This coming budget has got to be one of the most trickiest for any chancellor in UK history, weeks before an election, in an economy balancing on a knife edge, for a government that's run out of cash?

It will be interesting to see what wins, the vote winning policies, or the change to rake in some extra cash. Any budget that doesn't put forward plans to reduce debt and cut costs will be seen a irresponsible. And any budget that hits personal tax rates, and the pennies in the pocket is sure to be an election loser. The Conservatives still maintain the need to cut spending quicker, and many economists and the labour government warn that doing such will be the quickest route to a double dip recession.

So, it is likely that the government will seek to raise cash in the quietest ways possible. And Fuel tax is always an obvious candidate, particularly when fuel prices are lower than the public have been used to. But the Road Transport industry, the hauliers, and couriers are the ones that will bear the brunt of this, extra costs for an already struggling industry. In the 2009 budget the government sneakily raised fuel duty and disguised it with a cut in VAT, a tactic that kept the public sweet whilst the haulage and road transport industry, and the couriers, were simply left with a higher fuel costs.

You may be a safe driver, have no points on your licence and have never had an accident, but the chances are your car insurance still went up by about 12 per cent last year.

And, according to Henry Engelhardt, chief executive of Admiral, the price of insuring the average British vehicle will increase again this year.

“We put through premium hikes of about 12 per cent over 2009, mostly in the second half. It is certain to carry on rising. I can’t say exactly how much — it depends on how much pressure our competitors are under,” Mr Engelhardt said yesterday.

With annual premiums having held steady for the past two years, insurers are facing a rise in claim sizes and cases of fraud. They need to increase premiums to generate profits, he said

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The Popular M6 toll road was opened 7 years ago as the solution to the congestion on the M6 motorway, however, the sixth increase in toll charges in 7 years means that lorries, van driver, hauliers and transport companies are being driven off the road, leaving it empty for the affulent car drivers. Unlike most other toll roads in the UK, couriers are penalised most, as the M6 Toll road prices vans at the same price as an HGV, despite the huge differential in carrying weights and loads.

The M6 toll charge is now £10 for vans and HGV's and £5 for a car. Effectively driving all the hauliers and couriers back onto the already congested M6. The M6 Toll was originally given the title of Birmingham’s Northern Relief Road and was supposed to relieve pressure on the M6 as it winds its way through the Birmingham conurbation. It has never achieved its aims. It is fast becoming a private road for the rich. The latest price increase will drive more and more ordinary motorist and the few truck drivers onto alternative routes.

Road engineers are calling it the perfect storm; road users are calling it gridlock Britain. New figures reveal that February has seen an unprecedented leap in the number of roadworks, due to bad weather, council deadlines and a backlog of work.

According to research compiled by the Electronic Local Government Information Network (Elgin), this February has seen 10 times as many roadworks as the last, and more than three times as many as in January. The roadworks, defined as causing moderate or severe disruption, are likely to continue into March. Overall, Elgin found that the number of actual and planned roadworks taking place in the first three months of this year will exceed the total for the whole of 2009.

The surge, set to cause misery for millions of motorists, is due to a number of factors, according to Elgin. Severe weather in November and December damaged roads and caused many councils to postpone planned roadworks for those months. To minimise disruption, councils are also rushing to spend their road repair budgets before the financial year ends in April and before the summer holiday season gets under way. Other factors include ongoing preparations for the 2012 Olympics, and hedge-trimming, which has to be done outside the bird-nesting season.

Elgin, which examined figures for roughly half the councils in Britain, including those in London, Yorkshire and Humberside, the east Midlands, Wales, the east of England and the southwest, found that in the first three months of 2010 there would be 6,833 serious roadworks, 3,204 of those in February. That compares with a total of 6,290 for the whole of 2009. The company says those figures would be higher if all councils were included.

The Road Users’ Alliance (RUA) hit out at local government for a lack of roadworks co-ordination, and under-funding at a national level. “Only £4 billion is budgeted each year for adding capacity to, and removing congestion from, the mode [of transport] on which both people and businesses rely almost entirely,” said a spokeswoman. “And far from depending on taxpayers’ subsidies, car travellers devote £138 billion per year of their own money to their personal transport, including contributing £46 billion to the Treasury in tax.”

A report on the Superbrands of the UK, puts Eddie Stobart at the top for the parcel, haulage, transport and logistics providers. Ahead of DHL, Parcelforce, Citylink, Fedex and UPS. Which considering that Eddie Stobart is a b2b haulage company rather than a parcel business delivering to ordinary people's houses is a massive achievement. Eddie Stobart's lorries are one of the most familiar sights on the UK's roads, and the company has always set the level for clean, and tidy, well maintained vehicles, as well as perfectly turned out and polite drivers. And it is these factors that have captured the publics hearts to raise the transport company to Superbrand status.



Stobart Group CEO Andrew Tinkler said it was "fantastic" for the firm to be included in the rankings for a fifth consecutive year. He adds: "We are extremely proud of our brand, which has been built on solid and traditional core business beliefs. This accolade is testament to our hard-working employees and our loyal fans in the Stobart Members Club."

What this surveys shows more than anything is that you don't have the biggest maket capitalisation, or the largest number of transport vehicles on the road, and that polite and considerate drivers, and well turned out vehicles can be a more influential tool in increasing brand awareness and advertising your business. All we can say is that I hope Andrew will be buying a round of drinks for the men on the ground (or in this case in the lorries) that have helped make his haulage business a household name.