Wake up AK. The industry IS dominated by a few larger companies; it’s them that keep the rates down. These larger companies are typically charging their customers the same rates as they were over 15 years ago – and in many cases paying their drivers the same rates as they were back then.
It’s all very well putting your rates up by 5% a year but if WE can’t pass that on to our customers because we’re getting undercut by Rico/TNT/DHL/UK Today etc then our subcontractors won’t have any work to charge out at their higher rates.
I’d love to pay £1/mile for a small van if you can introduce me to customers that will regularly pay £320 for an envelope to be delivered from Manchester to London.
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Posted by Alec at 7:05 pm, June 27, 2007
TNT might charge ‘some’ of your clients that, presumably on a Friday afternoon when you can’t help them and TNT don’t really want the work? They also charge some clients less than you’d charge me. DHL charge some of their clients less than we pay our owner-drivers.
It’s an open market – you charge what you want and you get more or less work. You might make more profit charging a premium and having a lower turnover (M&S) or you might make more piling it high and selling it cheap (Tesco); different business models for different businesses.