The British freight industry is not alone in suffering from increases in fuel prices; many French haulage firms have gone bankrupt this year, in spite of the fact that their duty rates for diesel are lower than in the UK. Most of the bankruptcies were one-man operators, but the total number of firms going out of business was 1,128 for the first half of 2008. The leading road haulage federation estimates that by the end of the year the total will be between 2500 and 3000.