The proposal to charge HGVs the same as cars to enter the Manchester congestion-charge zone has been met with derision in the industry. Hauliers based in the area say the levy is simply another tax on an already struggling sector and it will make no difference to the number to trucks in Greater Manchester.
Last month the Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Executive (GMPTE) revealed plans to introduce a congestion charge in the city, but at the time had not considered whether to include lorries.
However it has now decided to treat HGVs the same as cars. If the initiative goes ahead, lorries will be charged £2 when crossing outer ring and £1 for the inner ring heading towards the city between 7am and 9.30am, and £1 a time for crossing either the inner or the outer ring heading out of Manchester between 4pm and 6.30pm.
Charges will be capped at £10 a day for vehicles on multidrop and, until public transport is improved in the area, those entering Trafford Park Industrial Estate could get a 50% reduction.
James Wilkinson, MD at Austin Wilkinson, says commercial vehicles will still need to enter the zone during peak times because customers will still require deliveries. He comments: "We will have to increase our rates, and customers will have to pass those costs on to their customers."
Mike Lyons, group finance director at AK Worthington, agrees that trucks will have no option but to use the roads at peak times, particularly as the area covered by the congestion zone is so large.
"It is an extra cost we will have to pass on to our customers," he says. "It's not as if we have an alternative. We can't sent a pallet into Manchester on a tram or a bike."
A spokesman for the GMPTE says that if truck drivers feel they should not have to pay the charge, they need to make their feelings known during the consultation which runs until 10 October. To have your say, click here or write to GM Future Transport, c/o GMPTE, 2 Piccadilly Place, Manchester M1 3BG.
