Nov/Dec 2003

Despite reservations on the part of many fleet operators, the Freight Transport Association says it remains committed to the idea of lorry road-user charging from 2006 - although it is urging the Government to keep focused on achieving tax neutrality when and if the current system is changed.

In the light of Germany's unhappy recent experience (its autobahn tolling scheme has been put back to next year), some UK observers were speculating that the UK Government might soft-pedal on its plans, but there is no sign of this so far.

One of the key factors underpinning the FTA's support for the scheme is the belief that it will level the playing field that currently favours foreign-registered trucks operating in the UK. FTA chief economist Simon Chapman says openly that the objective should be "to create a fairer system and to make a charge on foreign vehicles." Northern Ireland is considered to suffer particularly from the fact that vehicles based in the Irish Republic benefit from a less onerous tax regime than those in the north.

The FTA is also maintaining its support for variable charging - an element which is expected to rely heavily on telematics-based monitoring - although Chapman emphasises: "Tariffs should be set to encourage best practice rather than to penalise operators running at peak congestion times."

 

• The FTA says that without action by 2010, the cost of congestion to the UK supply chain will have increased by £3.6 billion per year. For a fleet of ten trucks this could result in extra costs of £80,000 a year as a consequence of reduced efficiency, increased journey times and extra mileage, and the need for putting on extra vehicles.