„British carriers are keeping the nation fed by keeping shop shelves stocked and making sure that the thousands of front-line medical staff are supplied with the PPE they so desperately need, 24/7” – turned RHA chief executive, Richard Burnett to the chancellor, Rishi Sunak with a plea to take the urgent action so desperately needed by thousands of haulage operators.
Road hauliers are the key workers that are keeping the economy moving in these extraordinary times. They’re keeping the nation fed by keeping shop shelves stocked and making sure that the thousands of front-line medical staff are supplied with the PPE they so desperately need, 24/7.”
The RHA has proposed measures that provide practical solutions in five key areas:
- A 100%, government-backed, invoice financing package (debt support).
- Moving to a weekly furlough of staff to provide a flexible return to businesses.
- A suspension of fuel duty and a rebate for hauliers.
- A business rates holiday for all hauliers’ sites.
- A lorry retention scheme for vehicles not being used (sector specific)
Govt must do more to get hauliers through #covid19 if they’re to drive economic recovery, @RHARichardB told @RishiSunak. Improved finance support, business rates holiday and more flexible furlough rules would help the industry back on its feet: https://t.co/2wXUtx5LSk pic.twitter.com/1FruRImkm0
— RHA News (@RHANews) April 30, 2020
If the economy is to recover from this,” Richard Burnett continued, “it is important that we can switch on the supply chain as individual sectors begin their recovery. No-one knows for sure when that will be, but we must make sure that the industry is up and ready to go at very short notice. We recognise that we need to play the fullest role possible in the UK’s recovery and these measures would ensure we can do just that.”
A recent RHA survey found that 46 percent of the UK’s truck fleet is not operating and 25 percent of drivers are furloughed.
SME businesses are really struggling. The measures that the Government have come up with simply don’t work. An average haulier will make maybe 2% margin, they’ll have two to three weeks cashflow within their business. We’ve got hauliers at the moment who can’t even furlough their staff, because they have insufficient cash to pay those employees.” – Mr Burnett said. – “We need cash, we need grants, we need help to balance and normalize this cashflow problem, and the loan system simply doesn’t work at this point in time.”
