The farmers' blockade of meat processing plants has cost transportation firms £4 million so far and could yet result in a number of smaller firms going out of business, the Irish Road Haulage Association warned yesterday.
An estimated 1,000 lorries are idle and some firms have laid off workers already, the IRHA president, Mr Gerry McMahon, said.
The dispute was costing the haulage industry £500,000 a day, much of which could not be clawed back when the dispute ended.
"We are talking about fixed costs such as rental of equipment and drivers' wages, and a number of firms laid off workers over the weekend," he said.
For many smaller, specialist firms their only customers were the meat processing firms.
"This dispute is having a terribly detrimental effect," Mr McMahon said. "We are caught in the middle of a dispute which is not of our making."
The blockade followed an extended holiday period when there was no work for these firms, and they were now looking at revenue being curtailed for January.
"This may possibly drive some firms out of business," Mr McMahon said. "We are no different from the farmers in that we are a small-profit industry and factors like this dispute can have a serious impact."
A Roscrea-based haulier, Mr John Guilfoyle, who depends on the meat processors for the bulk of his business, said the dispute was costing him dearly.
"The refrigerated end of the market is very, very specialised and it is not an industry which you can jump in and out of at will," he said.
Mr Guilfoyle has 14 drivers and is continuing to pay them because they are long-term employees.
"This is costing us, but we do not want to get involved between the farmers and the meat industry, because a significant amount of our work is agriculture-orientated," he said.