TIME TO CO
Page 23
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
I read Lord Macdonald's article in CM (24-30 May)and began to wonder if he was living on another planet. With all the help he described from HM Government, why is the UK haulage industry in such a state?
Old, established and reputable hauliers close every week, unable to cope with fuel and VED costs, driver shortages, etc. Mr Bridge of the RHA was correct in saying that soon there will only be big firms or owner-drivers left in general haulage.
The top rate of income tax is 40%, yet fuel is taxed at over 70%. Why?
Also, fuel burned in aeroplanes, power stations, agricultural machinery, etc causes just as much pollution, yet is largely untaxed—why?
If it's about the environment we should all pay, but if it's about revenue then the burden should be shared around a bit
more; not just put on road vehicles. Lack of investment in roads puts us at a disadvantage; they spend a fortune in France and Spain, perhaps we pay for this via the European Union.
Luxembourg, which has the cheapest diesel, has a population which is officially the richest per head in Europe! Why?
Driver shortages will only get worse as HM Government introduces more measures to make it harder to train for an HGV licence.
The cost now is prohibitive for an ordinary young person— and that's before he runs up against the no-experience, nojob problem. problem.
Then, of course, there are the customers who, by and large, are interested only In the cheapest rate, and if this means foreign trucks doing domestic work here—which they can do now with cabotage—it's very difficult to compete with the higher UK cost base.
A clear indication of the contempt with which HM Government regards the haulage industry in the UK is the endless change in transport ministers. I'm taking early retirement myself... thank God I have managed to hang on to enough money!
David S Hayes, Bramely, Leeds.