Haulage Companies

The Haulier and Haulage Industry

In the UK the haulage business can be lucrative, but there is a lot of competition. There are over 50,000 businesses in the haulage industry operating many different types of trucks, vans and specialist heavy goods vehicles. The Haulage industry is relied upon to service the sheer amount of goods coming in through our ports and airports

The UK Haulage business is made up mostly of 2 types:

1. Third party haulage businesses carrying other people’s goods
2. Own account business running their own logistics and freight divisions.

Cashflow constraints of the haulage business:

• The london congestion charge
• Fuel costs account for about quarter of all operating costs
• Road and bridge tolls
• Fuel duty.
• Fuel costs and taxes now amount to around 25% of the running costs of a haulage business.
• Competition from Eastern Europe – lower fuel and labour costs – are almost entirely unregulated
• UK regulation and compliance costs
• Costs relating to the recruitment of staff
• Staff costs – the average salary is around £22k
• The demand for qualified drivers is pushing wage costs upwards.
• Vehicle-related costs
• HGVs cost
• HGV insurance costs
• Vehicle excise duty (VED)
• Operators’ licence fees
• Administrative costs
• Exchange rate movements
• Slow payment of sales invoices
• Trailer hire
• Payment on truck leases