Cautious welcome from hauliers for road charging plans
January 25, 2012
UK truckers and lobby groups have given a cautious welcome to an announcement by the government today that all lorry drivers will be charged £10 a day to use British roads.
The good news for UK hauliers is that they will be able to claim the money back against their road tax.
For some time, the UK haulage sector has complained that foreign-registered trucks using British roads have not contributed directly to maintenance, while they have to pay road fund licence fees of to £1,200 a year at home and expensive road tolls when abroad.
And fuel duty on diesel has historically been higher in the UK than in other EU countries – although the gap has narrowed.
However, the plan, to be announced by Roads Minister Mike Penning today, is likely to require legislation and unlikely to come into effect before 2014.
And at least one transport group has said the government has not gone far enough and is letting foreign truckers off lightly.
Stephen Joseph, Chief Executive of Campaign for Better Transport, said: “The government’s scheme is far too minimal and may even lose money.
“The government should, instead, have gone for a distance-based charging scheme, as most European countries are now doing. This would charge foreign lorries properly for using UK roads, and would raise revenue that could be used to fund a more efficient and greener UK freight industry.”
The Road Haulage Association’s Head of Media Relations, Kate Gibbs, said: “We welcome this move. It’s something that’s been on the cards for a long time and we’re glad to see that Mike Penning has finally put his money where his mouth is – but we do want to see positive results sooner rather than later.”
One UK haulier told IFW: “We’ve more or less had to stop working on the continent because it’s just so difficult to compete over there, and I’m not sure how much this proposal will help.
“It seems a bit long-winded and looks like it will involve paperwork, which will add costs, so I’m not sure how much we’ll gain.”
Courtesy of IFW
