Flagging fiasco
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At last, unwelcome though it may be, a decision about partial flagging out from the Transport Tribunal. It probably won't come as much of a surprise to many industry players who expected this loophole to be closed. But it will infuriate hauliers who in good faith took legitimate steps to reduce their operating costs. Now they find themselves ordered to raise those costs again by reregistering their vehicles in Britain, on pain of being forced to remove them from their 0-licences.
Since this whole mess only came about because of the ridiculously unfair VED rates applied in Britain and the government's failure to issue clear and immediate guidance on the law, it would be nice to think that some of the costs generated by this ultimately fruitless exercise will be borne by the authorities. But somehow, we think not.
In between we're still awaiting the promised simplification of VED rates. We can only hope that when Gordon Brown delivers his Budget next week the new rates will be set al: a level which will consign the whole business of flagging out to a quirky footnote in the annals of British transport history.
• So the number of foreign trucks entering the UK passed the million mark for the first time last year, underlining the decline in the UK's share of cross-Channel freight movements. While the number of foreign trucks coming here rose 14%, UK trucks going out fell by 2%. These DOT figures prove what we've all been saying for a very long time: British hauliers are simply not in a position to compete with their Continental counterparts. And we all know why, don't we?
Mr Brown, please take note.