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There's slaughter on the water
Page 18
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UK international hauliers are being taken to the cleaners by their EU competitors — CM ponders the latest figures from the DfT.
THE LATEST FIGURES from the Department for Transport on trucks travelling to the Continent from 3reat Britain ram home the message that UK hauliers nave a decreasing share of this market.
The statistics show that since 1991 there has been a steady growth in the number of British registered trucks heading into mainland Europe. Total traffic -ose by 186% between 1991 and 2006, from 726,000 vehicle to 2.07 million. Though not obvious on the graph (right), the number of UK vehicles rose by 46% during this period, to 525,000.
But while there has been a rise in vehicle numbers, the UK's market share has dropped significantly from 50% in 1991 to just 25% in 2006. This is due to the huge surge of foreign-registered vehicles, with annual numbers up from 363,000 in 1991 to 1.5 million in 2006 — an increase of 317%.
The Freight Transport Association has repeatedly voiced its concerns about the difficulties faced by UK international hauliers when trying to compete with their Continental counterparts. Simon Chapman from the FTA sums up the situation: "UK international hauliers are struggling to hold their own against fiercely priced foreign carriers.
"The ability of UK Garners to take on international work continues to be hampered by the fact that the UK now imports many more goods than it exports," he adds. "In the past five years imports by volume to the EU have risen by 52% while exports have risen by only 32%.
"Foreign earners who are on the spot are better placed to win this extra work from the Continent, and will offer below-cost backload rates for UK freight to the mainland."
The second graph shows the percentage of powered vehicles coming to Britain by their countries of registration. In 2006, the UK had the largest share with 25%, followed by France (18%), the Netherlands (12%) and Germany (9%). The New Member States (NMS) share was 10% in 2006; before they joined the EU in 2003 they accounted for less than 3%.
Of all the NMS countries, vehicles from Poland Connate with a 34% share, followed by the Czech Republic and Hungary (21%). The majority of vehicles entering the UK embarked in France; the proportion rose from 62% in 1991 to 88% in 2006. Belgian ports have been major losers—they now take only 5% of the traffic compared with 21% 15 years ago. The Dutch ports have increased their volume of traffic, but have still lost ground to the French; from 1991 to 2006 their share of the toal traffic fell from 12% to 7%.
Less than 0.5% of vehicles entering the UK embarked from outside these three countries.