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The British Vehicle Leasing and Rental Association has expressed its anger at manufacturers' long lead times and their effect on the UK vehicle parc.  David Farbon, UK commercial director of Fraikin and chairman of the Commercial Vehicle Committee of the BVRLA, is "incredulous that a mature market, such as the commercial vehicle manufacturing industry, can get things so dramatically wrong for its customers".

He directly blames CV manufacturers' inability to correctly assess the UK  market's needs, believing that they are hampering modernisation programmes and customer-driven delivery service levels. "I hear excuses about the emergence of Eastern European economies driving production volumes to that part of the world, but that must have been as predictable as the continuing demand from the UK.

"BVRLA members can extend contract periods on these older vehicles to keep their operators on the road, and are having to do so, but they are going to be less fuel-efficient than the modern vehicles our customers would like to be operating, and will also be more demanding in terms of service and parts. But it goes even deeper than simply the direct operational issues.

"At a time when the transport industry is beset by legislation aimed at reducing its carbon footprint and fuel duties continue to rise, we are being forced by the manufacturers to run older and older trucks. "When you look at the size of the UK van and truck rental and leasing fleet, which is around  550,000, and see how many vehicles should have been replaced already, you begin to get an idea of the adverse environmental impact this problem is having on the UK," he says.