Industry hedges bets on new proposals
Page 6
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
REACTION to the Government's plans to change the basis of heavy vehicle taxation and include the "social costs" of the vehicle have received a cautious reaction from the industry.
The Road Haulage Association supports the decision to change the basis of taxation from the unladen weight of the vehicle to the gross weight — but it is "extremely concerned'' that the Department of Transport has taken the addition of social costs as a justification for increasing the duty on the heaviest vehicles.
And a spokesman for the RHA described the basis on which the social costs are calculated as "highly disputable" and he added: "So is the suggestion that duties should reflect the so-called social costs."
A statement from the RHA said that these payments "would neither reduce lorries' environmental effects nor compensate anyone for them, nor would they improve the fortunes of the railways — they would merely add unnecessarily to the prices of all goods," said the statement.
The RHA was also con cerned that Transport Minister Norman Fowler had provided only a very short time during which representations could be made to the DTp on the whole question of taxation.
At the Freight Transport Association a spokesman was concerned that there were no proposals in the consultation document for vehicles under 12 tons. "We need to get more information on various aspects of this document including the 12-tonners, and you can't just put them into separate compartments," he said. The FTA also wanted to know what would happen to the owner of a maximumweight vehicle paying tax at the top rate for use with a two-axle trailer described on the vehicle tax disc when he wanted to use the tractive unit with a smaller trailer.
He also asked what would happen to operators using vehicles capable of carrying top weights which carried much lighter goods and were needed because of the bulk of the goods.