Anyone who thinks
trucking is a good
investment and a way to
make money is far from
right.
According to economist
Mike Schussler, truckers
at any given point in time
will only be making a
profit margin of around 4%
– and in light of the host
of challenges they have to
deal with, that’s not much.
“Trucking is an
exceptionally tough
industry to be operating
in at present,” he told
FTW. “Trucking is not an
investment as one is only
getting around 4% profit.
In fact, if you were to put
your money in the bank
you would get around 5%
– a whole percent more
without the hassle of labour
issues, fuel increases, the
lack of road infrastructure
and so on.”
He said the transport
strike in 2012 alone was
estimated to have cost the
sector a whopping R1.4
billion.
“The past year in
particular has been
extremely severe for this
industry. It has not yet
recovered the massive
strike losses and the fuel
costs have almost doubled
in the past four years. Last
year alone the fuel price
increased by 16.1% while
labour costs increased by
9%.”
He said the country was
losing massive amounts of
money to long, drawn-out
strikes.
“South Africa is a
country living beyond
its means. It is in very
dangerous territory as
we are reliant on foreign
portfolio flows coming
into the country and
the ratings downgrades,
wildcat strikes and other
challenges have not had a
positive impact at all.”
INSERT
4% The profit margin that
truckers can expect.
CAPTION
Mike Schussler … ‘Rather put your
money in the bank.’
