Fdicences must go'
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ID Haulage Association director general Freddie Plaskett was ing this week to ask the Department of Transport to remove the icence concession to farmers.
'F'-licence concession, ah allows farmers to use their tors to transport goods for 15 m was attacked earlier by Did Russett, RHA national man Rt the association's ttish annual dinner in Giese.
e explained that the 'F' nce (its name relating to the 3r F on a driving licence) gave much opportunity to operate ]ally for hire or reward by ying other people's goods I to use rebated fuel for illegal poses.
he difference in cost in iicle excise duty between a professional haulier and a farmer holding an 'F'-licence is enormous, he said. "For the use of a rigid vehicle with three axles the difference is E840, and for the use of an articulated lorry the difference can be as much as '£1,100."
Mr Russett told the audience that the RHA had adopted this policy and was seeking means of removing this concession, as well as the concession under which farmers receive rebates on the tax on diesel fuel.
Another cause for concern was the increasing use by farmers of their own tractors and trailers to take stocks to markets. Commenting on an article in a newspaper about a farmer recommending that his fellow workers use tractors to transport goods and livestock for journeys of 60 miles, Mr Russett pointed out that this was illegal.
The haulage and agriculture industries are vital to the economy of the country, and are very much dependent on each other, Mr Russett said. Unfair competition in the form of cowboy operators offering cheaper charges to farmers, yet not having the right facilities for carrying the loads, must end.
The National Farmers' Union has reacted angrily, saying that ending the farmers' concession on vehicle excise duty for goods vehicles and rebated fuel was totally wrong.
"This takes no account of the enormous effect such a change would make upon the cost of food to all consumers," said John Upson, chairman of the union's commercial services and transport committee.
"It would seem that, once again, the current recession in the haulage industry has led the RHA to attack the farming industry, whose special local need for moving its own agricultural products has been recognised by successive Governments. "The national chairman [of the RNA] says he was alarmed by a number of allegations concerning illegal operation by farmers for hire and reward. The NFU suggests that such allegations should be matched by firm evidence which should be given to the appropriate enforcement authority," he said.