Plans for Chancellor Alistair Darling to introduce his fuel duty increase of 2.5 pence on 1st April have aptly been described as a joke by truckers’ representatives the Road Haulage Association (RHA). The organisation has even stated that the increase, on top of all the other problems faced by Britain’s hauliers, may sound the death knell for some established road freight firms.

According to the Treasury, duty increases are ‘an important part of the deficit reduction plan’ but the RHA sees this as another easy option for the Government to hit an industry in which fuel is not only essential but necessarily used in vast quantities. Considering fuel duty is not only charged but then subjected to VAT the increase appears even more unfair to hauliers and ordinary citizens alike.

“Diesel is the commodity on which this industry is totally reliant,” said RHA Chief Executive Geoff Dunning. “We are already paying fuel duty rates that are up to six times higher than our European counterparts. If the Chancellor goes ahead with the 2.5 increase next month, it will mean that road transport operators will, on average, be paying an extra £1,100 per year in fuel duty alone, and that’s on top of the price of the fuel itself.

“Of course we understand that in order to regain economic stability, certain sacrifices have to be made but it seems grossly unfair that the UK haulage industry, the one sector on which the rest of UK plc is so dependent, should be the one to have its throat cut in this way. We need a Chancellor who is prepared to listen to and help this industry. Not one who seems hell-bent on driving it off the road completely”.

Source : Handy Shipping Guide