1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192 
It's official: UK is failing in Europe
Page 9
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
INTERNATIONAL HAULIERS from the UK are falling further behind in their battle to compete with their rivals in mainland Europe, according to two new reports.
Department for Transport figures show that the number of UK trucks travelling to Europe has fallen to an eight-year low.
And the FreightTransport Association's latest quarterly survey on transport activity found that only one in 12 UK-based international operators expects business to grow in the short-termless than half the level that expect it to fall. Don Armour, the FTA's manager of international services, says exchange rates and increasing use of low paid eastern European drivers are putting UK-based hauliers at a competitive disadvantage.
"Volume business for UK international hauliers is simply no longer commercially viable," he warns. "The activities that are being retained by them tend to be in niche markets."
He adds that EU enlargement in May is likely to prove a mixed blessing. Drivers from eastern Europe could help ease the UK's shortage of drivers, but recruiting them simply to reduce costs could further destabilise rates. "At present, nobody can predict how this will play out." says Armour.
The DfT figures show that the number of UK trucks travelling to the Continent fell 3% between July and September, compared with the previous quarter. Over the same period foreign truckers increased their market share by 2% — UK trucks now account for just 26% of the overall market.