Rob Horgan
SPANISH lorry drivers have coughed up €4.78 million to the UK government since new regulations came into play last April.
In total, foreign drivers have paid a massive €60 million to the UK Treasury since a levy was introduced last year.
The levy means that all lorries registered outside the UK and weighing more than 12 tonnes must pay up to €15 a day or €1,500 per year to drive on British roads.
Foreign lorry drivers from 90 different countries have paid 1.8 million in road tolls so far.
Polish operators have spent the most, contributing 26% of the levy.
Operators in Romania have accounted for almost 12%, and Spanish drivers have paid for 8% of all foreign levies.
Truckers from overseas who ignore the levy face a €450 on-the-spot fine.
Suppose every EU country imposes this toll/tax, which would seem inevitable, the only outcome will be higher prices for consumers of the goods carried. Who gains? The customer loses for sure and the pot-holes remain.
Seems a fair enough levy to me. The foreign trucks can then use the motorways without further charges unlike Spain & France in particular, where high charges are made on most motorways. Of course this results in large numbers of trucks & other vehicles avoiding toll roads & as a result clutter up the regular roads which rather defeats the buiding of toll roads in the first place. One only has to look at the traffic on non toll roads to see the number of vehicles that would likely use a toll road if they weren’t charged. Typical example on the Costa del Sol are the constant flow of trucks running between Malaga & Algeciras on the regular road.
Tit for tat levies and tolls on delivery services does nothing for the ultimate consumer of those goods. The costs are still passed on to them.
And the potholes remain….