Memorandum by Brian Palmer (RH 04)
FACT 1: I have been connected with the haulage
trade for well over 35 years.
FACT 2: I have worked my way up from humble
employee to an employer of 18 full time staff and three casual
staff.
FACT 3: In the last financial year I have paid
in taxes, duties, rates, NI, licences, etc, over THREE QUARTERS
of a MILLION pounds and received nothing in return.
FACT 4: My company is facing imminent closure
due to unfair foreign competition. The European hauliers we are
up against have the following advantages.
FACT 5: Their vehicles like their cars are 20
per cent cheaper. A big plus in any industry where capital input
is high. Their trucks are cheaper still as they do not need to
buy three axle units as we do because they are allowed to put
30 per cent more weight on their drive axles without incurring
punitive taxes.
FACT 6: Their road tax is ONE TENTH of our road
fund licence, ours is £5,750 theirs is £500.
FACT 7: They use our roads for free, if we visit
their countries we pay day licences of up to £10 per day
if not that then we pay their tolls, whichever way, we are funding
them and it is not being reciprocated.
FACT 8: The biggest advantage they have is the
cost of their fuel, it is not unusual abroad to see fuel at 40p
per litre (including their taxes and duties) as opposed to our
cost of 77 pence per litre. At the eight miles to the gallon we
reckon to average on our trucks this works out at the difference
in costs of 43.7 pence per mile on our fuel to their 22.7 pence
per mile on their prices. OURS IS DOUBLE!!!!!
FACT 9: With the present favourable exchange
rate and strong pound it is a fact that the Dutch can work over
here at 25 per cent less than we do and make a good profit, we
on the other hand are making a loss.
FACT 10: One of my customers is using Dutch
registered trucks with Estonian drivers to keep costs down even
more. We have minimum wages, PAYE and NI to pay and we need to
help drivers keep their standard of living up and we are up against
cheap trucks with cheap tax and cheap fuel and now cheap labour.
Any constructive hints on how I can compete will be gratefully
received.
FACT 11: Foreign trucks run on "dirty"
high sulphur diesel, we run on "green" low sulphur fuel,
we are penalised for helping with the environment, they are making
a profit polluting our Country!!!
FACT 12: According to Department of the Environment
figures released in 1998 there had been a 50 per cent increase
in foreign registered vehicles working in our country in the previous
two years, that figure is still climbing rapidly, for latest figures
you will need to consult with the DOE. I have not had any luck
getting these figures but I am sure you will manage it.
FACT 13: My vehicles regularly use 1,000 litres
of fuel per week, this equates to £550 of fuel duty, on top
of this there is VAT of over £110 and road tax of £110.50
per week. Without other taxes this comes to a regular income for
the government of £770.50 per week, not bad eh!
FACT 14: I know it is said that our high taxes
and duties are balanced by the fact that we pay less in Corporation
tax, I would love to pay Corporation tax unfortunately I need
to make a profit to do this.
FACT 15: I have not made a profit since last
May when the price hike of the previous budget made itself felt,
I am not confident or optimistic of being able to weather this
storm, what a waste of 35 years.
FACT 16: When my company folds and foreign competition
takes my place which they surely must, then the exchequer will
be paying out 18 lots of unemployment benefit or retraining or
both.
FACT 17: When my business fails the exchequer
will lose £750,000 of taxes and duties that I pay at present,
with the above fact 15 this amounts to a double whammy!! (how
much does 18 lots of dole amount to over a year?)
FACT 18: My company is not alone sharing these
problems, in the village where I live we have lost six drivers
jobs within the last two months and this is being repeated throughout
the Country.
FACT 19: The duty I am paying on fuel is a straight
tax on productivity as opposed to a tax on profits and is strangling
our industry even as we are attempting to make a living and a
profit margin, any incentive to do any good is well and truly
crushed before we have even started work.
All of the above facts can be corroborated and
I would be willing to furnish you with any financial information
regarding my company if you think it may be useful. I would also
be more than willing to meet with yourself or your committee if
you think think this may be constructive, because as I have illustrated
to you above the stakes are very high.
I have enclosed for your perusal a fact sheet
that was circulated by the East Anglian Hauliers Group on our
lobby on the 26 January 2000, it contains much of what I have
told you but in table form, I hope you will find it useful.
When you have considered all the above facts
you will notice that the playing field we shared with our continental
neighbours is not so much on a gentle slope as on a cliff face.
Please let the committee debate the points I
have put to you, but please remember that the amount of time I
have left in business is finite, I cannot hang on much longer.
All I ask is parity with my competition and I will beat them and
survive.
You have myself and my family's future in your
hands, please I beg you do not waste this opportunity to help
me and my business instead of giving my livelihood to the Europeans
who will pay the British Government nothing for it.
February 2000
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