Soaring fuel costs putting hauliers out of business

Brian O’Mahony, Chief Business Correspondent

Last night a spokesman for the association said on current trends it looked as if two members per week are quitting the industry.

He said the soaring cost of fuel is an issue that has to be addressed.

“We were told the rise in the cost of fuel was a temporary phenomenon that would settle back after the US had secured future oil supplies in Iraq,” the spokesman said.

That has not happened.

The IRHA has been made aware of the phenomenon though insurance brokers who have seen a sharp drop in the number of hauliers renewing their insurance cover.

It has got to the stage where it is better for them to “throw away the keys and take a well paid driving job, where someone else is living with the headaches of soaring costs”, the spokesman said.

Unless action is taken the hauliers have warned protest action will be taken down the line.

Prices of petrol and diesel are at their highest since fuel was deregulated in 1991.

AA statistics for last month show petrol is costing an average of 102.4 cent per litre.

That is up 3.7% in the last month. Diesel rose by 2.3 cent, and now costs an average of 101.7 cent a litre.

Conor Faughnan of AA says prices for petrol and diesel have been “rising remorselessly for months”.

It looks as if the general public are faced with continuing higher prices in the months ahead, he warned, with little prospects of any significant improvement.

Motorists should shop around and can save as much as 5 cent per litre or 2.50 each time the tank of an ordinary family car is filled.

Recent analysis from international brokers suggests higher oil prices are here to stay, as increasing demand has frustrated hopes of a return to pre-war prices.