More than a quarter of hauliers have seen turnover fall in the last two years, with another third showing no sales increases, according to a new survey. The survey by financial analysts Plimsoll of 200 of the UK's largest road haulage firms found that 66 of those have showed no sales increases at all in the past two years, while a further 55 have seen a decrease.
It also found that 116 had failed to increase sales at the same rate as
their investment and 93 had increased debt simply to hold their place in the market. David Pattison, senior analyst with Plimsoll, says that although hauliers have invested heavily in recent years "they are seeing very little by way of return".
Pattison adds: "The consequences are serious these companies need to have a serious rethink when it comes to their business models. It's likely that jobs will be lost and key projects cancelled in an attempt to control the spending, but it could well be a case of too little, too late.
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