Suprised to see on the govt. website, in an election year, no petition regarding taxing foreign trucks. So here goes - petitions.number10.gov.uk/foreign-trucks/ - we know they don’t care, but let them see that we still care. Please sign it, forward it on or ignore it - basically it’s there if you want to sign it.
Done. Whether the petition will make any difference remains to be seen!
extruckerlady - thank you, Doing nothing anymore isn’t an option!
Signed it and lets hope it does some good.The foreigners have been getting off scot free for too long.
regards dave.
This is a turkeys voting for Christmas petition. Sure it’s easy to shout about taxing foreign trucks and although it seems like a good idea the reality is not so attractive.
Under EU law any tax on foreign trucks would also have to be applied to UK registered trucks, which is why German trucks also pay the Maut and the trucks from Belgium, Holland, Luxembourg etc also have to pay the vignette which operates in their countries. The Government could give UK registered vehicles a rebate on their Road Fund Licence to offset this new charge but that is unlikely to happen, not very popular with the public at large reducing the tax on big old smelly lorries and could cost them votes in an election. Even if they did give a rebate on the RFL any new tax/road user charge will work out more than the current RFL for most vehicles, unless the charge is so small as to not be worth applying in the first place.
If the Government took notice of this petition and did introduce a charge system for foreign trucks it would be the final nail in the coffin for many UK hauliers who would see their costs rise again, leading to more firms shutting up shop and more drivers out of work. Even if they did struggle on, savings would have to be made elsewhere and that would probably be made from wages. I for one don’t want to petition for that to happen, there are enough good drivers already struggling to find work or working for less than desirable money as it is and I wouldn’t want to vote for something which will make that situation worse.
Done signed petition. 
Coffeeholic:
This is a turkeys voting for Christmas petition. Sure it’s easy to shout about taxing foreign trucks and although it seems like a good idea the reality is not so attractive.Under EU law any tax on foreign trucks would also have to be applied to UK registered trucks, which is why German trucks also pay the Maut and the trucks from Belgium, Holland, Luxembourg etc also have to pay the vignette which operates in their countries. The Government could give UK registered vehicles a rebate on their Road Fund Licence to offset this new charge but that is unlikely to happen, not very popular with the public at large reducing the tax on big old smelly lorries and could cost them votes in an election. Even if they did give a rebate on the RFL any new tax/road user charge will work out more than the current RFL for most vehicles, unless the charge is so small as to not be worth applying in the first place.
If the Government took notice of this petition and did introduce a charge system for foreign trucks it would be the final nail in the coffin for many UK hauliers who would see their costs rise again, leading to more firms shutting up shop and more drivers out of work. Even if they did struggle on, savings would have to be made elsewhere and that would probably be made from wages. I for one don’t want to petition for that to happen, there are enough good drivers already struggling to find work or working for less than desirable money as it is and I wouldn’t want to vote for something which will make that situation worse.
Well is there no solution to this situation for the british hauliers.Reading your post the way you have put it i am in agreement with what you say,nobody wants the uk hauliers having to pay anymore than they presently do.On the other hand the uk haulier has never been on anywere near a level playing field with his eu counterpart so does this situation just continue,there must be some way the foreign hauliers can be made to contribute to the uk roads without affecting uk hauliers or is it just another example of the uk being stiched up by the eu.
regards dave.
The only way that I can see that it could be done is to say that all vehicles are required to pay road fund licence.
Uk vehicles have the disc but foreigners would have to purchase it “vignette style” ie X per week or X per month.
The only problems would be enforcing it. It would work for a few months until jonny foreigner realises that it isn’t being checked/enforced then he just wont bother. If however he was virtually guaranteed a tug to have it checked then of course he would comply.
IT can be enforced as we have less entrance and exit places and those which are here can be
very strictly controlled , how ever the charge as every one knows will be raised on all of the
commercial users of the road from which ever country and that includes UK haulers, The Maut
Charged in Germany is also raised on the German transport company s as well, however the
road licence charge has been amended to off set the cost of the maut some what,This
can be done also in the UK but as POSTED before all the UK governments since this
Euro vignette came in said NO;;
Semtex:
The only way that I can see that it could be done is to say that all vehicles are required to pay road fund licence.Uk vehicles have the disc but foreigners would have to purchase it “vignette style” ie X per week or X per month.
The only problems would be enforcing it. It would work for a few months until jonny foreigner realises that it isn’t being checked/enforced then he just wont bother. If however he was virtually guaranteed a tug to have it checked then of course he would comply.
Well put, IMO.
We lose out on the cost of diesel prices to Johnny, but if they had to pay a ‘tax disc’ style charge, and display it, it would redress the balance somewhat, and at least they would have to pay to use our roads in the same way we have to.
The only way to make sure they pay it, is to pre purchase it at the port of boarding, ie: Calais, and then for it to be rigourously enforced at the port of entry. Hell there are enough bodies around Dover et al, to make sure it was paid for, and as Brit Pete put it, we have fewer entry and escape routes for it not to be enforced.
Ken.
done, this is something i have never understood though. Where ever you go in Europe you have to pay weather it be to use the motorways or for road duty. All the foreign trucks come over here and we cannot compete not that i think mr brown will care about that but im sure one of his advisors will of informed him how much he could raise simply by charging foreign trucks tax for being over here. With the financial situation we are currently in instead of raising the taxes of hard working people he could recoup a lot of taxing the foreign trucks. I would use the system the swiss use or used to use dont know if they still do last time i went was with my dad a few years ago where you pay for the amount of days you are over there. No tolls thats just making it more expensive to uk hauliers and taxing them i think would be much fairer and mean UK firms are able to compete with foreign trucks doing our work. Plus if they dont want to pay they dont send there trucks so doing european work will no longer be a thing of the past i know some of you still do it but its not like the old days when i used to go with my dad. Thats my opinion anyway
dafdave:
…there must be some way the foreign hauliers can be made to contribute to the uk roads without affecting uk hauliers
Not really, any system would have to be applied to all trucks, not just foreign registered. It could be offset by reducing the RFL for UK trucks but that is either not going to happen or will still result in the UK haulier paying more than they currently do. Another way would be for the Government to give some kind of fuel duty rebate to UK hauliers to offset any new road user charge or tax but again can you really see them doing that? They have resisted calls for that in the past.
dafdave:
or is it just another example of the uk being stiched up by the eu.
Not really stitched up, the rules on a road tax/road user charge apply to all countries in the EU, not just the UK. Germany, Holland, Belgium, Luxembourg, Austria etc all have to apply their charges to their own vehicles as well as foreign ones. Of course we could avoid it all by leaving the EU but that will never happen, as much as some people would like it to.
Semtex:
The only way that I can see that it could be done is to say that all vehicles are required to pay road fund licence.Uk vehicles have the disc but foreigners would have to purchase it “vignette style” ie X per week or X per month.
It has to be the same system for UK and foreign vehicles and if you take the average a UK truck pays in RFL at the moment and divide it to a daily rate it comes to such a small amount per day that administering it would be more than the revenue gained. If you make it a decent daily amount then the majority of UK hauliers will end up paying more. Lose, lose situation.
It’s not as simple as saying tax the foreigners, to avoid UK hauliers ending up paying more would require big changes in other taxation areas and you really can’t see this or any future Government reducing any of those taxes given the current feeling on environmental and eco issues.
brit pete:
IThe Maut Charged in Germany is also raised on the German transport company s as well, however the road licence charge has been amended to off set the cost of the maut some what
There’s the problem, it only offsets it somewhat so German hauliers now pay more than they previously did. that would be the same situation here, leading to more closures, more job losses and lower wages as those companies who do not close look to save money elsewhere.
WHY ARE FOREIGN JUGGERNOUGHTS PAYING NOTHING WHEN I PAY £185 FOR MY FIESTA ,
Quinny:
We lose out on the cost of diesel prices to Johnny, but if they had to pay a ‘tax disc’ style charge, and display it, it would redress the balance somewhat
It wouldn’t, because we would have to pay it as well, so we still lose out on the diesel prices and have a new expense as well and as both us and ‘Johnny’ are paying it the balance is as it was before, except we now pay more.
Don’t get me wrong, I agree there should be something done to level things out but simply brining in a road user/road tax charge to make foreigners pay would be suicide for many British firms already struggling to stay afloat. It requires a lot more than that and unfortunately this petition which at first glance looks like a good idea is in fact a suicide note for UK haulage and the biggest loser of all will be the driver.
Of course there is the other option to offset increased cost due to the introduction of a new road tax, rates could go up. 
Okay, okay, I’m putting down this herbal cigarette and backing away. I am obviously on another planet 
Where is the big problem if I go abroad with my car I WOULD EXPECT TO PAY MY SHARE FOR THE USE OF THE ROAD no excuse they should pay and if the great british public found out that they pay nothing atall and were just free loading like benefitt cheats while they had to pay all hell would be had.How many pay for the health service ,police fire , toilets etc etc should they need them.When I go on holiday I need insurace and a E11 form, what do they bring with them b…r all I bet
fuse:
Where is the big problem if I go abroad with my car I WOULD EXPECT TO PAY MY SHARE FOR THE USE OF THE ROAD no excuse they should pay and if the great british public found out that they pay nothing atall and were just free loading like benefitt cheats while they had to pay all hell would be had.How many pay for the health service ,police fire , toilets etc etc should they need them.When I go on holiday I need insurace and a E11 form, what do they bring with them b…r all I bet
here speaks somebody who believes everything they read in the daily mail,
us johnny foreigners pay nothing at all? my truck and my 2 cars both have to pay roadtax to the local council where i live rather than to the government so at least i know my money goes to my childs school or the local hospital or the upkeep of the roads
where does the uk road tax go? duckhouses, cleaning moats paying for mp’s expenses?
all EU trucks pay in all EU countries in road charges AND roadtax but in the UK they have to pay in the extra duty on fuel or bridge tolls just the same as UK hauliers have to pay tolls in EU countries
when you go on holiday you don’t use an E111 form anymore you need a EH1C EU form which means you and us johnny foreigners all get treated the same for free just like your benefit sponges you have in the uk and we have to pay for the police, fire and health service on top of our taxes so please before you slag us all off and tar us all with the same brush do some reasearch and not just read the daily mail scaremongers
welshboyinspain:
fuse:
Where is the big problem if I go abroad with my car I WOULD EXPECT TO PAY MY SHARE FOR THE USE OF THE ROAD no excuse they should pay and if the great british public found out that they pay nothing atall and were just free loading like benefitt cheats while they had to pay all hell would be had.How many pay for the health service ,police fire , toilets etc etc should they need them.When I go on holiday I need insurace and a E11 form, what do they bring with them b…r all I bethere speaks somebody who believes everything they read in the daily mail,
us johnny foreigners pay nothing at all? my truck and my 2 cars both have to pay roadtax to the local council where i live rather than to the government so at least i know my money goes to my childs school or the local hospital or the upkeep of the roads
where does the uk road tax go? duckhouses, cleaning moats paying for mp’s expenses?
all EU trucks pay in all EU countries in road charges AND roadtax but in the UK they have to pay in the extra duty on fuel or bridge tolls just the same as UK hauliers have to pay tolls in EU countries
when you go on holiday you don’t use an E111 form anymore you need a EH1C EU form which means you and us johnny foreigners all get treated the same for free just like your benefit sponges you have in the uk and we have to pay for the police, fire and health service on top of our taxes so please before you slag us all off and tar us all with the same brush do some reasearch and not just read the daily mail scaremongers
Wot’s 'em big tanks for then? Bringing in fresh air? 
magners:
Suprised to see on the govt. website, in an election year, no petition regarding taxing foreign trucks. So here goes - petitions.number10.gov.uk/foreign-trucks/ - we know they don’t care, but let them see that we still care. Please sign it, forward it on or ignore it - basically it’s there if you want to sign it.
Aye,fair enough,but what about all foreign vehicles,theres enough over here,i still had to pay tolls on my motorbike in france of course,but i see plenty of foreign registered buses,cars etc,i have to pay it so why shoud’nt they.
propa lorry:
i still had to pay tolls on my motorbike in france of course
Actually in France you didn’t have to pay it, you have a choice and you chose to use your motorbike on the toll roads. There were alternative roads you could have used which wouldn’t have cost you anything.