Stop Diesel Profiteering Now, Says Road Haulage Association

LONDON, April 16, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --

Clear evidence of naked profiteering by fuel retailers is revealed today by the Road Haulage Association

"We have no doubt that diesel prices at the forecourt have rocketed as a result of the uncertainty caused by the threat of a tanker drivers' strike," said RHA Chief Executive Geoff Dunning.

"Retailers have doubled their profit margin on diesel over the past month. While the wholesale price of diesel has come down, none of this has been passed on to road users and if anything the price at the pump has gone up.

"There is no justification whatever for this excessive charging. Profit margins on diesel were already reasonable and have now doubled to around 7.4 pence a litre.

"This aggressive pricing amounts to more than the Chancellor's hugely unwelcome duty increase due on August 1, when fuel tax goes up by 3.02 pence/litre.

"The predatory pricing by retailers is a severe blow to the economy and, of particular concern to the RHA, to smaller hauliers who do not have their own bulk fuel supplies but make payments linked to forecourt prices."

He concluded, "If this goes on any longer, the RHA is considering referring forecourt pricing to the Office of Fair Trading."