Vehicle costing in a trucking company

A common view of trucking company operators is that prices are quoted and vehicles operated by a series of seat of the pants decisions with an annual review of profitability by an outside accountant employed to minimise the amount of income tax to be paid. Unfortunately, this is true of many operators, but increasingly the larger trucking companies recognise the need to maintain accurate cost records if they hope to enjoy long term viability. This paper outlines the costing systems used by the transport group within BMI and endeavours to explain both the reasons for the adoption of each system and the use made of the data which is produced. (A)