Incentives for cleaner lorries on UK roads
The UK Department for Transport has announced that from February next year (2019), lorries meeting the latest Euro VI emissions standards will be eligible for a 10% reduction in the cost of the Heavy Goods Vehicle (HGV) levy.
In a statement issued today (28 March), the Roads Minister Jesse Norman said: “This government is committed to improving the air we breathe and delivering a green revolution in transport.
“Heavy goods vehicles account for around a fifth of harmful nitrogen oxide emissions from road transport, but they only travel 5% of the total miles.
“That’s why we’re changing the HGV levy to encourage firms to phase out the most polluting lorries and bring in the cleanest ones.”
The Freight Transport Association (FTA) gave the news a mixed review. Christopher Snelling, Head of UK Policy at FTA, explained why: “The reduction of 10% in the road user levy for Euro VI lorries is good news as it shows recognition for the success of the HGV Euro VI vehicles, which have 80% lower real world local emissions than previous lorries.
“However, the introduction of the increased levy on pre-Euro VI trucks will actually hurt those small and medium sized business that already face increased costs as they need to upgrade to Euro VI vehicle early to be compliant with the planned Clean Air Zones.
“It hurts them because the re-sale value of their slightly older lorries, the Euro IV and Vs, has fallen so much – making the jump to afford a new Euro VI so much greater.”
FTA argued that the Government should have loaded the increase on to older most polluting lorries (Euro III and below) to create a short-term market for the Euro IV and V vehicles that those delivering to city centres will be seeking to sell on.
