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Haulage gloom recedes Hauliers protest • Further evidence that operators

2nd September 1993
Page 10
Page 10, 2nd September 1993 — Haulage gloom recedes Hauliers protest • Further evidence that operators
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Which of the following most accurately describes the problem?

are hauling themselves out of recession emerges from an exclusive Commercial Motor survey this week: 44% of the respondents say business is better than this time last year.

And out of the 100 hauliers CM questioned, 64% say they are "fairly optimistic" that they will sustain a healthy level of business in the next 12 months. Another 40% say their company is now faring no worse since the downturn of the past two years

But despite confidence that they are climbing out of the threeyear slump, hauliers are still ner vous about investing in the future. Only a third are pledging to recruit more staff and under a quarter are making a commitment to invest in their fleet in the next 12 months.

This caution is due to the clobbering over half those questioned say they took from the recession in the past two years. One says: "It will take a long time to get out of this mess." And only 36% expect a rates increase from their customers next year. As a result only less than a third feel they will be able to give their staff a pay increase next year-42% have given increases in the past year.

Many believe the only way hauliers will claw hack the lucrative business of the mid to late eighties is with Government intervention, including a reduction in interest rates to encourage spending on goods and houses. Around 35% want reduced vehicle excise duty, 17% want tolls on bridges and tunnels scrapped and others want reduction in dery tax and the early introduction of 44-tonners.

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