FTA Urges Fuel Duty Freeze

Equipment maintenance, insurance and corporate driver training are among the expenses faced by companies in the haulage and transport industries. Yet for many, the item that costs the most on a day-to-day basis is fuel. Let’s face it, without fuel the industry would be dead. You cannot haul cargo or transport passengers without it.

The high cost of fuel has led the Freight Transport Association (FTA) to urge Chancellor Charles Osborne to consider freezing fuel duty until 2015. The chancellor has previously stated his commitment to doing so, but the FTA wants assurances that he intends to stick with it. They are hoping he provides those assurances during his December 5^th Autumn Statement speech.

Osborne said back in September that he wanted to freeze fuel duty through the end of the current parliament. However, he made that statement on a condition of being able to find a way to ‘pay for it’. The FTA is concerned the condition opens the door for Osborne to back out.

The FTA position is that freezing fuel duty, or even lowering it as much as 3 ppl, would actually increase the amount of money flowing into government coffers. They reason is that low fuel prices will stimulate growth within the industry, which, in turn, will create both jobs and taxpayers.

The transport and haulage industries do have a point in insisting that the ever-growing mound of taxation and regulations is slowly suffocating them. If the HGV business is to continue as the backbone of the UK economy, some relief from heavy taxation and regulation has to be granted.

Corporate Driver Training with Us

As a business owner or manager in the transport and haulage industries, one of the best investments you can make is one of corporate driver training. Proper driver training leads to fewer accidents, fewer violations, and drivers whose greater efficiency leads to more profitability. Moreover, in the absence of lower fuel duties, you need every bit of help you can get.

The HGV Training Centre is proud to provide UK haulage and transport companies with high quality training at more than 45 locations. We work with some of the UK’s most well known companies to provide new driver training, remedial training, and CPC training and certification. The services we provide would be ideal for your business as well.

The secret to our corporate driver training programs is our intense and focused approach. Beginning with the latter, we only focus our efforts on the skill sets and knowledge your drivers need to meet their objectives. As for our intense approach, we believe a fast and concentrated teaching model ensures students retain the information they need more quickly.

Let us remind you that the new CPC regulations require all HGV drivers to complete CPC training by September of next year. Now is the best time to schedule corporate driver training through the HGV Training Centre, before space fills up.

Don’t wait. September will be here before you know it.