Overseas hauliers may have to pay a daily charge to use UK roads. Transport minister Stephen Ladyman has agreed with the RHA and FTA that it will examine whether a "vignette" system could be implemented in a short time scale.
The vignette used to be called the Brit disc by the Conservatives who proposed it during the fuel dispute. It means overseas hauliers having to pay a daily or weekly charge to use our roads. The idea was originally turned down in favour of the complex and expensive Lorry Road User Charge that collapsed 18 months ago. For full details see this week's Motor Transport.
Motor Transport's campaign against the LRUC was vindicated this week when Ladyman said that a feasibility study showed that if they went ahead with the charge on its own, it would cost several billion pounds and only delivery serveral hundreds of million of pounds in revenue. This is exactly what Motor Transport has said for years but at the time we were heavily by the Government and trade assocaitions.