Call for Foreign Lorry Fees

The British government is planning the first national road pricing scheme, and foreign lorry drivers are set to be charged a £10 fee every day they use the country’s roads. The move is aimed to level the playing field between national lorry drivers and their counterparts from other countries. British lorry drivers already have to pay to drive on foreign roads.

The European Union allows its 27 member states to charge foreign lorries up to €16 a day to use their roads, and the British government wants to get in on this action. The Department for Transport (DfT) has announced a consultation for the plans. Although the fee can only be levied on heavy goods vehicles, the programme is due to be a pilot for a more ambitious scheme by supporters of road pricing for motorists, which were mooted and dropped by the Labour government.

It’s been made clear by the Coalition that it won’t introduce a pay-as-you-go fee on motorists, but it’s been pressured recently by hauliers to introduce a programme that will force foreign lorry drivers to contribute to the wear and tear they cause to the nation’s roads. UK hauliers would have to pay the charge as well, but the government plans to reimburse them. This may be done by reducing the fuel duty or the cost of their tax disc.

The industry believes the charge could be introduced several ways. One is using “spy in the sky’ technology and requiring all lorries to carry boxes that can be tracked via satellite. The other is using a vignette system that fixes a sticker to the windscreen of lorries that can be read by scanners on overhead gantries or be linked to an account for every vehicle.

Roads Minister Mike Penning says that there are abut 1.5 million trips made by foreign registered lorries to the UK every year. However, none of them pay to use the country’s roads and leave UK businesses and taxpayers to take care of the bill. A lorry charge would make sure all hauliers using the UK’s roads are contributing to the cost, no matter where they are from. This will help UK hauliers get a fairer deal while promoting growth and increasing jobs in the country.

The Road Haulage Association welcomed the plans, with a spokesman saying that it will somewhat level the playing field with the rest of the continent. Foreign lorries have been entering the UK for years and using the roads without contributing to the wear and tear, he added.

The Freight Transport Association also welcomed the scheme, with a spokesman saying that making sure foreign lorries contribute to road use is a step toward levelling the playing field. However, making the system cost neutral for British hauliers, who already pay much more for diesel than foreign counterparts, is a must. Road user fees can help the government boost its purse without hurting the economy, but such a programme can’t impose more bureaucracy or costs on UK businesses.