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Hauliers to pay the OPEC price ?,,,,,,repor„r
Page 4
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WILL hauliers be left to pick up the lion's share of the bill when the latest batch of oil price rises are agreed ?
This was the question being asked this week as the major oil companies made secret submissions to the Price Commission. For speculation is rife in political and economic circles that the increases will be heavily slanted in favour of the private motorist.
The latest " guesstimates " predict a pump price rise for 'petrol in the order of between 21p and 3p per gallon. But it looks as if the big companies are asking for an increase of between 4p and 5p for diesel.
The result for the hauliers could be a rise of 2 per cent on overall operating costs. A spokesman for the Road Haulage Association told CM on Tuesday that the current price for diesel was approximately 60p per gallon.
"We usually reckon fuel as a quarter of our total operating costs. So a rise of 5p would be an 8 per cent rise or 2 per cent overall.
"We shall certainly protest if increases bear more heavily on us. It is the economic life of the country which has got to be looked after."
A spokesman for the Freight Transport Association said that a 5p increase per gallon would add £.70m to the industry's fuel bill. "In own-account terms they are already operating on small price margins. We will have to look closely at the figures once they are announced."
None of the oil companies is giving very much away at the moment. A spokesman for Esso told CM that its submission was a matter of confidentiality between itself and the Price Commission.