In his monthly column for Courier Direct Jerry Stewart, director at Eagle Couriers examines issues which are having a major effect on the industry. This month he looks at the effects the Grangemouth strike had on industry.It seems that fuel is never out the news - whether it’s the price of an oil of barrel, the level of government fuel duty or the recent Grangemouth strike. The recent two-day strike at Grangemouth highlighted just how dependent we are on steady fuel supplies. For the unprepared I am sure there have been lasting and very damaging effects. The strike was played up in the media and panicked the British public. People went out en-masse and panic bought more petrol than they needed, queues for stations lined the streets and many ran dry. The panic buying significantly reduced available fuel supplies. In reality there was plentiful supply had it not been for panic-buying.
But In the courier industry fuel is one of the most important components of your business. Luckily we had contingency plans in place which meant we could continue serving our customers without any disruption to our normal services. I realised on the Monday before the weekend strike that there was a very real possibility it was going ahead. I organised to buy a couple of tankers of diesel from a private supplier so we could keep a store in our Edinburgh and Glasgow depots should drivers be faced with dry pumps. We had a total of ten days’ fuel at each of the depots. The talks might well have been resolved and we would have been left with fuel but that can never be a bad thing as it is imperative to be prepared. Companies who were not prepared will have been hit hard I am sure. And although this was not directly linked to the rising cost of fuel, both in duty and oil price, it is another example of how delicate the relationship is and how catastrophic it can be when it goes wrong. For years prices have been steadily rising and now they are at a ridiculous all-time high. Oil is priced at around $130 a barrel. It seems like only yesterday people were surprised petrol had passed the £1 a litre at the pumps and now it is not uncommon to pay £1.27 a litre.
In the last Budget the Government resolved to freeze fuel duty for six months in order to let the market balance out a bit. The Government already takes a whopping 60%. The six months will soon be up and it does not seem we are any nearer to being crisis-free fuel-wise. The courier industry is utterly dependent on fuel. It is time to start reassessing our use of petrol and diesel as the world seems to be changing and there is fuel crisis after fuel crisis. There are only so many crises the industry can survive.
