Driven to despair: Irish hauliers say industry at risk of grinding to a halt

Driver shortages are on the rise and fuel prices are stifling the haulage sector at a moment of profound change when investment is needed to decarbonise the Irish fleet. Why would anybody enter this industry today?

Trucks arriving from Holyhead  pass through a customs post at Dublin Port as the new Post Brexit Irish Sea trading arrangements came into operation in January 2021. Many of the hauliers were 'Brexit-prepared' and had established new, direct relationships with consumers and suppliers on the European mainland in favour of former relations with UK firms. File Picture: PA

Not many people can say they have driven Coke from Ireland to Iraq, but haulier Tony Quinn has. 

In the 1970s, he established Quinn Transport based out of Athlone, and at the time it was cheaper to drive Coca-Cola dilute to Iraq than to ship it. Mr Quinn has spent the best part of 50 years as a haulier, mostly transporting goods across Europe in addition to Middle East trips, but he now fears for the industry's survival.