CAZs will ruin businesses – hauliers

Clean Air Zones

The Road Haulage Association is calling on the Government to reform clean air zone (CAZ) rules, claiming the restrictions are putting companies out of business. 

Responding to the All Party Parliamentary Group for Road Freight & Logistics’ inquiry into CAZs, the Association said the current CAZ framework was “expensive, inflexible and ineffective”. 

“The current policy is seeing hard-working and long-established firms go out-of-business,” said chief executive Richard Burnett. “Of course we want to decarbonise our industry but it is vital that ministers and policymakers learn lessons so that the right framework is in place to address climate change. It must also supports jobs and economic growth.”

Euro VI is the minimum vehicle emissions standard for CAZs and the Association says this is reducing the resale value of non-Euro VI trucks.  

“With as much as £1.2bn wiped off the value of the Euro V fleet, CAZs are a grievous body-blow for hauliers,” said Burnett. 

“If this wasn’t bad enough, we see the policy as being counterproductive as more vans transport the freight otherwise carried by non-compliant lorries. This will lead to more congestion and a corresponding rise in emissions.”

As a first step, the RHA wants the Government to amend the policy framework by introducing “intelligent phasing” to negate the “stranded asset” effect.

In the medium-term, the Association said the CAZ policy framework should be redesigned  “with a more proportionate response that targets the most-polluting vehicles across all vehicle types”.