The Freight Transport Association represents the transport interests of companies moving goods by road, rail, sea and air. FTA members operate over 220,000 goods vehicles - almost half the UK fleet. In addition they consign over 90 per cent of the freight moved by rail and over 70 per cent of sea and air freight.
On 22 June FTA will be running its Budget Desk providing information, analysis and reaction to the Chancellor's statement and its effect on industry's transport operations.
Where we stand:
Key facts from Budget 2010
Diesel duty increases to be staged in 2010-11. On 1 April 2010 it rose 1 pence per litre (ppl) and is set to rise 1ppl in October 2010 and by 0.76ppl on 1 January 2011. Diesel duty will increase by a further 1ppl above inflation each year until 2014.
Investment in strategic roads - additional £285m (£250m for England) to enable rapid progress of upgrading strategic roads, including hard shoulder running roll out.
Local roads spending - Additional £100 million (£84m for England) to fund road repairs by damage from worst winter in 30 years.
HGV Vehicle Excise Duty (VED) will continue to be frozen in 2010-2011.
Reduced Pollution Certificates - VED discounts of up to £500 will be available for vehicles that achieve early compliance with the Euro 6 air quality standard.
100 per cent first-year capital allowance for zero-carbon goods vehicles. This incentive will apply to new vehicles purchased from April 2010 and will be in place for five years.
Strategic Investment Fund allocation will provide funding for low carbon HGVs and for upgrading raw biogas into biomethane for fuel, subject to research.
What we want:
Ahead of the Budget, FTA has stressed the following key industry concerns to the Chancellor's Treasury taxation team:
The Chancellor should resist adding further cost to road and rail carriers in the UK through higher levels of diesel duty and gas oil duty.
A lorry road user charging scheme will, in principle, ensure foreign HGVs pay their way. However, the Government must consult closely with industry to ensure that the most appropriate scheme is adopted and that a parallel tax rebate system is introduced to ensure the tax burden on UK carriers is not raised.
The Government needs to decouple fuel duty and recognise that motorists and CV operators do not share the same patterns of behaviour. In so doing, industry will be able to invest in more environmentally-friendly technology and practice.
The Government's commitment to replace Air Passenger Duty with a charge per plane should be reconsidered. A per plane tax would divert business away from the UK by increasing costs, reducing service and damaging reliability without achieving the perceived environmental benefits.
Key facts:
The United Kingdom levies by far the highest diesel duty in the European Union.
UK diesel duty needs to fall by around 24 pence per litre to achieve parity with the average duty rate in the rest of the European Union.
Bulk diesel (excluding VAT) has increased by 16.7 per cent from 1 June 2009 to 31 May 2010. Underlying inflation in the 12 months to May 2010 increased by 5.1 per cent.
Diesel duty represents almost 60 per cent of the cost of a litre of bulk diesel (excluding VAT) as at 31 May 2010.
In April 2010 fuel costs represented 35 per cent of total costs for a 40 tonne gvw artic based on an average mileage of 70,000 miles per annum. In April 2000 fuel costs were 31 per cent of total costs. A high of 38 per cent was reached in July 2008 when world oil prices reached $146 dollars a barrel.
The annual fuel bill for a 40 tonne gvw artic running an average mileage (70,000 miles per annum) has increased from £27,340 in April 2000 to £41,125 in April 2010.