Independent retailers have renewed demands for wholesalers to pass on the fall in petrol and diesel prices by dropping their carriage charges immediately.
With the average price of unleaded petrol at 106.57p on January 25th and diesel at 113.65p, and with newspaper and magazine circulations continuing to fall, NFRN Chief Executive Paul Baxter said news wholesalers could no longer leave retailers high and dry, and should pass on the cost savings with immediate effect and stop hiding behind the excuse of annual reviews.
Quoting John Menzies’ customer service pledge, which states that the carriage service charge will be calculated according to relevant distribution costs, Fox commented: “It’s a travesty that wholesalers are refusing to recognise the fuel price drops and haven’t passed these on to their customers.”
Fox threatened to approach the Competition Markets Authority regarding the matter and concluded:
“It is not so long ago that, in reaction to soaring fuel prices, wholesalers imposed an interim carriage charge increase without waiting for an annual review. Now that fuel prices have dramatically reduced, wholesalers’ failure to react with a corresponding reduction in carriage charges is tantamount to blatant profiteering.”
