time for a revolution?

[AndrewT]

Booder, you obviously know far more about the specifics of the industry than I do....

a simple question really...despite intense lobbying there is no government will to provide a level playing field, in the absence of one what should hauliers do to run their businesses effectively?

The government is actually unable to level the playing field - EU laws give EU drivers the right to work in this country. Doing anything to aid the UK hauliers to the detriment of non-UK drivers would contravene EU legislation.

[Claw75]

now it's upto 104 and will be upto 106 soon.

105.9 in Sainsbury's over the road from me.

Andrew is right - London is filthy.  I took some pics out of my office window a few weeks ago on a day when there was high pressure and little wind.  The layer of pollution across the city was visible to the eye and quite disturbing.  I'll post them up later.

[booder]

The government is actually unable to level the playing field - EU laws give EU drivers the right to work in this country. Doing anything to aid the UK hauliers to the detriment of non-UK drivers would contravene EU legislation.

Yes EU laws give EU drivers the right to work here but they should have to pay the same charges that we have to pay when we work in other EU countries.Obviously aiding EU drivers to the detriment of UK drivers doesnt contravene EU legislation.




A driver buying 1,000 litres of diesel in a Belgian forecourt would pay £695.30, while his British counterpart buying the same amount of fuel in the UK has to pay £921.66.

Fuel duty in Belgium is only 24.7p a litre, compared with 50.35p in Britain.


One in seven of the heaviest lorries on Britain's roads comes from overseas.

There had been hopes that the Government would level the playing field by introducing road pricing for lorries, which would have been paid by all hauliers.

However, this was ditched by the Department for Transport after it decided to press ahead with more ambitious plans to include all road users. These proposals have since been shelved.

The haulage industry believes foreign lorry drivers enjoy a substantial advantage over British ones.

"Foreign lorries working in the UK pay no UK taxes, make no contribution to the road wear which they create, and pay nothing at all for working in the UK," said a spokesman for the association.

"By contrast, the UK international fleet working in Europe obviously buys all of its fuel overseas and pays local road tolls and taxes."

from David Millward, Transport Editor Telegraph

Without the governments help i don't think there is a great deal they can do to run more effectively,i think most avenues have been expored. A few years back ,the weekend ferries from Dover,Harwich were chockablock with units travelling across the sea to fill their tanks with cheap diesel.The government realised that it was missing out on lots of revenue so fines were issued .Sad but true.

[AndrewT]

I was out walking along the Euston Road a few days ago and there is a light-grey concrete building by the road. Well, the top ten stories are light-grey - as you get closer to the ground the building gets darker and darker till the bit by the ground is black. You can see exactly how far up the building the traffic fumes get to.

I think London should be declared full, and we operate a 'one in, one out' policy, like a busy club on a Saturday night.

[sledge13]

As Alan Partridge once said "London...spelt S H I T H O L E" 

[Grier78]

The government is actually unable to level the playing field - EU laws give EU drivers the right to work in this country. Doing anything to aid the UK hauliers to the detriment of non-UK drivers would contravene EU legislation.

Yes EU laws give EU drivers the right to work here but they should have to pay the same charges that we have to pay when we work in other EU countries.Obviously aiding EU drivers to the detriment of UK drivers doesnt contravene EU legislation.




A driver buying 1,000 litres of diesel in a Belgian forecourt would pay £695.30, while his British counterpart buying the same amount of fuel in the UK has to pay £921.66.

Fuel duty in Belgium is only 24.7p a litre, compared with 50.35p in Britain.


One in seven of the heaviest lorries on Britain's roads comes from overseas.

There had been hopes that the Government would level the playing field by introducing road pricing for lorries, which would have been paid by all hauliers.

However, this was ditched by the Department for Transport after it decided to press ahead with more ambitious plans to include all road users. These proposals have since been shelved.

The haulage industry believes foreign lorry drivers enjoy a substantial advantage over British ones.

"Foreign lorries working in the UK pay no UK taxes, make no contribution to the road wear which they create, and pay nothing at all for working in the UK," said a spokesman for the association.

"By contrast, the UK international fleet working in Europe obviously buys all of its fuel overseas and pays local road tolls and taxes."

from David Millward, Transport Editor Telegraph

Without the governments help i don't think there is a great deal they can do to run more effectively,i think most avenues have been expored. A few years back ,the weekend ferries from Dover,Harwich were chockablock with units travelling across the sea to fill their tanks with cheap diesel.The government realised that it was missing out on lots of revenue so fines were issued .Sad but true.

Well we could have tax harmonisation across Europe, but that would mean aggreeing to treaties and such which apparently this country doesnt want to do.

[boldie]

The government is actually unable to level the playing field - EU laws give EU drivers the right to work in this country. Doing anything to aid the UK hauliers to the detriment of non-UK drivers would contravene EU legislation.

Yes EU laws give EU drivers the right to work here but they should have to pay the same charges that we have to pay when we work in other EU countries.Obviously aiding EU drivers to the detriment of UK drivers doesnt contravene EU legislation.




A driver buying 1,000 litres of diesel in a Belgian forecourt would pay £695.30, while his British counterpart buying the same amount of fuel in the UK has to pay £921.66.

Fuel duty in Belgium is only 24.7p a litre, compared with 50.35p in Britain.


One in seven of the heaviest lorries on Britain's roads comes from overseas.

There had been hopes that the Government would level the playing field by introducing road pricing for lorries, which would have been paid by all hauliers.

However, this was ditched by the Department for Transport after it decided to press ahead with more ambitious plans to include all road users. These proposals have since been shelved.

The haulage industry believes foreign lorry drivers enjoy a substantial advantage over British ones.

"Foreign lorries working in the UK pay no UK taxes, make no contribution to the road wear which they create, and pay nothing at all for working in the UK," said a spokesman for the association.

"By contrast, the UK international fleet working in Europe obviously buys all of its fuel overseas and pays local road tolls and taxes."

from David Millward, Transport Editor Telegraph

Without the governments help i don't think there is a great deal they can do to run more effectively,i think most avenues have been expored. A few years back ,the weekend ferries from Dover,Harwich were chockablock with units travelling across the sea to fill their tanks with cheap diesel.The government realised that it was missing out on lots of revenue so fines were issued .Sad but true.

Well we could have tax harmonisation across Europe, but that would mean aggreeing to treaties and such which apparently this country doesnt want to do.

Even getting the UK to join the Euro would make a massive difference as people would finally truly realise how much they are getting shafted in this country. You pay over the odds for justabout everything here. But the pound is more precious as an institution over here and so the switch to the Euro isn't going to happen. The fear of change that the British people seem to have astonishes me..and all this in the name of "tradition" what a load of bollox.