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Pointing in the right direction

5th April 2007, Page 22
5th April 2007
Page 22
Page 22, 5th April 2007 — Pointing in the right direction
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Which of the following most accurately describes the problem?

-jood news from operators in the latest FTA quarterly survey: costs

)re down and business is increasing. However journey times are as )ad as ever and sat-nay isn't always all it's cracked up to be.

LMOST HALFTHE hauliers that use sat-nay report roblems with it, according to the latest Freight -ansport Association (FTA) quarterly transport ctivity survey, published last week.

Although 54% had no difficulties, 21% said ley were sometimes sent down roads that were in narrow; 11% were sent on routes that couldn't )ach the delivery point; 7% said routes could be ircuitous; and 7% said drivers sometimes made tistakes using the equipment.

The FTA survey, which contains confirmed tatistics for the last quarter of 2006 as well as redictions for the first quarter of 2007, shows a umber of upward trends for the industry.

All regions carried more freight in the last quarter 12006 than the same quarter the previous year. and II predicted a similar increase in the first quarter 12007. The most widespread expected increase as in Scotland and Northern Ireland.

There was good news on operating costs too. ailing diesel prices have contributed to a year-onDar fall in LGV operating costs between October DOS and October 2006. Although the fall Is slight it cmes after several years of rises, including a jump fnearly 7% in the year to October 2005.

international hauliers reportthat the improvement business conditions that emerged in the second alf of 2006 is persisting. The FTA says a number I factors have helped, including sterling's stability gainst the euro (around 1.45-1.47). This is in cntrast to 2002, when the exchange rate went up r 1.63, increasing the costs of UK-based hauliers flative to foreign competitors.

Improvement in the economic performance I other European countries has also boosted usiness, although this is qualified because more imported to the UK than exported giving an advantage to foreign auliers better placed to carry imports.

Less rosy were UK journey times. More than 60% of operators said lotorway journey times were longerthan last year, while rail services are Den as having maintained similar reliability. Overall, 62% of respondents elieve the UK road network is less reliable than it was last year.

In contrast, most operators think the skills shortage is easing, ithough there are still problems with many roles. Fitters remain the lost difficult to recruit and replace, with 47% of recruiters reporting long delays in recruiting or being unable to recruit anybody at all, Regarding LGV drivers, 25% said they had long delays before finding new staff, or were unable to find any.

Only 10% of operators have used foreign drivers to plug the gap (see chart). More common measures are for operators to train existing staff as drivers, to atlempt to retain drivers, to use agency drivers or subcontract. Efforts to retain staff include paying salaries rather than hourly rates, paying more for overtime, increasing holiday, and offering steady work rather than short-term contracts, The increase in demand forfreight services is also encouraging operators to plan to buy more trucks: more than 30% of LGV operators felt strong pressure to expand their fleets. However, the survey also found that new legislation, including the compulsory fitting of dig Itachs to new vehicles and the introduction of Euro-4, caused a blip in new vehicle registrations. Registrations jumped before each law was brought in, suggesting operators brought forward purchasing to beat the deadlines.

The pressure to invest in newtrucks comes despitethefalling contribution to gross domestic product (GDP) of many freight-intensive industries, such as farming and mining. This long-term decline was counteracted by overall growth in UK production industries, which generated 0.8% more GDP in the last quarter of 2006 than the first quarter of 2007, according to the Office of National Statistics. The key to this, says the FTA report, was a slight upturn in construction and manufacturing. The FTA believes the UK domestic road freight market remains buoyant so far this year and expects further growth in its next quarterly survey.

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