IT departments are facing higher costs following a decision by
the world's largest IT distributor to pass on the cost of rising
fuel prices.
Ingram Micro has said it will charge its reseller partners for
freight - an extra cost that willl inevitably be passed on to end
users.
"Past practice has seen Ingram Micro absorb significant annual
freight costs for shipping the products it distributes to
resellers. Rapidly rising fuel costs mean that this practice can no
longer be continued. Accordingly, Ingram Micro will from now on
recover the full cost of freight by means of a freight charge on
all [reseller] orders," the company said.
The cost of a
barrel of oil is rising, pushing up transportation prices.
Crude oil is over $145 a barrel on world markets, compared to $90
in January, according to the AA fuel report for that month.
Doss Etter, director of external affairs at the
Freight Transport Association,
said there has been a 40% increase in the price of diesel over the
past year as a result of increasing oil costs.
"It is inevitable that the extra costs will be captured by an
increased price," added Etter. He said transport costs probably
make up 1% to 2% of the overall cost of high-value goods such as
computers.
Stephen Alambritis, head of public affairs at the
Federation of
Small Businesses (FSB) said the extra costs of transportation
of products and services is already being
passed on to businesses.
"They are feeling the pinch and are being charged more for
receiving products," said Alambritis.
He said in a recent poll of FSB members, 90% said the rise in
fuel costs were impacting their business enough for them to predict
no business growth over the next 12 months. A total of 40% said if
the fuel costs continued to increase they would have to lay off
staff.
The FSB has called on the government to cancel the proposed 2p
rise in fuel duty.