Diesel Breaches £2 a Litre at 226 Scottish Forecourts

Diesel now costs more than £2 a litre at 226 forecourts across Scotland, stretching from the Borders to Shetland, according to analysis by BBC Scotland News. The most extreme prices sit in island and rural areas: 238.8p and 223p per litre in the Hebrides, and 209.0p and 208.9p in the Northern Isles — roughly 50p a litre above supermarket prices in the central belt.

The pressure is now landing squarely on the logistics sector. The Road Haulage Association (RHA) says fuel is costing operators about £250 a week extra per vehicle. South Uist haulier Norman MacAskill, who started in the business 40 years ago, has watched the price of filling a lorry's tank climb from 32p a litre to £2.22.

"Anyone who is running a lorry is absolutely devastated when they get their fuel bill at the end of the month. There's no business on earth that can withstand that increase in costs," MacAskill said. His firm, N D MacAskill & Son, transports livestock around Inverness, Dingwall and Stirling, and runs haulage from the north of Scotland down to the north of England.

"It's a devastating cost on a fuel run on that job," he said. "This has been going on every year for the last 10 years now. The cost of running a haulage business has just gone over the top. There are dozens of haulage firms that have been established 50-60 years with big numbers of lorries going to the wall. When is this going to stop?"

Dave Neil, who runs Sinclair Haulage serving Sanday, Stronsay and Eday in Orkney, said his business spends £400 a week more on diesel than before the summer. "It's a challenging situation," he said. Neil has added a surcharge to customer bills. "It's probably the fairest way. When the fuel price drops we can take that surcharge away."

Record highs expected

The RAC expects the UK average diesel price to set a new record over the weekend. Head of policy Simon Williams said: "The average UK price of diesel is teetering on the brink of a new all-time high at 198.32p, taking the cost of a 55-litre fill-up for a family car to £109."

"The UK now has the most expensive diesel in Europe by 12p a litre - ahead of Finland and the Netherlands," Williams said. Petrol averages 173.6p, its highest in more than four years, up nearly 12p in September and more than 40p since the Iran war began. Diesel has risen 14.5p this month alone and 55p since 28 February.

The Middle East conflict and the Russia-Ukraine war have pushed up crude oil costs, feeding through to fuel and energy prices.

Policy fight over fuel duty

The RHA has called on the UK government to scrap planned fuel duty rises in January, March and April and to introduce an essential user rebate for coaches, lorries and vans. Managing director Richard Smith said: "It's happening elsewhere. Spain, France and Italy already give commercial vehicle operators a diesel rebate. It's about time we caught up."

National Farmers' Union Scotland said rising prices were another unwelcome cost for farmers and crofters. "Fuel is a significant input cost for farm businesses and increases feed directly into the cost of producing food," a spokesperson said. "With many farmers currently working through harvest and other intensive autumn operations, there is no scope to reduce fuel use."

The AA argued there should be no scrapping of the Treasury's 5p fuel duty cut, first introduced in March 2022, and said there was a "good argument" for further relief on diesel. It also noted that big businesses typically pass on diesel costs through sliding-scale fuel surcharges, while smaller operators — taxi drivers, craftspeople, domestic repairs, vets, farriers — often cannot.

The UK government said it had extended the temporary 5p fuel duty cut until 31 December and that there would be no fuel duty increase this year. "Since the outset of the war in Iran, this government continues to protect the British people and businesses from this crisis," a spokesperson said. "This means drivers benefit from the extension of the 5p fuel duty cut, with diesel 11p per litre cheaper until the end of the year than it would have been compared to plans inherited from the previous government."

Costs spread beyond haulage

The price shock is hitting charities and individuals too. Inverness-based New Start Highland uses vans to collect and deliver donated furniture to people in need. Chief executive James Dunbar said: "Rising fuel prices have a direct impact on us as a charity, as well as the individuals we support." The charity is moving to a fully electrified fleet, but Dunbar said rising fuel costs directly affect the families it supports.

Crofter and musician Amy Henderson, from Kiltarlity, said she now makes "logistical decisions" about whether to use her car or truck. "It is just deflating. Life is hard enough as it is," she said. "I have to take it into consideration when quoting prices for performing."

With the RAC predicting a record UK average within days and fuel duty rises still slated for January, March and April, Scottish hauliers and rural businesses face a winter of surcharges, squeezed margins and, for some, the prospect of joining the firms MacAskill says have already gone to the wall.