1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156 
Calls for fuel tax harmony
Page 11
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
• Trade associations are urging a House of Lords European Union Sub-Committee to back proposals for harmonising fuel duty across Europe.
The Freight Transport and Road Haulage Associations have both submitted evidence in favour of the move, which they say is essential to tackle foreign competition running on cheap fuel.
Roger King, RE-IA chief executive, says that while government plans for lorry road-user charging (LRUC) n 2006 will offset some of the tax burden, this is a long way off: it could be another two years after this before LRUC is up and running. UK hauliers cannot wait that long for the situation to be addressed. The government needs to take immediate action to create a level playing field and reduce fuel duty."
Simon Chapman, FTA chief economist, says research shows that the costs of French domestic road transport is 14% lower than in the UK, with UK fuel duty at 45.82p/lit compared to French at 25.05p/lit.
He adds that the theory that high levels of duty reduce vehicle use and the level of pollution from trucks simply does not stand up, as fuel efficiency is the driving factor in vehicle manufac
turing and logistics management.
"High levels of fuel duty have not forced freight onto rail either. This is an issue further highlighted by the sudden announcement by the Strategic Rail Authority of the withdrawal of rail-freight facilities grant and track access grants," Chapman says.