers say the increase in rates is not enough to cover the extra costs of running heavier loads. We hire the tankers from Rugby Cement and incur all the costs of maintaining them," says one owner-driver, who is three years into an eight-year contract with the company. "By the time you take into account the extra tax, fuel costs and split loads which a 40 or 41-tonne vehicle would entail, they are effectively dropping their rates."
Rugby Cement logistics manager Harold Garrett will not discuss the details of the rate review, but claims the 100 owner-drivers currently on contract will actually be better off as a result.
"It's all still in the melting pot because we don't yet know whether our customers will be willing or able to take bigger payloads," he says. "But we see the new limits as an opportunity to run fewer vehicles on the road and burn less fuel. For owner-drivers it's an opportunity to do less work for the same income, and I would urge anyone with concerns to talk to me about them."