The UK plans to charge foreign vehicles to use our roads.

UK vehicle operators have complained bitterly for many years that foreign operators can gain an unfair advantage while working in the UK because they can buy diesel cheaper in mainland Europe and, as the UK have very few toll roads, they contribute almost nothing to road maintenance.  All this is about to change

In March, the Department for Transport (DfT) put forward a revised set of proposals for the introduction of lorry road user charging. Analysis undertaken by DfT, and verified by FTA, suggests that the new proposals appear to come much closer to achieving full compensation through Vehicle Excise Duty (VED) reductions than the original proposals considered at the ‘Listening to Industry’ event held on 1 February, 2011.

The coalition’s manifesto included a commitment to consider the introduction of a Lorry Road User Charge (LRUC) in the UK. The charge would apply to foreign and UK-registered lorries, with the government committed to introducing an offset mechanism that would create overall cost neutrality for UK-registered vehicles.

At the DfT’s ‘Listening to Industry’ event, Transport Minister, Mike Penning, confirmed that government was considering a time-based charge set at maximum levels prescribed in the Eurovignette Directive, with the charge being offset, principally through a reduction in VED.

It is illegal to impose a charge on foreign vehicles only under current EU regulations.

Charging structure

The preferred option for UK-registered vehicles is a three-band approach as set out below.

Goods vehicles below 12 tonnes would not be subject to the charge. Operators of foreign vehicles could either elect to pay the annual charge, or a weekly or daily charge.

The Department for Transport is expected to publish a consultation paper on the introduction of a UK vignette shortly.