Fuel Costs

Sure they do. The ones who can't will go out of business and the ones who don't go out of business will have been able to keep their costs below their incomes and as such will have had to have been able to dictate the rates.

It works on the macro scale. Not true for individual truckers, but true for the industry.

P.

On or around Wed, 23 Jun 2004 12:41:11 +0100, Conor enlightened us thusly:

what were transport rates 20 years ago, and what are they now? 30 years ago?

mind, the transport industry *could* dictate rates if it got together and presented a united front... :-)

In message , Austin Shackles writes

Price fixing is illegal.

On or around Sat, 26 Jun 2004 17:22:34 +0100, hugh enlightened us thusly:

where does price fixing end and pricing a job to give a genuine profit start though?

and besides, while price fixing may be illegal (why?) undercutting sadly isn't.

but what I had in mind was an honest assessment of the costs of running a transport operation, including all costs such as vehicle maintenance, vehicle replacement, training drivers and mechanics, decent wages fro drivers, etc etc. and then setting rates based on these and which give a reasonable profit.

I bet most rates wouldn't cover all that at present

Trouble is - and this is where the left miss the point - is that there is no such thing as "fair" True , we can all see when things are unfair , but fairness depends upon your own situation and viewpoint. Back to fuel costs ; in general they are an unavoidable burden on everyday life. To many they are a tax on going to work ( if you use a horse to travel to work you can claim tax relief by the way) . Others can simply pass things on in their bills or charges.But most of us have to face the cost.

If it were such a heavy burden, everyone would be buying the most economical cars available, and only using them for essential journeys. No evidence of either.

In the US they complain about their cost of fuel. If it were reduced to the same price here, in a couple of years we would be too, just as now.

You're in the gas business and make a statement like that ROFLOL LPGA rules KO

Robin