Hauliers are paying more in staffing costs than any other sector, writes Chris Tindall, up by more than a third in just three months.
Government figures published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed staffing costs in transport and logistics have risen by 35.7% in three months, ahead of National Insurance (NI) and minimum wage rises, due to kick in next month.
That’s considerably more than any other industry sector; manufacturing companies’ staffing costs rose by 24% and retailers by 20.4% over the same period.
The increase included higher wages, bonuses, NI and pension contributions, but with NI contributions rising to 15% in April concerns are mounting at how the sector will cover the costs.
The ONS report found 37.2% of transport and storage companies are bracing themselves for the impact of further increases over the next quarter.
Just 1.7% think their costs will fall.
