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 Roger Harrabin
A new report warns that a government designed satellite road charging system which will charge foreign hauliers for using Britain's roads is likely to cost tax-payers tens of millions of pounds.
An analysis from Heriot Watt university says that contrary to popular opinion, there are so few foreign drivers operating on British soil that the scheme just isn't worthwhile.
The Chancellor Gordon Brown came up with the idea of a road charging system after the fuel protests of autumn 2000.
He was addressing the complaint from truckers that foreign drivers had a competitive advantage in Britain because they didn't have to pay high UK fuel taxes.
The solution to placate the truckers without breaking EU laws was a satellite-controlled system to charge all lorries in the UK for every mile they drive. Only British drivers would be able to get a rebate.
The scheme is supported in principle by haulage groups, and if it works well it could form a template for a national road pricing scheme for cars which is believedby ministers to be the only long-term solution to traffic jams.
But Alan McKinnon, Professor of logistics at Heriot Watt University and one of the country's most respected analysts on the haulage industry, predicts that the scheme won't work. A similar truck pricing schemes in Germany has struggled to get off the ground even though it's much simpler than the British model. He says based on the costs involved in the German scheme, the British system could cost five times more than it raises
He says less than 1% of UK haulage is carried in foreign trucks, so the satellite scheme is a sledgehammer to crack a nut.
A government spokesman said academic discussion of the finances was premature as the project had not yet been put out to tender.
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