British consumers and manufacturers will foot the bill for HGV Road User Levy, says haulier02 April 2014

A UK haulier is opposing the views of the rest of his sector, saying the argument for charging foreign HGVs to use UK roads is "nonsense" and that British consumers and manufacturers will ultimately foot the bill.

The HGV Road User Levy came into force yesterday (1 April 2014) and sees foreign operators of trucks weighing more than 12 tonnes paying a time-based charge of up to £1,000 a year, or £10 a day, to use UK roads.

The move was encouraged by British hauliers in the main. But Ian Baxter of Baxter Freight – who was owner and managing director of RH Freight until its sale to Kuehne & Nagel in 2011 – dismisses the argument that overseas operators had an unfair advantage until the levy's introduction.

"In my opinion this is nonsense," he says. "Cabotage rules and customer requirements mean foreign hauliers effectively cannot consistently do UK domestic work, so they aren't a significant competitor to domestic hauliers."

What's more, he adds, the trade imbalance between the UK and Europe means twice as many full loads enter the UK as leave it, so trips inevitably start and finish on the continent.

"No amount of 'level playing field' taxation will affect this," insists Baxter.

Similar levies in Germany, Austria and Switzerland exist to pick up transit traffic using their roads to reach other countries, he says.

"That isn't relevant to Britain, other than a small amount of cargo transiting the UK to or from Ireland."

Baxter concludes: "While this new tax notionally raises money from foreign hauliers, the reality is that UK manufacturers and British consumers will pay the bill. So all we have really achieved is an increase in UK taxes and the bureaucracy that goes with it."

Author
Laura Cork

Related Companies
Baxter Freight Ltd

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