The Freight Transport Association has condemned EU proposals to fit tachographs to vans as an “unfair and excessive exercise in red tape”.
The suggestion has come from the European Parliament’s transport committee as part of the latest draft of the Mobility Package which is due to come into force before the UK leaves the EU in 2019.
Operators of vans (commercial vehicles between 2.4 and 3.5 tonnes) would be required to fit and operate a tachograph, as HGVs are required to do at present.
“Forgetting the cost implications of tachograph installation for so many hard-working British businesses, the introduction of this equipment in the vans sector would be pointless and time consuming,” said FTA deputy chief executive James Hookham.
“Introducing a pointless measure like tachographs for van operators will not benefit our small and medium sized businesses but strangle them with red tape, at a time when they should be being encouraged to flourish and expand.”
