The FTA and the RHA met Chancellor Alistair Darling today to try to persuade him to scrap the planned 2p/lit rise in fuel duty due in April.
The message that's come back to CM is that Darling was sympathetic to the problems and understands why hauliers see fuel duty as such an issue.
However sympathy is not going to help the honest operator make ends meet in the face of tough competition from a foreign haulier able to cut prices because their fuel bill isn't so big.
The government's budget is clearly already allocated and it will be a tough call to make, but there is no reason why operators that are working hard to make a living and keep this country moving should subsidise inefficiencies in the health service or in education or anywhere else for that matter. It wouldn't be so bad if there was evidence that the cash was being invested in the transport infrastructure in the UK, but this isn't happening either.
So come on, be the Darling of the road haulage industry and make the decision that could be the difference between making ends meet and going to the wall for many operators.