At the end of an eventful year in the logistics industry in 2021, research conducted by the Transport Exchange Group (TEG) has shown that the effects of Brexit and inflation have caused road freight prices to climb significantly. During November and December, the price-per-mile has risen by as much as 5.3 points.

As operators brace themselves for more supply chain tumult in 2022, this hike is perhaps not surprising, but rather unwelcome at the same time. Despite a 3.3 point drop during the previous two months, the average rate is now at levels not seen since the beginning of 2019.

The First Interest Rate in Three years

One of the driving factors, as mentioned is inflation, which is now at a 10-year high, something that’s also led to the first rise in interest rates in three years. Petrol price increases are cited as being a leading driver this inflation rise, in addition to increased costs for road freight services.

In November, petrol costs hit an unprecedented 145.8p per litre – equating to a 30% or 33.6p rise in just 12 months. According to the TEG index, this translates to an average year-on-year cost-per-mile increase for haulage vehicles of 30.3 points. It’s a similar case for courier vehicles who’ve had to face a 16 point increase.

MPs Warned Over January Customs Changes

Further to this, MPs have been warned by business groups of the impact of numerous customs rule changes in January of this year, combined with the Brexit ‘Horror story’ and an expected growth slump ahead in 2022. While the Omicron variant of Covid-19 is set to increase the number of customers buying goods, the hospitality sector and in-person services are likely to take another hit.

A TEG spokesperson had this to say… “This is expected to cause continued strain on supply chains, which could hit the food industry particularly hard. The sector is striving to adapt to our post-Brexit world, but is suffering labour shortages that are endangering food security.

Businesses faced a new challenge as soon as the New Year began, as full customs checks on EU imports to the UK were introduced on 1 January. As well as disruption at the border, this change could also lead to costs incurred through non-compliance.”

Supporting The Haulage Industry Into 2022

There was much to be positive about during the latter part of 2021 in terms of tackling ongoing supply chain issues and HGV driver shortages, however, there’s clearly still much to do in order to address all the issues being faced.

Going into 2022, the HGVC team will continue to support the industry through the provision of high quality, scalable driver acquisition programs. Our national network of driver training centres staffed by highly experienced, expert instructors gives us the capacity to deal with any level of requirement.

If you’d like to learn more about what separates us from our competitors, please take a browse around our website, where you’ll find everything you need to know. Alternatively, if you’d like to speak to us about your requirements directly, call us on 0330 818 8888 or click on our ‘contact us’ link and send us a message.