Trailer registration: a step nearer a tax?
Page 10
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
Trailer registration has been discussed on and off for years, and DVLA proposals now make it more likely than ever that the UK will fall into line with Continental practice by introducing it—not least because the government has a target of reducing vehicle crime by 30% over the next five years. But will registration really make life harder for thieves—and what will it mean for hauliers? Robin Meczes reports.
• Talk about levelling the playing field with mainland Europe, and it's not usually trailer registration hauliers think of. But some other European countries have had registration schemes in place for years, and here the police have recently made fresh calls to match them.
At a recent SMMT seminar, DC Roland Thomas of the Met's Serious & Organised Crime Group Intelligence Unit estimated the annual cost to industry of stolen trailers as more than E100m, and called for a UK registration scheme in combination with the introduction on trailers of the standard 17-digit vehicle identification number (YIN) already used on tractive units and other road vehicles (CM12-18 July).
Thomas accepts registration won't stamp out trailer theft, but says it will make passing on stolen trailers much more difficult. "It's a matter of putting hurdles in their way. You could look at the registration number in the logbook and check it matched that on the vehicle. You could also cheek the YIN on the vehicle against the VIN shown on the document.
"The government wants to reduce vehicle crime by 30% over next five years. I'm not saying this will do it all, but it is a piece of the pie," he adds.
Minimal costs
The costs should be minimal. "It's just documentation we're talking about, and even registering a foreign vehicle in Britain costs only £25," says Thomas. Number plates would add to this, he admits—but only fractionally. "Hafford's sells them for about £7.50," he says.
A special report submitted by Thomas in 1998 is behind the present DVLA proposals for a registration scheme. The next stage will be to put the proposals out to consultation. But a DVLA spokesman confirms this might never happen. "Nothing is definite yet," says the spokesman. "It is one of the things we have yet to decide."
lain McKinnon of the National Lorryload Desk Central Intelligence Bureau hopes they go ahead. "The present situation where a trailer has up to three numbers—a chassis or manufacturer's number, a fleet number and a ministry number—causes problems when it is reported stolen. This confusion is compounded when the driver or owner does not know what the numbers are. The proposed system will not only eliminate this, but also make identification of stolen trailers much simpler and more effective."
There are mixed feelings elsewhere, however. Chrys Rainpley, manager, infrastructure, environment and business affairs at the Road Haulage Association, says her security committee is very much for it But she admits about 50% of those in the RHA are concerned about the extra cost, and don't see any need for it when the VI already has a record of trailer numbers.
Admin worries
The FTA is also firmly against the plan. Despite the potential for recovering stolen trailers, chief economist Simon Chapman says: "The other side of the coin is about operational flexibility. It could create problems in terms of having to specify trailers on your 0-licence. In addition, trailer registration is only one step from trailer taxation, and we are concerned that if it were introduced, then two years down the line they'd be taxed as well."
That registration might be seen as taxation is also of concern to Leonard Fuller. technical director of Andover Trailers, a member of the Commercial Trailer Association. Fuller and the CIA both support the idea of registration, but Fuller says: "A lot of people think this is another potential stealth tax. It's important it isn't seen as another tax. All that should be there is the cost of documentation."
Registration would probably be made retrospective, but this needn't mean a rush to register every trailer in Brit
aM at once. It could be done the same time as the ann test, says Fuller. "Dyer three four years we should be able cover most of the trailer par Trailer dealers, too, seen favour. "It would make my IN lot easier," says independi truck and trailer dealer Rob! Reynolds. "Tracing trailers very, very difficult, and have often been offered trt era for sale which turn out be stolen. Some form of rag tration document would most helpful. At least, if seller hasn't got a logbook can ask him why and start make other checks."
The main benefit would the potential for recovery stolen trailers, but those ha ing abroad would also benE from carrying the document lion, which is genere expected in mainland Euro
Dover-based Mike Beer Mike Beer Transport, who rt 60 trailers, says: "Yes, we In had problems in the pa especially when it's one of Dutch-registered tractors p ling a UK trailer. They [fore authorities] usually real with a bit of help what's go on, and we've always manaf to get around it But it c mean half a day's delay wi you try to prove you actue own the trailer. So it would CE tainly simplify things."
And while trailer theft is a big issue for the firm, he w comes any move to hung criminals. "At present you c just take any numbers off, [ new ones on and no-one woi ever know the difference—i just so easy," he concludes.