More than a third of transport and storage companies have no cash reserves, shocking government figures have revealed.
Office for National Statistics (ONS) data showed 36.8% have run out of emergency funds and a further 12.4% said they had less than a month left.
The sector, which includes logistics, parcels, haulage and warehousing businesses, had the lowest cash reserves of any industry, including manufacturing and retail.
ParcelHero said the position had rapidly worsened compared to when companies were asked about reserves in 2020, with the number reporting then that they had none was too small to register in the ONS data.
“The situation is even bleaker when we compare the transport and storage companies’ cash reserves with their partner firms in the manufacturing and retail sectors,” pointed out David Jinks, ParcelHero head of consumer research.
“Only 10.9% of manufacturing companies currently trading report they have no reserves.
“Similarly, just 16.4% of currently trading retail sector companies say they have no cash reserves.
“In fact, construction is the only business sector to have anything approaching a similar number of companies with no cash reserves: 25.5% of construction firms reported that they are out of cash reserves.
“That’s still over 10% fewer than the transport and storage sector.”
Jinks added that the sector’s retail partners were faring much better, with only 6.3% of retailers saying they had less than a month of cash reserves and 27.7% reporting that they had more than six months’ to hand.
“One certainty is that it will be those transport and storage companies that are partnered with retailers with strong in-store and online sales that will ultimately triumph,” Jinks said.
The ONS figures were released just days after research showed that the rate of new business closures was slowing and, while still high, was cited as evidence that market conditions were improving for hauliers.