Manchester, UK: The speech by Transport Secretary Mark Harper MP at the Conservative Party Conference this week missed the chance to drive down inflation by cutting the red tape that hinders logistics businesses, according to Logistics UK.
Logistics UK’s chief executive David Wells said: “Logistics delivers big public value on small margins, ensuring the availability of the products that households, businesses and public services rely on every day,” he said.
“Our members are fully committed to playing their part to help the UK achieve net zero, and have invested in new vehicles, additional safety equipment and driver training to improve air quality and road safety.
“However, in response to the environmental agenda, a local patchwork of different schemes has emerged which is driving up bureaucracy and administration for our members and increasing costs for consumers. The wide range of rules and requirements between regions and the ever-changing regulations are simply adding costs and complexity to the task of moving goods from A to B.
“With national standards for Low Traffic Neighbourhoods, Clean Air Zones, low and zero emission zones, we could achieve the same outcomes for cleaner air and reduced congestion, while minimising costs for logistics operators and inflation for customers. We are keen to see a nationwide, interoperable portal for collecting payments, and consistency in the standards against which payment levels are set, such as stipulating Euro 6/VI for diesel, Euro 4 for petrol and Euro 3 for motorcycles.
“Our industry wants to see traffic flow improved and pot holes fixed but our industry also needs a fair, standardised approach nationwide for charging logistics operators. This would enable the sector to budget more effectively and invest in the green transition while keeping costs down on the shelves.”
