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FTA: German tolls must wait
Page 8
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• The German toll system—due to come into force at the beginning of September—should be delayed until the availability of vehicle telematic on-board units has improved. That, at least, is the opinion of the Freight Transport Association which is calling on the UK government to put pressure on the Germans to postpone the system's introduction.
The FTA has learnt that only around 150,000 units are Italy to be available in time even though an estimated 500,000 will be needed for goods vehicles over 12 tonnes. As a mutt, the FTA is predicting widespread chaos and congestion at entry points because operators will be forced to adopt the time-consuming manual method of payment.
Simon Chapman. chief economist at the FTA, says: "We have got to get two problems sorted out before the system is Introduced. One is the availability of the telematic devices themselves and the second is the fitment of the devices. The only authorised fitment centres are set up in Germany so a UK operator will be at a disadvantage. Such a situation would clearly be unacceptable in terms of competitive transport."
The FTA has fired off a letter to the Department for Transport, urging the government to back its call for postponement.