'UNFAIR TREATMENT' OF COMMERCIAL VEHICLE OPERATORS
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SPEAKING at the annual dinner of the mid-Cornwall sub-area of the RHA at Bristol last week," Mr. D. 0. Good, immediate past-chairman of the Association, said that unfair treatment meted out to commercial vehicle operators was often shared by other road users. Neglect of the roads over the years was one common tribulation; another was the increasing rate of taxation. But in many cases, commercial vehicle operators were the main sufferers, a particularly glaring example being provided by the recent White Paper on investment incentives.
The principle behind the document was laudable, said Mr. Good, as it sought to direct the financial incentives towards where they would do most good in helping the export drive arid key industries. "But I cannot understand why the commercial vehicles which are indispensable to trade and industry and to exports—and notably to this underdeveloped region—should not also receive the benefit of the proposed incentives." To make matters worse, he added, operators were substantially worse off as a result of the substantial cuts in tax benefits. The net cost of a typical vehicle after tax remissions was now twice as much as it was only a year ago.