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Down-licensing is needed

22nd October 1983
Page 7
Page 7, 22nd October 1983 — Down-licensing is needed
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Which of the following most accurately describes the problem?

DOWN LICENSING is needed: this is highlighted by a joint survey carried out by the Freight Transport Association and the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders.

The survey shows that representatives from the whole of the transport industry, including road haulage operators, are in favour of a down-licensing scheme to remove the unfairness of taxation on certain commercial vehicles, minimise type approvals and enable operators to select vehicles for optimum efficiency, the FTA and SMMT said.

The survey response from lorry operators shows that a large number use vehicles on the basis of load capacity rather than load weight. An operator fills the vehicle with goods long before the maximum weight level is reached. At the moment, such operators have to pay tax in line with a weight level at which the vehicle is not usually operated.

The survey shows that 18 per cent of operators want downlicensing of at least one vehicle and that about 10 per cent of the vehicle licensed will be considered for down-licensing, if given the chance.

Fourteen per cent of operators said they have already downplated or are intending to downplate at least one of their vehicles. This represents seven per cent of the total vehicles sampled.

There is no particular vehicle model that operators would choose for down-licensing purposes and so a large number of different models would be affected, the survey says.

If there is no down-licensing scheme, the down-plating requests will result not only in huge costs to the manufacturers, but in additional work and hence costs for type approving new variants at the Department of Transport, the ETA and SMMT said.

But most important, they say, is the loss of tax revenue on down-plated vehicles. If downlicensing were permitted, then up-licensing would also be allowed at a later date.

In the course of the survey, 523 commercial vehicle operators were interviewed, accounting for 24,279 vehicles.


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