Diesel above £2 a litre stalls a cancer charity's switch to electric vans

Daft as a Brush's own figures show how large the squeeze is. They put last year's diesel bill at about £10,000 a month, so spending is up 50% ^[16]. At the current rate for twelve months, the fleet would burn about £180,000 of diesel a year, and £60,000 of that is the increase ^[17]. Spread over 30 vans, the increase comes to about £2,000 a van ^[18]. Over the 600,000 miles the vans cover each year, the whole bill works out at roughly 30p a mile ^[19]. "Before the big hikes, we used to maybe fill up and it would take £40-45," volunteer driver Davey Hall said. "Last week, it was £94 to fill the tank from half full." ^[6]

The money comes from donations, and the charity is not eligible for any fuel discount, said Scott Jobson, its head of income generation ^[7]. "At the pump, what you see is what we pay," he said ^[8]. "It stunts our growth and development." ^[9]

The trade-off sits inside one pot of money. The charity had planned to replace its vans with electric ones and now cannot afford to, because the money is going on diesel ^[5]. Paying this year's fuel bill from that money keeps 30 diesel vans on the road, and keeps the charity exposed to whatever diesel costs next year. The charity did not say what an electric fleet would cost or when it had meant to buy one, so the record cannot show whether the deferred switch costs more than the fuel overspend. We think the deferral matters more. The monthly bill can fall when the price does, while a postponed fleet decision keeps the charity buying diesel until the money is found again.

Teesside Minibus Hire in Middlesbrough is exposed by a different route. Director Billy Johnson said its contracts with schools and businesses often span several years and were priced on the cost of fuel when they were written ^[10]. "We're not running at a loss yet," he said ^[11]. He said the firm is passing costs on to day-hire customers, who are squeezed by inflation and not always willing to pay ^[12]. Some are switching to unlicensed operators that charge less and carry lower overheads, he said ^[12]. On whether the firm could survive without a fall in fuel prices, he said: "Long term, probably not." ^[13]

A skeptic would say diesel may ease and turn the charity's deferral into a delay of a few months. The record offers little to plan on. The UK average for diesel has passed £2 a litre for the first time, according to the RAC ^[1], after seven months in which the Iran war has disrupted oil and refined-product supply from the region ^[2]. The fuel duty freeze extended in May runs only to the end of the year ^[14]. The government's reassurance is about shortages: it says the country has a "diverse and resilient supply" ^[15]. Neither operator in the BBC's report described trouble getting diesel, only trouble paying for it [c5, c12].

For a board that runs vehicles, the choice this quarter is whether a fuel overspend comes out of operating reserves or out of the fleet replacement plan. By its own account, Daft as a Brush has taken it from the plan ^[5]. Next quarter brings the result of that choice. Duty relief is set to end with the year ^[14], and the 30 vans the charity meant to replace will still run on diesel when it does ^[5].