Distance-based lorry charging should be compulsory in budget, says Campaigners

Following UK government figures which revealed that only 34% of heavy goods vehicles (HGVs) are fully loaded by volume, and 30% are travelling around empty, the Campaign for Better Transport (CfBT) is calling for distance based lorry charging systems to be made compulsory. The campaigners stated that the technology can determine the impact of lorries on roads and force the road haulage industry to be more efficient and reduce lorry miles. CfBT added that and it should be included in the HGV VED and Road Use
November 20, 2017 Read time: 2 mins
Following UK government figures which revealed that only 34% of heavy goods vehicles (HGVs) are fully loaded by volume, and 30% are travelling around empty, the Campaign for Better Transport (CfBT) is calling for distance based lorry charging systems to be made compulsory. The campaigners stated that the technology can determine the impact of lorries on roads and force the road haulage industry to be more efficient and reduce lorry miles. CfBT added that and it should be included in the HGV VED and Road User Levy budget.

Recent research for the campaign showed that HGVs are only paying around 30% of their costs in road congestion, road fatalities and pollution. These conclusions are in line an MDS Transmodal study in 2007 which found a similar amount of underpayment: £6billion. In addition, the Transport & Environment Research April 2016 revealed that HGVs across the EU were only internalising around 30% of their costs.

CfBT also believes that the system could differentiate charging based on vehicles’ pollution and incentivise newer less polluting vehicles.

Philippa Edmunds, Freight on Rail manager said: “Currently, road haulage is very competitive but not efficient. Introducing distance-based lorry charging, which is common-place in most Western countries, will make road haulage more efficient and thereby reduce congestion, road fatalities, road damage and pollution as well as allowing sustainable modes to compete more fairly. For example, in Germany empty lorries have reduced from 29% to 18%.”
Enforcement

Related Content

  • Transport Systems Catapult boss: ‘We can’t build our way out of congestion’
    March 4, 2019
    The UK Transport Systems Catapult’s CEO Paul Campion talks to Colin Sowman about helping companies develop tomorrow’s solutions – and explains why you can never build your way to empty roads The future of mobility is going to be driven by services.” That’s the opening position of Paul Campion, CEO of the Transport Systems Catapult (TSC) – the UK government organisation set up to help boost transport-related employment and the economy. Campion was previously with IBM and describes himself as a ‘techno o
    Read More
  • Trust me, I'm a driverless car
    October 12, 2018
    Developing C/AV technology is the easy bit: now the vehicles need to gain people’s confidence. So does the public feel safe in driverless hands – and how much might they be willing to pay for the privilege? The Venturer consortium’s final user and technology test (Trial 3) explored levels of user trust in scenarios where a connected and autonomous vehicle (C/AV) is interacting with cyclists, pedestrians and other road users on a controlled road network. Trial 3 consisted of experimental runs in the
    Read More
  • Mileage based charging offers secure future for funding
    August 10, 2016
    HNTB’s Matthew Click sets out why a move to mileage-based pricing is inevitable. Infrastructure is the most neglected yet the most critical engine of our society, and our continued indifference could lead to a dystopian future. Our roads, bridges and highways have been largely passed by in the digital age—marginalised in an era when funding is limited and stewardship of physical assets has given way to our preoccupation with technological innovation and data—the stuff of the virtual realm.
    Read More
  • T-Charge introduced to older vehicles in London to tackle toxic air pollution
    October 23, 2017
    To combat thousands of premature deaths caused by air pollution in London, up to 34, 000 polluting vehicles travelling into Central London every month may have to pay the T-Charge £10.00 ($13.00) which will operate on top of the Congestion Charge £11.50 ($15.00). Launched by the Mayor of London Sadiq Khan, the T -Charge applies to drivers of pre-Euro 4 vehicles that do not meet the PM and NOx emissions and has come into effect from 7.00am on 23 October 2017.
    Read More

Highlighted Content