For exporters, a falling pound traditionally has distinct advantages. It makes British goods cheaper for foreigners to buy, so can increase sales abroad. As such, it has provided one of the few chinks of light in an otherwise unremittingly gloomy economic picture in the past six months.
So does this apply to hauliers, too? Yes and no. UK haulage companies which provide international services are probably more competitive now than they have been for years, simply because those buying their services in euros now find them much cheaper.
But the effects of currency fluctuations are rarely straightforward. Peter Cullum, the Road Haulage Association's head of international affairs, says that although "one or two" members have reported an increase in business since the pound plunged, the benefits 
are not all one way.
For one thing, as the euro has strengthened, so fuel in Europe has become more expensive for UK international hauliers that mainly fill up on the Continent. For another, the recession has hit everywhere, with the effect of overall economic misery more than enough to outweigh any temporary currency advantage.
And for a third, Continental hauliers are every bit as quick on their feet as their UK competition with regards to currencies, and several, says Cullum, have now started quoting for UK business in sterling where they used to quote in euros.
Manufacturers raise prices
There have been other increases in costs for UK hauliers, too. Anybody buying a new truck might find the good deals available because of manufacturers keen to sell more trucks offset by price rises imposed to reflect currency swings. DAF, for example, recently said it would 
need to put up its vehicle costs by around 7% in the UK to account for sterling's fall against the euro. Renault and MAN have both said that they are in the same boat. This means that operators' capital costs are likely to go up this year if they invest in new trucks. To top that, insurance is rising as well.
All of which adds up to a position a little more complicated than "weak pound good, strong pound bad". Indeed, some operators that withdrew from international work when the pound was strong have still not returned as it has weakened, even if they had previously indicated that they might. This seems to be because any benefits of a weaker pound are far outweighed by other factors, including the hugely lower costs of some foreign operators (particularly the Eastern Europeans) and the general depth of the recession.
Cullum says: "One haulier actually said to me previously that if the pound fell to £1.22 against the euro, he would look again at doing European work. When it did hit that level I rang him up and he said: 'Yes, I've looked at it'. He obviously hasn't seen enough advantage yet to go back in."
Furthermore, those UK operators who have done relatively well out of Europe up to now have often done so by subcontracting work to those Eastern Europeans. Ian Baxter, managing director of RH Freight, which specialises in European groupage and part-load business, says that the weaker pound has been negative in the sense that it has meant the company has paid more to many of the hauliers it uses, largely from Poland and the Baltic states.
Against this, RH has actually found its export volumes up 6% this year compared to last, a rise that may partly be due to the weaker pound attracting more foreign sales for UK goods.
Baxter says: "This is the good side of things for our customers, because their goods have become more competitive in Europe. The downside for them is that transport costs may go up a little, but I'd say overall the position is positive."
Perhaps one of the most revealing things about RH's business model is it has not even occurred to Baxter to start using UK hauliers rather than the East Europeans to do most of the work on international runs, because the cost difference remains too great.
The sense of Baxter's argument would also be apparent to anybody examining the comparative cost survey of European hauliers carried out by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union. This found that the 10 new member states of the EU had staff costs that were 80% less than the older EU countries. Such a large difference is not going to be eroded by the fall in sterling we have seen so far.
Increase in enquiries
Some UK hauliers are nevertheless noticing distinct advantages to the feeble pound. David Grocott, director of Grocontinental, which has been involved in international haulage since 1966, says there has been a definite increase in enquiries from customers who normally use hauliers from the eurozone, because UK hauliers are suddenly more competitive.
But Grocott also emphasises the mixed nature of the currency fluctuations. He says: "The downside from our point of view has been that it is costing us more to service our British exporting customers who pay us in sterling."
Grocott's point, again, is that fuel and drivers' expenses on the Continent still have to be paid for in euros, now as strong as the pound is weak.
The crux of the matter for many European operators seems to be that the strong euro brings as many downsides as the weak pound brings upsides.
Vanessa Mills, partner in express freight specialist Euro2Go, says: "Fuels and tolls in Europe have quietly increased. Drivers personal expenses have crept upwards but we cannot afford to increase their pay to allow for this. Whilst we continue to take goods out to Europe, the number of backloads to the UK from our UK-based customers has reduced – further shrinking already slim profit margins."
Are there any answers? For Mills, it is a matter of constantly reviewing operating procedures to minimise costs. Fuel, for example, which a year would have been bought largely in Europe to save money, is now not necessarily cheaper over the water. Drivers are encouraged to fill up on the way to their UK departure port. For UK hauliers in 2009, it's not the weak pound they mind, it's the strong euro.