Tipperman cuts fleet
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• Gateshead tipper operator H Nichol & Son is to cut its fleet by two thirds after crippling fuel price rises slashed its profits.
After last autumn's oil price rises, the November Budget, which imposed another 3p/lit on diesel, acted as the "last nail in the coffin", says managing director Henry Nichol. "In the past three years we have gone from a good profit to a small lass and I finally decided to give up much of the fleet when diesel hit 50p/lit," he adds.
The move follows last year's long list of haulage closures and cutbacks. Nichol is laying up 13 vehicles and laying off 12 drivers. The 40-year old company will be left with six vehicles— the same number it was running back in the sixties.
Building materials customers have been unwilling to accept rates rises to match the rising cost of fuel, which in some cases accounts for 40% of total vehicle costs at the Lim-turnover company.
The lOpilit increase in diesel over the past year has added around £2,000 a month to Nichol's fuel bill. "I'm here to make a profit but in the building industry I can't see the rates rising, at least in the short term," he says..