Greens want higher haulage tax
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iv Hauliers are up in arms over suggestions by a Scottish pressure group that they should pay more tax, not less. Transform Scotland claims hauliers are not paying the full cost of the social, economic and environmental damage that they cause.
Transform spokesman Colin Howden denies the group is anti-truck: it wants the Government to adopt a system in which lorries are taxed according to their size and the distance they travel. "We agree with the Government that road
haulage is still too cheap," says Howden. "Recent research suggests that lorries cover only 70% of their costs."
Roddy Matheson, managing director of Aberdeen-based Sandy Bruce Trucking, says: "Increasing taxes does not reduce pollution or demand for transport services. Road congestion is caused by cars and it is the car population that is increasing, not the truck pare." Ile adds that every time transport costs go up, manufacturers and producers in remote areas become less competitive and the "fragile regional economy can suffer".
Road Haulage Association directorgeneral Steven Norris says the report fails to address the disadvantage that British hauliers face compared with their European competitors.
And the Freight Transport Association says: "Raising more taxes from trucks wouldn't mean any adjustment in the mileage they do—it makes no odds as far as that essential function goes."