I will send transport costs sky-high
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result in higher carriage costs for a vast range of goods.
The prohibition list in particular will have a most severe effect as it relates to 6,200 vehicles operated by professional hauliers (about a quarter of the entire haulage business) and 'about 1,200 long-distance trucks run on own account.
The direct-cost increases for manufacturers in moving their goods are estimated to average 34 per cent unless the firms are directly rail-connected at both ends. Transport costs for concrete blocks, for example, would rise by 45 per cent, for bricks 46 per cent and for stone 56 per cent. The higher tax on hauliers would add £21m annually to their total operating costs and the result of this would, for instance, be a 14.4 per cent rise in carriage costs for fertilizers, 13.3 per cent for potatoes and 11.7 per cent for citrus fruits.
The Divo Institute says it is impossible to estimate the indirect cost increases involved, but transport users would have to pay more because of a drop in quality of some products (through longer transit time on rail and more damage), while extended storage would raise space and capital costs and call for large investments.
Branches of German trade have given the Institute examples of the total price increases that would result from implementation of the Transport Bill, and these include: timber
30 per cent; rolled steel 5/10 per Cent; trade and construction prices in general 4/5 per cent.
The German Industrial Association (BDI) estimates that the total cost to German society of the Leber programme will be £200m, while the German State Railways' increased income resulting directly from the bulk road traffic ban will be around £27m a year.