RHA supports Campaign for Better Transport report findings

The Road Haulage Association (RHA) has given its support to a recent report carried out by the Campaign for Better Transport. The report highlights road toll issues, saying that road tolls do not guarantee revenue, whether publicly or privately run.

Speaking about the report, the RHA’s head of communications, Kate Gibbs, said:

“If tolling were to be introduced on strategic routes then the estimated reductions in congestion would of course be welcome. In addition, their implementation would go some way to levelling the playing field in as much as foreign operators would, at last, have to pay for the privilege of using the UK road network.

“But the Treasury cannot expect to have it both ways and UK road hauliers, as an industry, cannot be expected to pay even more for keeping the UK economy moving.”

Gibbs says there needs to be some sort of compromise, mentioning reduced fuel duty for ‘essential users of fuel’ specifically. She says that without this, tolling is merely a short-term solution rather than something more comprehensive and long-lasting.

She says that a combination of fuel duty and tolls would force hauliers onto more minor roads, increasing journey times for all.