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UK still losing to foreigners „
Page 5
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• Foreign-registered trucks now account for a record 72% of cross-Channel freight movements—up from 52% in 1996.
The latest Department of Transport figures show that 624.700 trucks travelled to the Continent during the second quarter of this year; up 5% on the same period last year. But that extra trade was picked up by foreign hauliers, with UK-registered truck journeys down from 30% of the total to lust 28%.
The decline in the number of unaccompanied trailers crossing the Channel also continues with the second-quarter figure down 7% from the first quarter.
A spokesman for the Freight Transport Association does not expect the situation to improve in the foreseeable future: "The international trade situation, and the strength of sterling, has drawn imports into the UK carried by European hauliers. Their availability at cheaper return prices to Europe has impacted on market rates to the disadvantage of UK haulage.
At any one moment over 10% of the heaviest vehicles operating on UK roads are from outside the UK," he says. This is despite Continental wariness of UK fines (see below).