Haulage recession bottoming out?
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IE WORST of the recession may be over for some hauliers, ough the industry as a whole is far from optimistic about 'mediate future. alits
In a week when two surveys of lustry showed that manufac-ers' order levels have begun level out, operators in the est Midlands and North-west 'gland have begun to report an ,surge in activity.
Road Haulage Association est Midlands area secretary lb Ward told CM that operators are beginning to become busy again, and some are having to sub-contract work, although this is due in part to many fleets having been reduced by up to 50 per cent.
He said that the engineering industry is beginning to demand more transport again, and while he is reluctant to admit to a positive upturn, he said that he was beginning to detect the first signs of a basic industrial expansion in the area.
A similar trend is evident in the North-west, although operators continue to report that rates remain depressed, and customers are taking around three months to pay accounts. According to assistant area secretary Bob Entwhistle,. the ratio of traffic to vehicles is improving, but, as in the West Midlands, this could be due to reduced fleets.
There has been no noticeable
drop in the number of new applicants for operators' licences since the recession began, and Mr Ward told CM that he has recruited as many new members this year as in any good economic year.
Nor has there been any increase in the number of companies leaving the industry. But, of the 18 companies which did leave West Midlands RHA in April, 15 went into liquidation or ceased trading in other ways, according to Mr Ward.
The optimism of these areas is not shared by operators in the North-east. Northern area secretary Denis Le Conte said this week that tipper operators in particular are in a bad way, as council house building and conversion work has ground to a standstill.