DUTY DEBATE
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I was listening to a television debate between Steven Norris, Dr John Reid and an interviewer when Reid claimed British hauliers with 50 vehicles are £800,000 better off than other European hauliers.
I run a three-vehicle operation of bulk tippers, (arks) and these are the figures, for fuel alone. Each lorry uses 316 gallons of diesel a week.
UK diesel at £2.76 per gallon (ex-VAT) comes to £872.16; Belgian diesel at £1.37 per gallon (ex-VAT) comes to £432.92. The weekly price difference on one vehicle is £439.24. Based on 48 working weeks, that equals /20,780.16 a year.
European saving per year: 50 vehicles at £20,780.16 comes to £1,039,008. VED savings are worth £268,250. The 50 new vehicles are each £20,000 cheaper to buy, which makes another £1,000,000.
So I calculate that the total purchase and running cost savings on 50 vehicles makes a grand total of £2,307,258. I challenge Reid to produce the figures he quoted on TV that the British hauliers were better off than Continental hauliers.
I note in the road protests that no Stobarts, Wincantons or any of the other "big boys" are supporting them. It is my personal opinion that the oneday actions are a waste of time.
When we wake up, take a leaf out of the French hauliers' book and block off every port, road and motorway, and keep only emergency services going, then the Government, and the public, will know the true value of the lorries and their owners and drivers, who are treated with less respect than animals.
Higher tax and fuel duty won't decrease the volume of lorries on the road. It will simply decrease the number of British lorries, Winch will be replaced by the foreign ones—which put nothing into the British economy.
Jolvi Cooke, JAE Cooke 8z, Sons, Brynamman, Carmarthenshire.