Skip to main content

Foreign hauliers to pay HGV levy to use UK roads

Foreign hauliers will be charged to use UK roads for the first time from today, 1 April 2014 transport secretary Patrick McLoughlin has announced. UK truck drivers working in Europe currently pay tolls and levies when delivering goods abroad, but foreign trucks operating in the UK have not been required to make a similar payment. The HGV road user levy, which is being brought in nearly a year ahead of schedule, introduces a charge that ensures British hauliers are better able to compete with their for
April 1, 2014 Read time: 2 mins
Foreign hauliers will be charged to use UK roads for the first time from today, 1 April 2014 transport secretary Patrick McLoughlin has announced.

UK truck drivers working in Europe currently pay tolls and levies when delivering goods abroad, but foreign trucks operating in the UK have not been required to make a similar payment.

The HGV road user levy, which is being brought in nearly a year ahead of schedule, introduces a charge that ensures British hauliers are better able to compete with their foreign counterparts.  The levy has long been called for by the UK haulage industry and creates a fairer system by removing some of the inequality UK hauliers feel when paying to use many roads abroad.

Patrick McLoughlin said: “The HGV levy will provide a massive boost for the UK haulage industry. It will create a level playing field across Europe, giving UK firms a much better opportunity to win business.”

Related Content

  • Varying acceptance of tolling in Africa
    January 6, 2016
    Tolling technology is now at an advanced state but governments have a key role in ensuring the success of schemes as is evident in Africa. Shem Oirere reports. According to the African Development Bank, the continent has an estimated $46bn of infrastructure financing deficit. The bank says sub-Saharan Africa requires $93bn annually to meet its infrastructure development needs - but only half of the financing is available.
  • Varying acceptance of tolling in Africa
    January 6, 2016
    Tolling technology is now at an advanced state but governments have a key role in ensuring the success of schemes as is evident in Africa. Shem Oirere reports. According to the African Development Bank, the continent has an estimated $46bn of infrastructure financing deficit. The bank says sub-Saharan Africa requires $93bn annually to meet its infrastructure development needs - but only half of the financing is available.
  • Leading Finland’s transport revolution
    July 18, 2017
    Anne Berner, Finland’s minister of transport and communications, does not fit the normal political mould. She is not a career politician but a business executive who became a member of parliament in 2015 and has said from the outset that she will only serve one term. Without concerns about being re-elected and a clear view of the future of transport, Berner can concentrate on what needs to be done - tackling some of the more contentious and intransigent subjects. Her name is best known for two major initiat
  • Plastic is fantastic for payment platform interoperability
    April 2, 2014
    The Sino Visitor Pass aims to promote trade between Singapore and China by making travel easier, as Jon Masters finds out. Singapore has notched up another first in transportation innovation with announcement of a dual-currency payment card in partnership with the province of Guangdong in China. From the middle of 2014, visitors to Singapore and Guangdong will be able to use a ‘Sino Visitor Pass’ to pay for use of public transportation among other things.