These are the 5 crucial actions British hauliers demand from the government

The Road Hauliers Association (RHA) in the United Kingdom implores the British government to do more to save thousands of logistics firms who face ruin as a result of the COVID-19 crisis. RHA chief executive, Richard Burnett warned that with no further government action, a predicted widescale business collapse could reduce logistics capacity by as much as 50 percent.

Businesses on the brink, @RHARichardB tells @borisjohnson Grants, fuel duty rebates, and more flexible furlough rules are some of the measures which can help hauliers recover from #covid19. Half say they could be bust in a month: https://t.co/Zo97nFvK1M #coronavirus pic.twitter.com/2Zs0qVrQmt

— RHA News (@RHANews) April 21, 2020

This would likely make it impossible for the sector to meet the demand to fuel the economy’s recovery effort – he said.

In the letter to the Prime Minister, six important participants of the British transport industry (the Road Haulage Association, the Cold Chain Federation, the British Association of Removers, the Association of Pallet Networks, the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport and the Transport Association) set out a series of measures to help firms get through the pandemic and into the recovery phase.

These are the five actions the transport industry demands:

• Business rates ‘holiday’ for all hauliers’ sites to bring them into line with other sectors and reduce fixed costs;
• Weekly SORN refunds to help firms reduce standing costs and enable them to bring fleets back online quicker than the current monthly model;
• Immediate grants and debt support for struggling firms;
• Fuel duty rebate for essential users to reduce the burden on cashflows;
• A weekly furlough model to improve flexibility, reduce costs and ensure staff remain available;

At this time of national emergency our sector is doing everything it can to ensure critical supplies get to where they need to be,” said Mr Burnett. – “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.