Haulier: ‘Help us cut £1m fuel bill’
May 27th 2010 The head of haulage firm AK Worthington – which is facing a £1 million fuel bill this year – has called on the coalition Government to tackle spiralling petrol prices.
Julian Richards, md of A.K. Worthington, part of the AKW Group, said duty on fuel needed to be cut or capped and more support put in place for transport firms to ensure companies did not go bust.
“The current rate of fuel duty, combined with global oil prices, is seeing pump prices soar to levels which are crippling many transport operators,” he said.
“At the current pump price of £1.195p per litre the Government takes almost 75p – this figure is much higher than many countries around the globe that have also been hit by the economic downturn and it threatens the future of haulage firms up and down the UK.
“This year we will spend well in excess of £1 millon pounds on our fuel – a cost which has risen by over 12 per cent in five years and is having a big impact on our business.
“Something needs to be done quickly, not just to help the haulage companies, but also the country so that it can be competitive in a global market.”
Over the past 20 years, AK Worthington’s fuel cost per litre has risen by a staggering 192 per cent.
In the past 10 years it has risen by 80 per cent.
“Our rising fuel costs put us in a very difficult situation because we have to pass on some of these costs to our customers in the price of our services – after we have first taken a big hit on our own margins,” he added.
A.K Worthington has worked in partnership with other transport organisations to reduce the amount of empty miles from 28 per cent to under 10 per cent of total miles travelled. More articles from Handling & Storage Solutions: | 
