Scramble for Euro-3 LGVs as LEZ looms
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Own-account companies are in danger of huge penalties if they don't get themselves ready for London's low-emission zone, which kicks in next
February. Steve Banner and Kevin Swallow report.
Tnick operators who fear that the forthcoming London low-emission zone (LEZ) will effectively ban them from parts of the capital are trying to offload their Euro-2 vehicles in favour of chassis that meet Euro-3 even though some Euro-2 trucks comply with the LEZ requirements.
"The people who are really worried aren't so much hauliers but people such as scaffolders," says Matt Hammond of West Ihurrock, Essex dealership Harris Daf.
"They tend to run older vehicles because they don't do the mileage. Once they've driven to a site they stay parked up all day until it's time to go home."
Cost of compliance Those older Euro-2 trucks might be worth no more than £1,500, but firms will have to pay many thousands of pounds more to acquire a Euro-3 truck possibly only to discover that their outlay was not really necessary "No one seems to be really sure what the position is with regard to compliance," says Hammond.
Nick Fairholme, the head of transport for the LEZ, has written to more than 80,000 operators across the UK warning that its records show one or more of their trucks may not meet the LEZ's emission standards.
From 8 February 2008 anything over 14 tonnes not meeting those