We won’t be driven out of business

SOARING petrol prices are affecting us all — but some businesses are suffering more than most. Hauliers in Oldham who are struggling to survive are planning a protest while taxi drivers say they are also on the brink.

Reporter Richard Hooton investigates how they are being driven out of business and what they want done to help them pull through.

A WEEK on Saturday will see Oldham’s hauliers continue the fightback against soaring fuel prices with a go-slow convoy through the borough.

Organisers decided not to hold the demonstration on a week day rush hour so as not to anger the public by causing too much disruption.

Instead, the aim is to unite motorists in venting their frustration at increasing petrol prices.

The go-slow is the latest in a series of protests, including two in London and one on the M60 by bikers.

But firms are getting more desperate as petrol price hikes show no signs of halting.

The average price for a litre of unleaded in Oldham is 117.5p and 131p for diesel, compared with a UK average of 119p for unleaded and 132.2p for diesel.

Dane Firth, director of Royton’s DP Firth Transport, claims the Government has to take action or firms will go under. Fuel is now costing him more than £2,000 a month extra.

Darren Moseley, transport manager for HTF Transport, reckons rising fuel prices are costing his firm an extra £6,000 a month and have forced it to increase customers’ costs by 20 per cent to break even.

Many complain that they are affected further because of competition from drivers from other European countries, where fuel is cheaper.

Edna Gill, Oldham area manager for the Road Haulage Association (RHA), was part of a contingent that descended on London last week to lobby for changes.

Previous demonstrations were not endorsed by the RHA but the organisation joined in the action, claiming the entire UK economy is at risk from rising fuel costs. They called for a fuel price regulator to off-set the increase in fuel duty. This would ensure that if the price of crude oil rose above a certain level then fuel duty would automatically be cut for essential road users such as hauliers and taxi drivers.

They also want the Government to shelve the 2p-a-litre fuel tax increase it plans to introduce in October.

Ms Gill said: “We are in a crisis situation. Businesses are going under and something has to be done.

“No-one seems to be able to agree whether it’s speculators or demand that’s causing this — I believe it’s a mixture of both.

“What needs to be done, particularly in the UK, is for the regulator to be brought in to get some stability.

“From the total operating costs of a transport company around about 38 per cent is fuel.

“If a business has no control over 38 per cent of its total operating costs and this goes up as they have done in the last six months, and continue to do so, then you can see why hauliers are going out of business.

“I don’t think people realise how serious it is.”

But she did not agree that protests such as the one planned for Oldham are the best way to create change.

She said: “The best people to get the message across are the Government and MPs.

“Businesses must lobby their MPs, visit their constituency office and really tell them about the costs as they are the ones that can make the decision to change this situation.”

Taxi drivers are left with the double whammy of increased petrol prices eating up their profits and customers using them less because of the economic gloom.

Eddie Cook, who represents the Oldham Taxi Owners Association and works for Hackney carriage firm Borough Taxis, said there are serious concerns that firms could go under.

Drivers have noticed that customers are using them much less.

He said: “Our prices are governed by rising costs. Like everyone else, I see fuel going up on a daily basis.

“Every day we have to fill up by about 40 litres and every day it’s gone up a few pence a litre. We can’t pass it on to the customers as we will lose them.

“Money is tight and people are watching the pennies. People are already cutting back on taxis as they are watching the price of food, mortgages and borrowing. People only have so much spare money and a taxi is sometimes a luxury.

“We don’t want to lose business and everyone’s in competition. We are just concerned about how long we can continue. I think companies will go under.

“Something has to be done from a Government point of view. We can’t keep subsidising our fuel, we have to make it profitable. At the moment, we are down to the bare bones of just ticking over.

“We are concerned, like the hauliers are, of how long we can continue until we come to a complete stop. We feel something has to give.

“We want the Government to stop putting the tax up. Why do they have to put the tax up every time the fuel goes up?

“That must stop. I think the tax side of it has been brought in for a number of years but it’s now time for the Government to realise that it’s bleeding us dry.

“We feel the Government should put a cap on it.”

The Treasury has blamed rising fuel prices on the cost of crude oil but has indicated that Chancellor Alistair Darling would be willing to postpone the planned increase in fuel duty in October if he judges it to be right at the time.