Specialist construction hauliers are cutting fleet sizes and staff to avoid failure in the recession.
The Road Haulage Association estimates 100,000 trucks are dedicated to construction, and director of policy Jack Semple says the sector has got steadily worse each month since May 2008. As a result, tipper operator
WM Quinn Group is selling off part of its fleet as a way of surviving the downturn.
According to Gary Brown, plant manager at the Ardwick, Manchester-based group, at least one employee per week since mid-November has had to be laid off.
The firm has instructed Malcolm Harrison Auctions to sell nine HGVs and 19 vans on 7 March so it can focus on demolition work rather than transportation. WM Quinnbelieves that if it can keep its head above water until November, it will be safe.
"We have seen no pick up, so this is an opportunity to offload vehicles while we can. It will be a case of investing in new trucks when business picks up," Brown says.
Meanwhile, in Llanelli, South West Wales, Ian Jarmin, environmental and legislation manager at Owens
Road Services tells Commercial Motor the group is concentrating its efforts on fast-moving consumer goods and will only return to the sector when the market picks up.
The decision comes after the company had to lay off 42 drivers in November 2008 as a result of the construction slowdown.
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