News

Going green is big at the moment. You can't turn on the television or open a newspaper without hearing about the environment - and that rhetoric is making its way into the road haulage industry.

The government's decision to introduce a reduced pollution certificate (RPC) for Euro-5-compliant trucks is a continuation of the green theme. And on the face of it, it's good news for hauliers.

But dig a little deeper and you will find that things are not quite as rosy as they first appear.  The RPC will only cover trucks purchased after 1 October this year and, even then, only those that come with a depowering drive system that will kick in if the anti-pollution system is not working.

Given that the Chancellor had hinted in his 2006 Budget that the government would give further consideration to the RPC, hauliers could be forgiven for presuming that any Euro-5 machine they purchased would be covered whenever the incentive was introduced. But that is not the case.

This has caused consternation among operators that have already invested in Euro-5 trucks because they appear to have been penalised for taking the initiative. Ashley Bassett, joint MD at RG Bassett and Sons, says his firm has just taken delivery of two Euro-5 Daf 105 tractors, but insists: "If I had my time again I would certainly have cancelled them."

Bassett says the company bought the vehicles with the environment in mind. "I do feel somewhat bewildered. We've been proactive and  gained very little from it."

Barry Proctor, MD at Barry Proctor Services, says he has taken delivery of one Euro-5 truck, but would hold fire on any more purchases. "While I'm pleased with the vehicle I have, I feel aggrieved that my efforts to be green have cost me money. So I'll wait until the RPC is in place before placing any more orders."

The Road Haulage Association (RHA), the Freight Transport Association (FTA) and the manufacturers are now calling on the Department for Transport to make the RPC available to those early adopters and met with the DfT to pitch their case last week.

Jack Semple, RHA director of policy, explains: "There are about 5,000 companies that already have Euro-5s or have them in the pipeline that have been caught out, and so we sat down with the manufacturers and the DfT to see if anything can be done."

Semple says the RHA wants these operators to be included in the scheme, even though they do not have a depowering mechanism. "There is on-board monitoring in these vehicles which makes it possible to see if the system is working properly - and we hope the DfT will take that into account."

This view is backed by the FTA. Chief economist and general manager for information services Simon Chapman argues that it would be an own goal by the DfT to exclude those that have already invested money in Euro-5. "[Those that have already bought Euro-5] are generally the innovators in the industry - and that needs to be nurtured, not penalised."

Chapman says the FTA's view is that there needs to be an RPC for those vehicles. "I suggest there should be an RPC on those vehicles, but with a time limit of something like six years, so the operator that has taken the step is rewarded, but the man buying it third-hand is not still able to claim the benefit."

The DfT spokeswoman says the details of the policy have yet to be decided, which suggests that the industry will have to wait a while before knowing whether the early birds will be rewarded for taking the initiative.