Van drivers accused of cashing in on London charges

PARCEL delivery companies were accused yesterday of "blatant profiteering" after announcing plans to raise prices in response to London's congestion charge. Many leading couriers, including Securicor Omega Express, Parceline and Nightspeed, are to charge up to pounds 1 extra per delivery in the restricted zone to cover the toll. The move was attacked by traders whose businesses depend on sending and receiving stock. They say that each van, which will pay pounds 5 a day, will make enough deliveries in the zone to cover the extra expense with a healthy margin to spare. Tom Gethings, the managing director of Motor Books, in St Martin's Lane, London, fears that the extra charge will cost his business around pounds 3,000 a year, wiping out about a tenth of his profits. "It is just another nail in our coffin," he said. "If it is not Westminster council putting up rates or the landlord putting up the rent, it is this. "The day is very close when small specialist retailers will not be able to operate in the West End of London." Mr Gethings said the big parcel carriers were trying to turn the congestion charge to their own advantage. "A driver delivered a parcel last week and he said it was his company's policy to put up the charge by 50p. "He delivers more than 500 parcels in a week in the centre of London. That is pounds 250 for the sake of recovering pounds 25. I think it is blatant profiteering." Motor Books receives about 25 parcels a day, which means that Mr Gethings will have to pay an extra pounds 12.50 per day or pounds 62.50 per week. "We will be knocking as much as 10 per cent off our net profit margin," he said. "If that were a bank, the chairman and chief executive officer would be sacked on the spot and the shareholders would be up in arms." But Motor World was unable to raise prices in the same way as the delivery firms, Mr Gethings said. "We can't pass the cost on to the customer because prices are already stamped on most book covers." A nearby model shop, St Martin's Accessories, faces similar problems. Ralph Avis, a director of the family firm, said: "I am concerned that prices are going to go up. There is a pounds 5 congestion charge to pay and I cannot see the companies losing. They will sneak it in somewhere. "If they charge even 50p they will make a lot more money than than just the congestion charge. "We can't pass on the cost to the customer. If a book is pounds 19.99 here, it is pounds 19.99 in out-of-town shopping centres; so if we raise the price, people go elsewhere."

Delivery companies will pay the pounds 5 congestion charge plus a 50p administration fee per vehicle. Securicor Omega Express has added a surcharge of 50p on each parcel, while Parceline and Interlink Express have added 50p per consignment and Nightspeed pounds 1 per consignment. They have justified it by pointing to the extra costs they say they will have to pay. Parceline and Interlink Express said: "We do not expect to make any money out of this. We are facing a series of increased costs ourselves. Sub-contractors, staff coming to our depot will all have to have the congestion charge paid. We simply want to cover our costs." Securicor Omega Express said: "We have carefully calculated the current volumes in relation to our vehicle fleet and taken into account the extra administration costs." A spokesman for the Freight Transport Association said the cost to companies did not stop at the charge itself. "In addition, you have the administrative cost of paying the damn thing, which is almost equal to the charge itself," he said. "There are 30,000 goods vehicles which go into the congestion zone every day and they all have to be administered. If your company has a fleet of 200 vehicles, you are going to have real fun and games."