petrol prices are rising... possible repeat of protests by hauliers

[Don Seer]

luckily during the week i dont put a lot of miles on my car..

possible protests soon.. guess i better get a jerry can 'just in case' ?


http://www.reuters.co.uk/newsPackageArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=506189&section=news


Fuel price rise sparks discontent
Fri 7 May, 2004 04:47
 
By Simon Webb

LONDON (Reuters) - Rising diesel prices are provoking rumblings of discontent from truckers and threatening a repeat of the fuel protests that brought the nation to a virtual standstill in September 2000, industry groups and trucking companies say..

The disaffection stems from a price spike that is being driven by spiralling world oil prices due to Middle East instability and tight U.S. gasoline supply.

A new round of UK government fuel tax hikes on September 1 will add to transport costs, stoking resentment in the haulage industry.

"A lot of our members are very unhappy," said Kate Gibbs, spokeswoman for the industry group Road Haulage Association. "Something is going to have to be done."

No protest action has yet been planned, but the informal groups around which previous protests were centred have begun to meet again, trucking company owners said.

"There is a lot of unrest in the industry at the moment," Derek Linch, who runs 30 trucks at his company in Romney Marsh in Kent, told Reuters on Thursday.

At a meeting of 20 hauliers in the south east of England last week, participants agreed to begin lobbying local members of parliament in a move to draw attention to their plight, Linch said.

The group also agreed to look for a high-profile representative to put their arguments forward in public.

Gibbs said hauliers were considering reforming the protest group Transaction that was one of many organisations participating in blockages of oil refineries and terminals during the September 2000 protests.

Disenchantment with the government is rife within the industry which thinks the last round of protests was followed by little government action, said Paul Newton, company secretary at Horley Motors Limited, an East Anglia company with 20 trucks.

FOUR YEARS ON

"We've been here before," Newton said. "Four years on and nothing seems to have changed. The government never listens. They don't deal with anything until it becomes a crisis."

Newton is a member of the East Anglia Hauliers Group that met politicians in Westminster on several occasions after the last round of protests in 2000. He said the government had failed to act on recommendations of his groups and others.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair told a news conference earlier on Thursday that he was carefully monitoring rising oil prices, promising to take action "where we are able to."

"We have learnt from history (this) can have a severe impact on our economy, quite apart from obviously the consumer," Blair said.

Major-brand diesel prices were averaging 80.3 pence a litre across the UK last Friday, according to Jose Blanco, at OPAL price assessments. That is up from 77.8 pence a litre at the beginning of the year.

In some parts of the country, prices are close to the levels of 85 pence that sparked protests in 2000.

Prices are set to rise further as international oil prices this week hit their highest levels since the 1990 Gulf War, Blanco said.

Benchmark Brent crude oil futures on London's International Petroleum Exchange traded at a 13-year high on Thursday of $37.20 a barrel.

High diesel prices are eating into already-tight profit margins for haulage companies, Gibbs said. Fuel accounts for about 40 percent of haulage costs.

Trucking companies are calling for the government to match the lower tax levels that other European governments levy on diesel, Gibbs said.

"We would like a level playing field," Gibbs said. "We're paying more than our nearest neighbours in France. We just can't compete."

French tax on diesel stands at 41.74 eurocents a litre, according to Blanco at OPAL. British diesel tax is 47.1 pence.

The UK is the only country among the old members of the European Union that levies the same tax on diesel as it does on premium unleaded petrol, Blanco said.

The government is planning a tax increase of 1.92 pence per litre on diesel from September 1, a move announced in the March budget.

"That tax is double trouble for the haulage industry," said Newton.

[I-Yoof]

Good ol Tony Blair eh?

[Trauma-san]

I just drive my company truck everywhere.  Haven't bought any gas in over a year.  

[Suga Foot]

We have the highest gas prices in Canada, here in BC.  They said on the radio a few hours ago, that Saltspring Island has gas for $1.02/litre.

[Jome]

We have the highest gas prices in Canada, here in BC.  They said on the radio a few hours ago, that Saltspring Island has gas for $1.02/litre.

Lucky motherfoos..  

[pappy]

We have the highest gas prices in Canada, here in BC.  They said on the radio a few hours ago, that Saltspring Island has gas for $1.02/litre.

Lucky motherfoos..  

i kno i saw how much ur gas is in norway.  it took one guy 130 bucks tofill up his tank i was like get the fuck outta here.

[Don Seer]

i filled up after a trip outta town today... put in more than usual (normally keep it halfful which is about 20 worth) at another pump a guy had like 8 of those lil red plastic petrol can things and was filling all those up too!

[Jome]

We're closing in on our record in Norway..
It's at $1.45/liter right now, and is expected to reach $1.60 in a month or two..