Tacho fees rise
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/ Proposals from the Department of Transport to raise the tachograph calibration fee by 7% have come in for a mixed reception from the industry's two trade associations.
From September 1, the DTp is proposing to raise the maximum tachograph calibration fee from £26.80 to £28.80 — a rise of almost 7.5%. It also wants to increase the two-yearly inspection fee from £11.50 to £1232. Both figures exclude VAT.
However, the Road Haulage Association says that the calibration fee increase amounts to a rise of some 69% since May 1980 when the current fees were fixed, whereas the Retail Price Index over the same period has only gone up by 47%.
The RHA has also questioned specific areas within the DTp's cost breakdown of the calibration fee. It has told the Department that its longstanding objections to the "over-generous" 1.5 hours time allowance and the excessive 4.64 charge-out rate factor have not changed. Following the DTp's promise that it would review the 1.5 hours time allowance as electronic tachographs become more common, the RI IA wants the Department to publish its findings.
The RHA describes the proposed 17% increase over two years for test equipment depreciation as "puzzling, par ticularly when viewed in light of the longer write-off periods mentioned in the DTp's notes."
According to the association, the longer write-off periods "should compensate for the over-estimation of equipment usage, without recourse to large increases in depreciation costs."
The Freight Transport Association accepts the basic proposals, although it is surprised that the increases should be as high as they are, and are so out of step with the RPI,