The spiralling costs of operating fleets of lorries are crippling some industries

The spiralling costs of operating fleets of lorries are crippling some industries

The costs of operating a maximum weight 44-tonne articulated lorry increased by 5.6 per cent in 2004.

For a 17-tonne rigid lorry the increase was 4.9 per cent. These increases are largely the result of the high price of fuel with diesel increasing by 11 per cent during the year. The government's measure of inflation, the Consumer Price Index (CPI), ran at 1.5 per cent to the end of November.

These transport cost figures came from the Freight Transport Association's Manager's Guide to Distribution Costs.

The overall world oil price situation was a constant problem for the UK transport industry in 2004. Fuel accounts for over 30 per cent of the operating costs of the maximum weight vehicles. Drivers' wages, which also account for 30 per cent of a vehicle's operating costs, have risen by 4.3 per cent in the twelve months to October 2004, reflecting in part the impact of the introduction of the Working Time Directive to the transport sector from 2005.

This compares with a 3.5 per cent increase in wage costs to October 2003 and a 3.5 per cent increase to October 2002.

Whilst vehicle operating costs have risen at around four times the CSI, haulage rates have risen by just 1.2 per cent to October 2004 confirming that many operators have been unable to pass on their increased costs.

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