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'Simplistic pricing has unfortunately become a catch-all solution' Owner-driver Charles

21st May 1998, Page 58
21st May 1998
Page 58
Page 58, 21st May 1998 — 'Simplistic pricing has unfortunately become a catch-all solution' Owner-driver Charles
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Which of the following most accurately describes the problem?

Henderson does not agree with the Road Haulage Association's Essential User Rebate scheme. He has his own ideas for reducing traffic on the roads...

nce you have been exploited enough times the hurt and humiliation that accompany it begin to wear you down, and it is of little succour to have the director-general of the Road Haulage Association offer the salve of the Essential User Rebate while in the same breath suggesting that, meanwhile, we carry on being exploited—this especially from one who used to be a party to the exploitation!

In his next breath Steven Norris suggests that highlighting our frustrations at the high costs of derv, because of the increases in Fuel Excise Duty, by the use of industrial action (or should it be inaction?) might lose us the support of Joe Public. When have we ever had that support? To bring such frustrations to the fore, Joe Public might learn that nice, quiet, truckfree roads do not fill supermarket shelves, nor replenish the insatiable demand of petrol pumps on garage forecourts. It would not even take a week to make the point that our industry is a vital one and one that needs the vitality restored to it. A dozen years ago, when I foolishly thought that I could make a better fist of it on my own than being someone else's lackey, my fuel costs were 25% of turnover. Now, with a Euro-1 truck and a 20% improvement in fuel consumption, my fuel costs are edging up to 45% of turnover. Since I am pretty much in the same game as everyone else, we have all got a lot to gain from a sensible look at how best the problem can be tackled. Everyone has to accept that something has got to be done to get traffic off the road. That can be achieved in several ways; from pricing people out of their cars, to getting some freight onto rail, and by allowing greater weight onto trucks by introducing 44-tonners. Unfortunately the simplistic way of pricing has become a catch-all solution and I, for one, would like to see some statistics (or lies) to show that price hikes in the past have brought about a reduction in traffic (the stated aim of the politicians) and are not just there to provide a revenue stream for the Exchequer! The Essential User Rebate scheme sounds a horrible piece of unnecessary jargon for something that is going to bamboozle the more disFunctional among us who have a job of work to do. Perhaps it might be too simplistic to propose that Fuel Excise Duty should be reduced by half. Oh what unalloyed joy, you might think. But to make up for that reduction, VAT on petrol and dery could be increased to 75% with the recovery limited to the standard rate, except for the haulage and bus industries which, to the satisfaction of the VAT man, could claim recovery of the full rate on freight and passenger carrying vehicles. Further increases of tax on petrol and dery would be accommodated by rises of VAT, which would be fully recoverable by the industry in future years.

• If you want to sound off about a road transport issue write to features editor Patric Cunnane or fax your views (up to 600 words) to Nicky Clarke on 0181 652 8912.


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