FTA calls on next government to support freight industry

The Freight Transport Association has urged the next government to provide support to the logistics industry as it transitions to Clean Air Zone regulations as they look to cut vehicle emissions.

In the FTA’s General Election Manifesto, the Association said the support must also include help in developing the alternatively fuelled vehicle market and not just a reliance on imposing heavy taxes on diesel users. The FTA claimed that such a heavy-handed approach would result in suffocating economic growth and increasing prices throughout the economy.

Christopher Snelling, Head of National Policy at FTA said that the logistics industry had made big strides in reducing its environmental impact in recent years but there still significant work to be done.

He said: “It is vital that the next UK government continues to help and support freight and logistics operators as they work to comply with the latest Clean Air Zone regulations, and should not be using the industry as a sector for a problem which is the responsibility of all. There is no environmental purpose to increasing diesel duty on vans and lorries, as unlike diesel car drivers, operators of these vehicles currently have no realistic alternative.

“FTA members are also calling on the next government to take one simple step to boost economic performance: research by the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR) has shown that the introduction of a 3p per litre reduction in fuel duty would boost the economy and be revenue neutral for the Government, since rises in other tax receipts would offset losses on fuel duty, and the resulting additional spending would reinvigorate the economy.”

Amongst the FTA’s manifesto other requests was more spending in road and rail infrastructure and free access for the UK freight and logistics industry to the EU market post-Brexit.

The UK’s logistics sector is worth over £121Bn to the UK economy and employs over 2.5 million people nationwide.

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