Dull Budget points to stability

Steve Hobson Editor Motor Transport

As I sit and write this, the Chancellor has just sat down after delivering his first proper Budget since taking over at No 11 in October last year. To survive six months in the job is quite an achievement given the political upheavals last year, which saw no fewer than three Prime Ministers and Chancellors take the UK economic reins.

If the UK transport industry wanted one thing from Jeremy Hunt MP last week (apart from the welcome continued freeze on fuel duty) it was stability and a lack of surprises, something which he certainly achieved. Someone at the Treasury seemed to have told the media 90% of what would be announced in advance, just to make absolutely certain no one would be taken aback by his speech.

Running any business is hard enough when the economic landscape keeps changing but transport, with its chunky capital investment in expensive trucks and trailers that take at least three years to make a return, and long lead times to produce the skilled drivers needed to drive them, needs certainty more than most.

It is also an industry whose fortunes are closely aligned with the UK economy –growth usually means people buying more stuff and, until a 3D printer is invented that can produce everything from food to motor cars, that means more demand for transport.

So perhaps the best news from last week was that the OBR has revised up its forecasts for the UK economy, predicting only a 0.2% decline in output in 2023 and a return to growth of up to 2.5% in the next five years. This should give operators and truck manufacturers the confidence to press the button to order and build the new vehicles we need to reverse the increasing age of the UK truck parc.

New trucks are cleaner, greener and safer than old models and regular renewal avoids the problems of a bubble of older vehicles that are worth so little operators struggle to fund their replacements as prices continue to rise.