A Long-established Fife transport company has issued its full support to The Courier’s Fight for Fairer Fuel campaign, which aims to put pressure on the government to introduce a fuel duty regulator.
David Goodsir, whose business A1 Transport and Coach Services Fife Ltd has been in operation for the last 31 years, said he is struggling to make a profit in the current economic climate and expressed concerns for the future of the Methil-based company should the price of fuel continue to soar.
Motorists and businesses across Scotland are currently facing record petrol pump prices that have reached over £1.40 a litre in some areas, coupled with the UK Government’s recent VAT rise.
“It really is a very difficult time for everyone in the transport industry,” said Mr Goodsir.
“We normally get our fuel delivered as it’s just more convenient, but at the moment there’s a three-week delay with that, so our drivers are having to use the pumps at the Shell garage in Leven where we have an account.
“We have a fleet of over 40 vehicles, so we get through a lot of fuel as you can imagine and all our drivers have commented on the price of fuel being so high.
“All our contracts are a set price for the whole year so if the price of fuel goes up, it means we’re out of pocket.
“A few drivers have approached me saying they are frightened about losing their jobs as they know the rising price of fuel will have a knock-on effect on the business.Low morale”Morale is also low due to recently losing a major long-running contract transporting staff from Fishers Laundry service in Cupar three times a week.
“The contract runs out on February 24 and will be a massive blow to us. As a result, although things are okay just now, I can’t guarantee they will be in the future so it is a worrying time.
“It’s made all the more frustrating by the fact that just last year we were awarded a government grant to employ some young drivers and put them through their training and now they could potentially lose their jobs.
“We’ve been quite lucky so far in how we’ve handled the recession, but that’s probably because as well as the transport and private hire side of things, we also specialise in converting minibuses into caravans so it’s probably not having all our eggs in the one basket that’s helped pull us through.
“I am still very concerned for what the future might hold for my company and other transport firms in the region, and The Courier has my full backing in its campaign for fairer fuel.”
Mr Goodsir’s concerns were echoed by the chairwoman of the Fife branch of the Federation of Small Businesses.
“Rocketing petrol prices are crippling many small businesses in the region,” Janet Torley told The Courier. “Retailers and other companies and customers who rely heavily on transportation and deliveries are now having to be more thoughtful about the way they do business.
“Rural communities have been worst hit by the increases and the government needs to realise that fuel is the lifeblood of a lot of small businesses in Scotland and in places like Fife.
“It doesn’t help that we have such poor public transport here if the government can’t do anything to reduce the levy then it should be looking at drastically improving transport links.
“The bottom line is that the government should be called upon to look at this very carefully and do whatever they can to ease this burden and I fully support The Courier’s campaign for fairer fuel prices.”