Tipper charges set for rise
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• Rates in the tipping vehicle industry should soon begin to rise. In the aggregate and roadstone sector are expected to rise by about 7+ per cent in the next two months. These are two of the findings of "Tipper traffic and rates — a first survey" published by Freight Information Services.
The general rates increase is expected to result from a tipper shortage when industrial production increases following the Budget. Tipper rates have been at a standstill for the past 18 months, says the survey, and in the past year many companies have reduced fleet size. Aggregate carriers are "confident" of their rise because April-May is also the period when the cost of the material increases: There is also a general upturn in the building trade. This building boom — which follows the Budget's reflationary moves — should continue and ensure demand for tippers for the next five years, the survey predicts.
Among other items shown in the survey -which has been prepared from information gathered during March this year — is the conclusion that competition from new operators is forcing the old ones to diversify. The evidence for this, the survey says, is that of 13 operators interviewed, all but three had diversified so that they were no longer totally dependent upon tipper hire and reward. This sector was probably the most attractive for anyone entering the haulage industry. Striking a gloomy note, the survey reveals that even after the effects of the coal strike cease to be felt, the general decline in solid fuel usage, and the consequent lessening in demand for tippers, continues. One operator interviewed had reduced his fleet from 118 to 71 vehicles in six months largely because a local gas works had switched from coal to oil. Over 85 per cent of his earnings had previously come from solid fuel transport.
Tipper traffic and rates — a first survey, to be updated every six months, is available from Freight Information Services, Formby, Liverpool, price £3.