The Freight Transport Association has called for more government action to deal with unroadworthy foreign lorries. It wants the government to commit itself to a database scheme for supporting the effective roadworthiness enforcement of foreign trucks.
However, in a report from the Haulage Industry Task Force, the government has merely opted for a feasibility study into the matter.
The FTA said: ” The Government had contended that cabotage, the domestic operation of an international road transport operator in a foreign country, impacted on the UK transport industry by just one per cent. However, it has now recognised that when non-competing domestic UK own account vehicles are excluded – fuel tankers, refuse vehicles, aggregate tippers etc – the cabotage footprint is in the order of 15 per cent. It has also recognised that this constitutes a substantial competitive problem for UK hauliers.
