The results of an online poll conducted by Motortransport.co.uk have found that while 43% of the 487 operators believed leaving the EU would benefit their businesses, 40% did not.
The remaining 17% of respondents were undecided.
While the weak pound is boosting exports, according to a report from the CBI last month, there have been examples of Brexit fallout too: in July Hargreaves Services said that its logistics division had seen a multi-million pound infrastructure project it was lined up to service put on hold after the Brexit vote.
Asked two months on from the referendum if they had noticed a loss of new business, or seen projects dropped entirely as a consequence of the decision, nearly a quarter (23%) of respondents said they had.
Of the remainder, 62% of respondents said they had not experienced a negative effect following the UK’s decision to back the Leave campaign, while 15% were unsure.
Despite this, the survey suggested that the transport industry is not for turning. In July, 55% of senior decision-makers backed Brexit with 41% backing Remain, and this had barely changed in the latest poll.
When asked which way they would vote given the chance again – albeit based on a slightly lower number of responses than July’s survey – 53% of respondents said they would vote to leave again, while 44% would cast their ballot to remain.
Asked if they think UK logistics will ultimately be better off outside the EU, 54% of those surveyed believe it will be, with just 37% holding the view that it will not (with the remainder undecided).
A separate pan-industry survey by Close Brothers Asset Finance has found that more than a third of hauliers have felt (both positive and negative) an effect from the UK' vote to leave the EU.
- If you’d like to learn more about the implications of the UK’s vote to leave the EU, we’re holding a free Road Transport Brexit Debate at the Scarman Conference Centre in Warwick on 12 October. Find out more and register at our Brexit Debate micro-site.
