Road haulage costs rose by 4.9% in the 12 months...
London,UK -HGV UK -December 14, 2010: ... to October 1, according to the Road Haulage Association’s annual cost movement survey... The survey also found that, even discounting fuel, costs rose by 1.7% and rising diesel commodity prices and duty increased costs by a further 3.2 percentage points... “Diesel is around 32% of operating costs. With fuel prices rising and becoming increasingly volatile, we strongly recommend those companies that have not already done so, to implement a mechanism that links diesel prices to rates,” said RHA Director of Policy Jack Semple. “Customers can be reluctant to agree to such terms but we would urge them to recognise the importance such mechanisms can have for the sustainability of their haulage suppliers” ... “Operating costs are not simply about diesel. It is clear from our survey that other costs have also risen and this should be acknowledged. Overhead costs can be a particularly important area for customers to recognise. In looking ahead to the coming year, it seems that the only way haulage costs are going to move is upwards, with fuel, truck, driver and insurance costs all under pressure,” Semple said... * UK - Operators continue to report difficult weather conditions
Scotland,UK -Road Transport, by Christopher Walton -6 December 2010: -- Hauliers and operators put in place bad weather contingency plans to ensure minimum disruption to supply chain during inclement weather... Last week saw heavy snowfalls paralyse much of the country, with hauliers in Scotland, the east and south-east of England hit the hardest during the height of the Christmas delivery peak... Operators across the country reported difficult conditions in which to keep normal routes running and the government relaxed the Working Time Directive for all hauliers for four days... David McCutcheon, MD of Bullet Express, says: "On [Monday] we still had more than 500 pallets backlogged to cover over subsequent days. We made plans for subbies to help and drivers made some home deliveries over the weekend... It was not a good situation at this important time of the year and was very costly" ... Martin Lowrey, national operations manager at TNT Express Services, says the company had well-rehearsed contingencies to deal with severe weather conditions... Royal Mail took on additional trucks and rail services to move mail to distribution centres as close as possible to delivery areas...* UK - Royal Mail spends £20m recruiting more drivers to cope with snow
London,UK -Road Transport, by Joanna Bourke -13 December 2010: -- Royal Mail Group has recruited an extra 500 lorry drivers and 250 HGVs to lessen delivery problems caused by severe weather conditions... The company announced today that it has invested £20m to form a comprehensive action plan to tackle the impact of snowy conditions... Actions that have been taken include: 3,000 extra staff being employed, including 500 HGV drivers; 250 more lorries being used; seven extra operational centres opening temporarily on top of the 24 already in use... These actions are on top of Royal Mail's Christmas programme, which had already recruited some 20,000 people and seen extended opening hours at depots... The additional investments comes in time for 13 December, which Royal Mail says is expected to be its busiest day over the festive period, with around 130 million parcel and post movements...* UK - Parcel firms look to reduce two-week backlog before Xmas peak
London,UK -Road Transport, by Christopher Walton -15 December 2010: -- Parcel carriers say they are working to overcome a two-week backlog in the supply chain, caused by bad weather and delivery demand, ahead of the sector's busiest fortnight of the year... Operators are recruiting additional staff, taking on new vehicles and offering alternative delivery slots in a bid to return to normal operating conditions as bad weather kept vehicles off the road while volumes ramped up for Christmas... Simon Duggan, director at Crawley-based parcel and pallet specialist Eezehaul, says its operations were finally returning to normal following delays to its regular services... In addition to Royal Mail's normal expansion programme at Christmas, which sees it recruit at total of 20,000 additional staff and extend opening hours at depots, 3,000 more staff are currently being recruited and seven extra operational centres are opening temporarily on top of the 24 already in use.
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