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What was billed as a "modest protest" by haulage pressure group Transaction proved to be anything but this week, as close to 100 trucks from as far afield as Shrewsbury, Cornwall, Kent and Wales delivered an unequivocal message to the government that almost five years on since the last mass demonstration in London's Park Lane, the problems facing UK operators have got worse, not better. The latest on-street-protest comes against a backdrop where diesel costs have risen by 31% in the past year,  and now they typically represent 40% of the operating costs of a 44-tonne truck. The procession of trucks, lead by a low-loader carrying a coffin depicting the demise of the UK road haulage industry, clearly generated much more solid support than previous demonstrations staged in Essex and Wales. Protest organiser Mike Presneill, MD of Kent-based tipper operators PTC, was pleased with the turn-out, declaring: "We've had up to 60 operators from Kent and another 30 from the North and from other parts of the country - it's a job to judge, we might get 100 in the end."

However, he adds: "It's a sad day when we've got to come back to London and to things that should have been sorted first time around." And on the day when Shell announced its annual results, Road Haulage Association (RHA) chief executive Roger King told journalists: "Oil companies are making record profits. None of the people here today are making anything like that. In fact, many aren't making a profit at all. The government  should plough the windfall back into the industry via the proposals we've suggested. We're not a cash cow." Despite previous clashes with the RHA, Transaction's Presneill insists he is pleased to see King at the protest. "I'm still an RHA member and will remain a member, as long as these guys do the job right. They need encouragement. Six years down the line, what's worrying is that the RHA goes into the Treasury with lots of ideas, but still comes out with nothing. It doesn't have the bargaining power. In some way, we need to change that."

However, fellow Transaction member, and protest co-organiser Sharon Knight of Faversham-based Les Knight Transport was more critical of the RHA. While insisting: "We've always said Transaction is not a trade association, it's a pressure group, we've become the de facto leaders of independent British hauliers." Knight adds the company has withdrawn its RHA membership claiming: "As a trade association, we expect them to be our voice, but we've been disappointed in what they've achieved." As CM filed this story, Presneill and other Transaction members were heading off to the Houses of Parliament with a letter for the Treasury, which it intended to deliver to Labour MP for Sittingbourne Derek Wyatt. "We're going to put back under their noses the Burns report. There are plenty of solutions in there if only the Treasury is prepared to look at it."

What the protesters say

The convoy of protesters in London's Park Lane represented a broad mix of operators from around the country.

• Joe Cook, boss of J.S. Cook & Sons had bought two trucks down to London, including the low loader carrying the symbolic coffin representing the death of the UK haulage industry. Cook told CM: "I'm losing about £700-800 just being here, but it's worthwhile. We've got to make a stand. I've been in this business since 1974 and it's just got worse. It's a terrible shame that things have reached this situation. Driving down this morning, I saw diesel at £1.26 a litre on the A5. Before Christmas, it was 88-90p per litre - it's just ridiculous."
• Mark Jones, operations director of Gerry Jones, the Cwmcarn, Welsh-based major fleet, insists: "Something's got to be done now. We recently applied for an increase from a customer around Christmas and they've just given us 3%, but since then, our costs have already gone up another 5%. You can't catch up like that. At that rate, in 18 months there won't be anyone left in the business." Jones was adamant that the industry should show more solidarity, too. "If we don't all support the industry, they'll be no industry left to support."
• Tim Ingram, a driver for Tonbridge-based S&S Distribution joined in the convoy from Kent in his artic with the full support of his company. "I'm here to help support the industry," he said, adding, "Where drivers wages were once the biggest single outlay in terms of running a truck, that's now been overtaken by fuel. Yesterday, I put 117-litres of diesel in the tank, I was just doing local work, and the fuel cost more than my wages for the day!"
• Julian Arnold, of JJT Logistics in Snodland was disappointed by a previous operator fuel protest staged at Essex and came up to London without a truck, but seeing the turnout, he wished he had. "We went to Thurrock and there were more police than trucks. I was a bit dubious about today because of the earlier lack of support. This is good, and I'm glad to see some well-recognised firms out on the streets. But there's a lot more we need to do. If the French and Italians can do it, then British hauliers can do it, too. We need to go the whole hog."
• Robert Spargo, driver for Westfield Transport in Truro, was in no doubt that the recent business slowdown was having a serious effect on the West Country. "It's dead, there's very little work for companies in Cornwall right now. I've been in the business for 19 years and I've never seen it this bad before." With the slowdown in the economy and the rising cost of fuel, Spargo reckons: "For Cornwall, at least, I don't think things are going to get any better."

RHA slams customers who won't negotiate

This week RHA chief executive delivered a stinging rebuke this week on "Buyers of road haulage services who refuse to discuss rate increases-despite the soaring cost of diesel." King, who attended the Transaction protest in central London, claimed: "We've been astonished to learn that a small number of buyers, including some household names, that appear to be set on using their purchasing muscle to squeeze transport suppliers be refusing to even discuss rate increases, even though costs are rising at an unprecedented rate. It's vital that hauliers pass on the increases in their costs to their customers. It's one thing for hauliers and customers to work in partnership to find cost savings through more efficient operations---but it's quite another to expect a supplier in a competitive sector to do the same work taking the whole burden of soaring oil prices."It's vital that hauliers pass on the increases in their costs to their customers".