Fuel…
It seems that in the run up to the election, the Road Haulage Association (RHA) are planning a new series of blockades and protests.
Good on ‘em.
The UK pays more tax on fuel than any other country - now I know we don’t have road-charging schemes widely implemented on our motorways (unlike France for example) - but then the high taxes don’t seem to go into maintaining our existing roads either. Our truckers cannot compete with their European counterparts simply due to the cost of fuel - when a European lorry can fill up in Calais, come over on the ferry/train do all it’s UK driving without visiting a filling station, and then travel back to the continent to fill up again - something is wrong with the way our government is supporting our haulage business (and given that road haulage is pretty much the only thing that can’t be outsourced or done elsewhere, the government should be trying to save it.)
I know fuel prices are creeping ever higher - not just due to taxation, but the situation in the middle east (which the UK government is also partly responsible for) has pushed prices up - but the tax on fuel is effectively a tax on not only the distance you drive, but also how effecient your vehicle is for the type of journey
I beleive Non-UK trucks should have to pay some kind of “toll” to travel on British roads - level the playing field for our truckers - they pay road tax for using British roads - why shouldn’t visiting lorry drivers have to pay too. This would be easy to enforce, simply set up a “toll booth” at the docks/chunnel and all non-UK registered vehicles have to pay a suitable tax for spending time on Britains roads, record when the vehicle entered the country, and when it leaves, charge for the amount of time it spent here.
At the moment, the government is raking in money from drivers and hauliers alike, but none of it seems to be reinvested in transport infrastructure - roads here in Wales are often badly rutted and potholed, and when they are repaired, it’s such shoddy work that the road actually ends up worse than before the repair was made.
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I would love cheaper fuel (wouldn’t everybody?) The trouble is though, if road tax is lowered then the money will have to be added to something else. Even if the revenue from road tax isn’t being ploughed back into roads, its being used for something. The money has to come from somewhere.
True enough - but as a single, unmarried, with no kids - I’m subsidising a lot of stuff I don’t use.
I agree that the money has to be raised somehow, but the government seems to see the motorist with no public transport options as a soft-target - maybe for those in London, where you can get pretty much anywhere by bus/train/tube - the concept of occasional buses that don’t go where you want to basically forces you to have a car for anything other than heading directly into town.
Anywhere else and a car isn’t a luxury - and nor is transporting goods by road - given how bad our trains are - but our UK trucking companies are being out-priced by european competition - look next time you’re on the motorway how many “foriegn” trucks are over here - every one of those is less trade for “our” truckers.
Good points, especially the public transport. If you knew that the road tax would be used to fund better public transport links, would you be happier to pay it? I think I would.
Oh, and at this point I’d like to thank all those tax payers who are currently subsidising me through my research. Much appreciated!
Indeed, If I felt that my road/fuel tax was going into improving transport (either road improvements or better public transport) rather than being pumped into invading small counties which have a lot of oil, I’d be happier - but as all the major roadbuilding recently in the UK on seems to be privately funded and toll-revenue generating where is my fuel tax going?