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RHA slams Lib-Dems' plan for Lorry Road User Charge
Page 8
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By Chris Tindall THE LIBERAL Democrats have waded into the debate about resurrecting plans for a Lorry Road User Charge (LRUC). claiming its version would reduce vehicle emissions as well as raise money for rail projects.
However, the proposals have puzzled the Road Haulage Association (RHA), which says they have not been thought through clearly and fail to recognise the environmental credentials of the haulage industry.
The party unveiled its road freight policies in its document Fast Track Britain: Building a Transport System for the 21st Century. In it, the party says it would implement an LRUC, which would apply to British and foreign-registered trucks. It would also increase the graduation of road tax on lorries, which it claims would encourage operators to use smaller and more fuel-efficient vehicles. Lib Dem shadow transport secretary Norman Baker insists its LRUC plans are different from those binned by the Government. He says foreign hauliers would register their mileage at British ports as they entered the country, then have to pay up when they left. However UK-based operators would only pay up at annual tests.
Baker says: "So there's a period of grace and gives a cash-flow advantage to British hauliers. Money raised would go towards rail projects, but that will help those on the roads as well."
He adds that fuel duty could also be cut by 10% and VED abolished.
But RHA policy director Jack Semple says the party does not realise that road transport will remain the dominant form of transport for the foreseeable future, and that trucks are becoming more and more environmentally clean. Semple also points out the document suggests its plan for tolling all road users would be revenue-neutral for motorists, but doesn't mention the road freight sector. And he questions the validity of their payment regime: "I suspect the European Commission would consider it discriminatory and, therefore, against EU law."