'You can imagine my extreme disappointment and anger'
Page 59
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
have built my road haulage business • over 22 years from one wagon to a fleet of 10 two-axle units, five tri-axle units, eight tri-axle trailers and 37 two-axle trailers, This has taken hard work and determination in a competitive market with ever increasing expenses; the cost of maintaining LGVs and keeping them roadworthy is astronomical, with ever-spiralling diesel Costs.
I do my utmost to keep the vehicles in a first-class condition and will willingly pay the price this entails. I am therefore extremely angry about the way we are treated by the police and the courts when our vehicles are pulled up for minor misdemeanors.
Most of my work is for a major paper products company, and 95% of the time our vehicles run at below 32 tonnes. We occasionally go up to 38 tonnes and to cover these instances I pay the higher duty of £1,240 instead of the lower rate of £970 which is the rate for a vehicle plated at 32 tonnes, I pay more despite the fact that the three-axle trailers, which carry all weights above 32 tonnes are not on the road on a daily basis.
Two weeks ago we were taken to court for using a three-axle unit with a two-axle trailer loaded with less than 32 tonnes. This was despite having paid duty which would cover a three-axle unit with a three-axle trailer carrying up to 38 tonnes.
ARGUED
It was argued that we should have paid £2,730, the rate for a three-axle unit and a two-axle trailer carrying up to 38 tonnes. We only ever put loads above 32 tonnes on three-axle units with three-axle trailers.
In the court room we produced weighbridge tickets and receipts from the company we work for which showed that this truck never pulls more than 32 tonnes.
You can imagine my extreme disappointment and anger when I was fined and ordered to pay back duty — a total of £1,122.51.
I am unsure where to direct my anger. Should it be the Department of Transport for the inflexibility of the rates of duty, or the unsympathetic magistrates for rigidly sticking to the letter of the law instead of judging each case on its merits?
What I do know is that the law must be an ass if it can fine me for running a three-axle tractor with a two-axle trailer despite the fact that the unit was overtaxed for the load it carried. In my opinion the law should have a provision in it that says that if a three-axle tractor occasionally pulls a two-axle trailer with a low-weight load then it should not have to pay this extraordinarily high rate of Vehicle Excise Duty.,
D If you want to sound off on a subject that bugs you, phone Mary Williams, features editor, on 081-652 3678.