An increasing number of transport and logistics companies are going bust, according to new research.

The latest Equifax Business Failures report found that transport firms were starting to struggle in the current financial climate, with 11.9% going out of business in the past quarter.

The only sector to have seen worse results in past months has been the manufacturing industry (11.7%).

Manufacturing and construction top the list of failing
industries over the three quarters of 2008, closely followed by
transport. 

However, some business sectors are faring better as the credit crunch kicks in.

The services and wholesale sectors saw the best performance, with failures dropping by 4.2% and 2.6% respectively over the last quarter.

Neil Munroe, external affairs director at Equifax, advised business feeling the strain to be more careful about their supplier and client lists.

“Businesses need to keep an eye on who their new customers are,” he said. 

“There are many small businesses that don’t think these checks are necessary.

Whether you are aware of them beforehand or not, it’s best that you check out new customers and make sure that you are actually going to get paid for the work you do.

“You need to have ongoing customer monitoring, as well as checking out your suppliers and whether or not they can deliver.”