The Freight Transport Association has warned that operating costs for the freight industry are crippling operators due to the high price of fuel.

The FTA unveiled research showing that between April 2011 and April 2012, increases in diesel alone pushed the cost of running a 44-tonne articulated vehicle up by the equivalent of £1,900 per year.

Simon Chapman, the FTA’s chief economist, said: “The high price of diesel is the number-one concern keeping hauliers awake at night.

“Fuel now represents around 40 per cent of annual operating costs compared to around a third just three years ago. Whilst operating costs have now reached an all-time high, hauliers face pressure from customers not to raise their haulage rates and are seeing overall levels of activity fall as the economy slides back into recession.

“As a result, hauliers are struggling to keep their balance sheets in the black, with a growing number having to close their gates permanently.”

Problems for UK operators are compounded by the duty that the government applies to diesel, the organisation claimed. At 57.95 pence per litre (ppl), UK diesel duty is on average 24 pence per litre higher than the rest of Europe, it said, which puts UK carriers at a significant cost disadvantage to their foreign counterparts when competing for domestic haulage business in the UK.

It added that a foreign carrier entering the UK with a full tank of fuel has the ability to undertake a week’s work using low-cost fuel purchased on the continent, before returning to mainland Europe.

“There is a compelling case for an immediate cut in diesel duty,” Chapman said. “Independent research undertaken by the Centre for Economic and Business Research (CEBR) shows a modest 3p per litre cut in duty today would be cash neutral to the Treasury within 12 months. The loss in revenue from duty would be fully offset by extra revenues and savings on the public purse resulting from more rapid economic growth.”

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