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Profitable UK hauliers should buy successful rivals and force less successful firms out of business, says a leading business analyst. Plimsoll's annual road haulage acquisition survey, which looks at 2,000 companies, says that the most profitable hauliers are "awash with cash" and should buy up the competition.

The report says that there are 537 hauliers that "would make good strategic acquisitions" for would-be predators. David Pattison, Plimsoll's senior  acquisition analyst, says: "The next step is to focus your attention on the 394 companies we have identified who are failing anyway, pushing them out of the market. This may sound harsh, but if the industry is to develop and evolve, there has to be casualties."

Hauliers named by Plimsoll as being in a position to make acquisitions include Stan Robinson (Stafford), Goldstar Transport, Fred Sherwood & Sons, CM Downton and C Butt. However, not all of them appear keen to take Plimsoll's advice. Both Fred Sherwood & Sons and Stan Robinson say they are planning organic growth rather than buying other firms.

Mark Robinson, a director at Stan Robinson, says: "We might be able to  do it, but that doesn't mean we will. At the moment, we have a number of other projects, including building extra warehousing and we have just bought a site in Devon, so that is probably enough for the moment."

Roger Orrill, finance director at Fred Sherwood, says: "We've just bought five vehicles our policy is to expand internally. The problem with buying other companies can be dealing with the management."