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

  • Preparations building for French national truck toll
    September 12, 2012
    The Autostrade led Ecomouv consortium is developing the next big system of truck tolling likely to be introduced in Europe – France’s ‘Eco-tax’. Jon Masters reports. Since October last year, a consortium of companies has been working on developing the technological and administrative systems necessary for a national system of truck tolling in France. Eco-tax, France’s truck toll, is not necessarily going to be implemented. The Ecomouv consortium has been set up as a long term concessionaire, but so far only
  • ITS (UK) tells DfT is no barrier to HGV charging
    January 29, 2018
    The UK's Intelligent Transport Society has told the Department for Transport (DfT) that there is no technical barrier to the distance-based charging of heavy goods vehicles (HGVs) in response to a consultation on reforming the HGV road user levy. A range of experts agreed that the technology already exists, with Germany's truck tolling scheme implemented in 2005. The options for technology range from automatic number plate recognition or toll tags to a solution based on board tolling unit as well as the us
  • Government green lights road and rail improvements
    July 19, 2013
    UK Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin has confirmed a £1.2 billion order for more state of-the art trains to transform rail travel on one of Britain’s busiest intercity routes. The 270 carriages will be manufactured in Britain by Hitachi Rail Europe as part of the government’s overall £5.8 billion Intercity Express Programme (IEP). The trains will operate on the East Coast Main Line from 2019 and will deliver significant benefits to passengers, including boosting capacity by 18 per cent, improving trai
  • HERMES Study provides guidance for forward ITS thinking in Finland
    August 25, 2016
    Having authored HERMES, a major study for the Finnish Ministry of Transport and Communication, Josef Czako talks to ITS International about his findings and lessons for other authorities. When CEOs of major automakers are predicting more change in the next five years than in the past 50, what is the role of national authorities considering the benefits of innovations in ITS?