Scotland's Lorry Operators Suffer From High Fuel Duty and Unfair Competition

29th November 2005

Lorry operators in Scotland say that the Government's high fuel duty strategy, coupled with the increasing operation of foreign lorries in the UK, is causing serious problems for the Scottish transport industry.

Members of the Freight Transport Association's Scottish Freight Council, meeting at the end of October, were concerned that plans for Lorry Road User Charging (LRUC), scrapped by Secretary of State for Transport Alistair Darling in July, had not been replaced with any alternative strategy.

The LRUC scheme would have taxed all lorries, both UK and foreign visitors, on the mileage they carried out whilst also providing a rebate on fuel duty purchased. However, the rebate would only have applied to UK operators thus effectively making a charge for foreign vehicles using UK roads. By separating the way in which fuel duty is charged on private cars and commercial vehicles, the LRUC would also have provided the opportunity for the Chancellor to levy different rates of fuel duty and to bring UK rates on diesel for lorries, currently 47p per litre, closer to the European average of 22p.

Gavin Scott, FTA Head of Policy for Scotland said, 'We were promised that Lorry Road User Charging was going to address the problem of the ridiculously high tax regime which our industry toils under. However, the Government abandoned its plans and is offering nothing in its place. The logistics industry is suffering on all fronts. The high taxation of our fuel is compounded by the tremendous rise in world oil prices.'

Mr Scott added, 'Our European competitors have been helped by their governments by being given reductions in the cost of their fuel, but Gordon Brown seems to have no feeling for the pains we are all suffering. We are now in a situation where foreign hauliers can fill up their tanks with cheap fuel on the continent, do a week's work in the UK, and then go home. Even with the extra miles and travel expenses they incur, foreign vehicles still have significantly lower operating costs. Something should be done to create fairer competition and a level playing field across Europe.'

The Freight Transport Association represents the interests of companies moving goods by road, rail, sea and air. FTA members operate over 200,000 goods vehicles - almost half the UK fleet. In addition they consign over 90 per cent of the freight moved by rail and over 70 per cent of sea and air freight.

Freight Transport Association web site http://www.fta.org.uk/