TAX POLICIES * UK - RHA welcomes closer look at charging foreign trucks

London,EN,UK -HGV UK -February 2, 2011: -- The Road Haulage Association (RHA) has welcomed the Government’s determination to introduce a charge on foreign trucks entering the UK...  The RHA has long stated that a Euro-Vignette scheme would be better than nothing at all provided that there is no significant adverse impact on professional UK hauliers...  The Association has offered to engage with the Department for Transport in further detail in order to assist it in its efforts to meet the April 2014 deadline for introducing the scheme set by Ministers... (Picture by Andrew Shaw, from The Telegraph -UK-: The congested M25 has the highest incidence of accidents involving foreign-registered trucks)

TAXES * UK - New year, new tax headache for transport operators

FTA:  The increase in fuel duty this month will leave the transport industry £95 million 

London,EN,UK -Transport Engineer, by John Challen -5 Jan 2011:  --  The Freight Transport Association chief economist, Simon Chapman, points out that diesel – currently responsible for 35% of a truck's running costs – is not an optional extra. "It is essential to keep shops stocked and businesses supplied with materials," he insists...  Chapman believes that the Chancellor is treating the transport sector as a "bottomless well from which cash to bolster the public finances can be drawn"...  This month's increase of 0.76p per litre is the third rise since April 2010 and will push diesel prices to within four pence per litre of the all-time highs reached in July 2008... (Photo from us.123rf: truck and cars queueing at Dover ferry-port UK)

TAX POLICY * UK - Lorry Road User Charge must be revenue-neutral

London,EN,UK -Road Transport, by Chris Tindall -23 November 2010: -- The Freight Transport Association (FTA) has met with Treasury officials to discuss how a lorry road-user charge (LRUC) can be made revenue-neutral for UK hauliers... The Department for Transport (DfT) said earlier this month it would launch an LRUC by 2014 and the Treasury is currently exploring which system offers the most return for the least cost... Natalie Chapman, FTA head of policy for south-east England, says the government could roll out the Eurovignette scheme currently in use in Continental countries, although the maximum charge that can be applied is €8 (£6.76)... The Eurovignette Directive allows for an €11 (£9.30) fee, but charging this rate would mean the UK would have to invest in its own administration scheme, which could be costly...