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M6 toll recovery row
Page 18
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Now that the V6 Toll charge for an HGV has been cut to £6, how come recovery vehicles towing stranded truc(s are charged £35? Guy Sheppard reports.
RECOVERY OPERATORS are being charged too much when they attend stranded trucks on the M6 Toll, says Eric Hammond, chairman of Warwickshire Recovery Operators Group (WROG). Toll road operator Midland Expressway (MEL) charges £35 for a recovery vehicle towing a truck because the combination is classed as an abnormal load, he says.
"But the total weight is about 60 tonnes which is no different to two trucks using the road — which is what they originally were. There can't be any further damage to the road, bridges or anything else."
He argues that the correct toll for a recovery wagon towing a stranded HGV should be £12— the standard rate for each truck using the road was reduced to £6 in July.
"Now trucks are starting to go on there, they [MEL] are shooting themselves in the foot by saying to hauliers `go on there but if you do break down we are going to charge you lots'," Hammond adds.
WROG organises a rota for Warwickshire Police so motorway recovery work is shared out fairly.
MEL MD Tom Fanning says recovery vehicles towing trucks fall into the charging category that applies to vehicles with more than six axles: "A classification system based on size allows us to use the most sophisticated technology available for vehicle recognition and toll collection and reduces the opportunity for human error."