Don't bargain for change
Page 41
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
Much as I would like to welcome the pronouncements by the British Shippers Council that hauliers are likely to benefit from action being brought at the EC against shipping lines (CM 22 Oct), I can hardly believe it.
When the shipping lines are so vast, so ruthless and arrogant I cannot believe that even the might of the EC Commission — if it so chooses — would be able to quash their bargaining power. Coupled with the depth of economic recession in this country and the massive over-capacity of hauliers — many of them willing to work for ridiculously low rates — the outlook for hauliers must be set for no change.
If the Commission orders the shipping lines to stop their fixing of prices to users for inland haulage the lines will employ their strategists and lawyers to find loop-holes to protect their bottom lines. I would be flabergasted if the down-trodden haulier managed to benefit at all. J Newman Dyfed Commercial Motor welcomes readers' letters, which can be phoned in on 081-652 3689 (24-hour service). Letters, which should be typed double spaced, may be edited for length and do not necessarily represent the views of the editor.