The Irish Road Haulage Association (IRHA) has stated that the shutdown of Fastway Couriers, which has resulted in the loss of hundreds of jobs, stems directly from Government policy.
The association argued that the Government has continuously “heaped taxes upon taxes” on a transport and haulage sector that is already “close to collapse”, reports Breaking News.
Roughly 300 positions are now in jeopardy as the parent company of Fastway Couriers enters receivership, with expected disruptions and delays to parcel deliveries across the country.
Additional subcontractor and franchisee jobs could also be affected, reports Breaking News.
Nuvion, the parent company, cited inflation, increasing operational expenses, and mounting market pressures as the key reasons behind its downfall.
IRHA president Ger Hyland stated that rural Irish hauliers are now owed thousands of euros due to the Fastway Couriers closure, money that will likely be impossible to recover, reports Breaking News.
Hyland described the situation as a devastating blow to an already struggling sector and warned that this marks the beginning of a chain reaction of further closures in transport.
He criticised Government leaders for disregarding the haulage sector’s appeals during last month’s budget discussions and said the repercussions are now evident, reports Breaking News.
“This government gave us nothing in last month’s budget. We sat down with party leaders and explained what would happen if we did not get support. So this government cannot say they were not warned about what happened today with Fastway couriers,” he said, reports Breaking News.
“Government policy is to continue to impose higher fuel costs, ignore supports to help us transition to green HVO fuels, impose more taxes and crippling regulations on a transport industry that cannot cope, reports Breaking News.
“We are the wheels that make the Irish economy turn but those wheels are coming off now. I hope that when the media are interviewing politicians about the hundreds of job losses at Fastway and the knock on impact on rural Ireland, they will ask the government why they didn’t listen to the haulage industry who warned of impending closures, reports Breaking News.
Hyland emphasised that the closure of Fastway Couriers will significantly affect Ireland’s rural economy, particularly for small businesses that pay upfront for parcel deliveries to customers, reports Breaking News.
“This is only the beginning of the chaos. More haulage and transport companies will be forced out of business by the policies of this government. At this point in time, there are any number of small businesses that have paid for packages that are sitting in depots. Will customers get their products that they paid for? Will hauliers get paid for the work they have done?” reports Breaking News.
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