User-agent: Mediapartners-Google* Disallow: Trucks World News
Google
 
Loading

Apr 28, 2016

TAX INCREASE * Canada: TO AFFECT TRUCKING Cos.

* New Brunswick - Nfld budget hits trucks with spikes for diesel, HST, permits

--- The Atlantic Provinces Trucking Association says Newfoundland & Labrador’s new provincial budget will hit hard with its five-cents per litre diesel tax jump combined with a 2% harmonized sales tax increase that will now affect vehicle insurance premiums on top of new fee spikes for licences and permits... Jean-Marc Picard, executive director of the Atlantic Provinces Trucking Association, said, “The trucking industry is going to feel the effects of these costs increase for a long time and likely puts some companies at risk of shutting down” ... The HST increase kicks in July 1 when it will move from 13 to 15%... 
(Photo: Skyline of the port of Saint John s in Newfoundland and Labrador) -- Dieppe, NB, Canada - Today's Trucking - Apr 27, 2016

Labels: ,

posted by Unknown @ 7:05 AM  0 comments

Apr 25, 2016

TRUCKS' FEES & TAXES at RUSSIAN ZONE

* Russia - Doubles transit fees for foreign trucks

-- The Russian Government has doubled the levy on transit of foreign freight trucks on the country’s roads... The fee has been adjusted in line with the depreciation of the ruble. “The previous fee was set when the euro was 35 rubles. It is 2.3 times less than the current exchange rate of the euro," said the press service... Foreign carriers will now have to pay 120,000 rubles (about $1,800) per year. The daily payment has increased from 385 to 850 rubles (about $13). These fees apply to vehicles with a capacity from 3.5 to 12 tons... The Government has also expanded the list of countries that have to pay the fees. It now includes Latvia and Lithuania. The measure is in response to similar fees introduced by the two Baltic countries... Since July 2014, foreign carriers, including those from Russia, must pay Latvian authorities from €8 to €11 per day (€484 to €925 euro per year). Lithuania introduced a similar measure in December 2015. In such cases, Russian legislation provides for the introduction of symmetric measures, the government said... 
(Photo by Viktor Tolochko / Sputnik) -- Moscow, Russia - RT.com. business - 22 Apr, 2016

Labels: ,

posted by Unknown @ 5:10 AM  0 comments

Apr 25, 2013

* France - The environmental tax heavyweights

* Parliament finally adopted the environmental levy heavy

(Photo)
Paris,France -AFP / WK Transport Logistics, by Anne Kerriou -25 April 2013: -- Parliament finally adopted the bill establishing the environmental tax heavyweights... Key measure of the law, the environmental tax trucks, decided under the former majority in 2009, during the Grenelle environment should finally enter into force. The date is October 1, 2013, even though there are rumors about the possibility of a further extension... The principle is well known: "HGVs over 3.5 tonnes taking the non-paying national roads and some areas of the local network will have to pay this tax, the scale depends on the size and environmental performance vehicle, and the number of kilometers traveled" ... The French Confederation of Business to Business (CGI), which represents the wholesale distributors, immediately heard his displeasure: "The CGI has made several amendments to the establishment of a system of compensation for transport on own account, and a request for exemption if no device in this direction was not passed. These amendments, co-signed by many MPs have been widely supported in the meeting on April 11, but the government and the majority are deaf to any change in the text, "   laments the confederation, while reiterating his doubts about the constitutionality of the text...


* Paris - Hazardous materials and 44 tons: expected clarification

(Picture: European leader in the transport and logistics of hazardous materials, Groupe Samat UK Ltd.'s, new Renault Premium 460.25 6x2 tractor units)
Paris,France -The Official Carriers, by Erick Demangeon -25 April 2013: -- The implementation of 44 tonnes for the transport of hazardous materials appear to face a number of regulatory obstacles... Professionals expect quick clarification to avoid being penalized... Limited for technical and security reasons, the transition from 40 to 44 tonnes in the transportation of hazardous materials could simply be impossible ... under paragraph 9.7.5.1 of ADR. Dedicated to vehicle stability, it provides that "the weight on the axles of the carrying unit of the semi-trailer must not exceed 60% of the total weight load of the complete articulated vehicle" ... With this rule, the load up to 43 tons would be a maximum in the first simulations... With the UFIP oil, chemical industry gathered in the UIC has mobilized its side to get a clarification on the border crossings with sets of more than 40 tons...

Labels: ,

posted by Unknown @ 6:08 PM  0 comments

Jun 20, 2012

TAXES * USA

* Florida - Considers using GPS tracking to charge drivers per mile 

Lee County,FLA,USA -WINK News -Jun 14, 2012: -- Florida drivers could see some major changes in the way they are charged to use the roadways we drive every day. The state is debating several new taxing options, including a GPS tracking device that logs every mile driven... Florida drivers pay no more than 59 cents fuel tax per gallon at this time, but as fuel efficient cars gain popularity, that gas tax collected is falling short of the amount needed for road repair. The main option Florida and other states, like Oregon and Minnesota, have focused on is a GPS technology that would track and charge you for how many miles you drive. Your fee would then be divided up between the state, county and local transportation departments, based on which roads you use... To improve congestion, the Florida Transportation Commission has also discussed placing a higher tax on roads more traveled during peak hours...

Labels:

posted by Unknown @ 7:39 PM  0 comments

Feb 10, 2012

REGISTRATION CHARGES CUTS * Australia

* Canberra - Slash B-double charges to boost safety, productivity

(Video from YouTube, by emd645e3c el 4 Nov 2010: Various views of singles, B-Double, B-Triple, and some road trains around the Port Augusta area. I never managed to get a triple Road Train, each time I went out the Darwin road and waited, nothing turned up. But when I was driving out and couldn't stop, they went past)
Canberra,Australia -ATA Friday's Facts -10 Feb 2012: -- Australia’s transport ministers should slash the registration charges on B-doubles from $15,708 to $10,995 per year, ATA Chief Executive, Stuart St Clair, said this week... The registration charge for a tri-axle A-trailer increased from $1,065 in 2007-08 to $6,525 in 2011-12. As a result, the registration charge on a nine-axle B-double increased from $8,041 in 2007-08 to $15,708 in 2011-12, an increase of 88 per cent... “As a result of the dramatic increase in charges, many trucking operators are now moving away from using B-doubles. If this continues, the result will be an increased number of accidents and lower productivity, because B-doubles are safer and carry more than conventional semi-trailers,” Stuart said...

Labels:

posted by Unknown @ 6:19 AM  0 comments

Feb 9, 2011

TAX POLICIES * UK - RHA welcomes closer look at charging foreign trucks

London,EN,UK -HGV UK -February 2, 2011: -- The Road Haulage Association (RHA) has welcomed the Government’s determination to introduce a charge on foreign trucks entering the UK...  The RHA has long stated that a Euro-Vignette scheme would be better than nothing at all provided that there is no significant adverse impact on professional UK hauliers...  The Association has offered to engage with the Department for Transport in further detail in order to assist it in its efforts to meet the April 2014 deadline for introducing the scheme set by Ministers... (Picture by Andrew Shaw, from The Telegraph -UK-: The congested M25 has the highest incidence of accidents involving foreign-registered trucks)

Labels: ,

posted by Unknown @ 5:30 AM  0 comments

Jan 18, 2011

TAXES * UK - New year, new tax headache for transport operators

FTA:  The increase in fuel duty this month will leave the transport industry £95 million 


London,EN,UK -Transport Engineer, by John Challen -5 Jan 2011:  --  The Freight Transport Association chief economist, Simon Chapman, points out that diesel – currently responsible for 35% of a truck's running costs – is not an optional extra. "It is essential to keep shops stocked and businesses supplied with materials," he insists...  Chapman believes that the Chancellor is treating the transport sector as a "bottomless well from which cash to bolster the public finances can be drawn"...  This month's increase of 0.76p per litre is the third rise since April 2010 and will push diesel prices to within four pence per litre of the all-time highs reached in July 2008... (Photo from us.123rf: truck and cars queueing at Dover ferry-port UK)

Labels:

posted by Unknown @ 7:37 AM  0 comments

Nov 27, 2010

TAX POLICY * UK - Lorry Road User Charge must be revenue-neutral

London,EN,UK -Road Transport, by Chris Tindall -23 November 2010: -- The Freight Transport Association (FTA) has met with Treasury officials to discuss how a lorry road-user charge (LRUC) can be made revenue-neutral for UK hauliers... The Department for Transport (DfT) said earlier this month it would launch an LRUC by 2014 and the Treasury is currently exploring which system offers the most return for the least cost... Natalie Chapman, FTA head of policy for south-east England, says the government could roll out the Eurovignette scheme currently in use in Continental countries, although the maximum charge that can be applied is €8 (£6.76)... The Eurovignette Directive allows for an €11 (£9.30) fee, but charging this rate would mean the UK would have to invest in its own administration scheme, which could be costly...

Labels:

posted by Unknown @ 6:58 AM  0 comments

Oct 24, 2010

REGISTRATION FEES * USA - New Tactic in California for Paying Pollution Bill

Surcharge on registration fees penalizing drivers for the smog they create


Stockton,CAL,USA -The New York Times, by FELICITY BARRINGER -October 17, 2010:  -- Officials who have tried and failed to clean the air in California’s smog-filled San Joaquin Valley have seized on a new strategy: getting millions of drivers to shoulder more of the cost... Faced with a fine of at least $29 million for exceeding federal ozone limits, the San Joaquin Valley’s air quality regulators are proposing an annual surcharge of $10 to $24 on registration fees for the region’s 2.7 million cars and trucks beginning next year. A decision is expected when the governing board meets on Thursday... Although the surcharge is not expected to change how much people drive or what cars or trucks they buy, air pollution experts say it is a harbinger of the future. After decades of forcing industry to clean its smokestacks, retool car and truck engines and fine-tune gasoline, regulators are exploring what they can do to force consumers to face up to the pollution they cause... While it already uses registration fees to support part of its budget, it is extremely unusual, if not unprecedented, for such an agency to make a point of penalizing drivers for the smog they create... The local surcharge plan comes as the Environmental Protection Agency prepares to announce tighter standards for ozone pollution. Those new rules are likely to put many regions of the country that are currently in compliance in the same position as Central and Southern California — facing big fines for pollution that is largely a product of truck and automobile exhaust... (Image from sustainability.ucdavis.edu: Dangerous airborne particles will increase in the San Joaquin Valley)

Labels:

posted by Unknown @ 6:39 PM  0 comments

Oct 19, 2010

FEES POLICY * WORLDWIDE

* Australia - Truck charges a blueprint for wholesale reform. The AAA wants the industry and motorists billed based on their road use

Canberra,Australia -Supply Chain, by By Brad Gardner -October 18, 2010: -- Heavy vehicle road pricing reform should act as a blueprint for sweeping changes to existing fees for all motorists, the Australian Automobile Association (AAA) says... The AAA wants governments to use the trucking industry as the starting point for a new system of road charges that abolishes the existing structure of fixed registration fees and fuel excise in favour of a user-pays model... The group is also adamant any reform must include social costs such as crashes, congestion, noise and air pollution and vehicle emissions... If introduced, MDL will charge trucking operators based on the weight of the load, how far a truck travels and the roads it travels on. Vehicles will be monitored by GPS. Similar schemes have been introduced in Europe... The NTC is currently looking at five alternatives to the existing charging process, including MDL...


* Europe - EU seeks 'green tax' for heavy trucks

Brussels,Belgium -UPI -Oct. 16, 2010: -- Transportation ministers in Europe have agreed to allow European Union member states to impose taxes on heavy trucks considered environmental polluters... The agreement allows governments a variety of options for charging higher tolls on trucks, including having operators pay more for traveling during peak driving hours... The new rules fit a "polluter pays" policy that transportation companies have resisted, the EUobserver said... In a compromise, newer trucks were exempted from measure, EU transportation commissioner Siim Kallas said...


* UK - Haulage industry poised for government cuts


London,EN,UK -Road Transport, by Laura Hailstone -20 October 2010: -- The industry is nervously awaiting where the government's axe will fall in the Comprehensive Spending Review (CSR), unveiled today by Chancellor George Osborne...   The Freight Transport Association (FTA) was working right up to the wire, with a pre-CSR meeting with transport minister Mike Penning on Tuesday morning (19 Oct)...    James Hookham, MD of policy and communications at the FTA, says he spent the morning presenting a very wide range of ways the logistics sector can take the lead...   Geoff Dunning, chief executive of the Road Haulage Association, says it comes down to "essential versus optional spending"...

Labels:

posted by Unknown @ 7:05 AM  0 comments

Oct 6, 2010

CHARGING POLICY * UK - Lorry drivers face unfair competition from abroad

London,UK -HGV UK -October 5, 2010: -- A new report shows that Britain is lagging behind other European countries in developing a charging system for lorries that would end unfair competition from foreign hauliers... The report, commissioned by Campaign for Better Transport, sets out how a lorry road user charging system could end the unfair advantage that non-UK hauliers have. Foreign hauliers do not contribute towards their use of UK roads, pay no UK fuel tax when they fill up abroad and are more likely to be involved in collisions... The UK is increasingly out of step by failing to implement a lorry user road charging scheme, despite research showing significant growth in the presence of foreign vehicles in the UK. Most other European countries have, or are in the process setting up, some form of lorry charging, which makes all hauliers from any country pay for their road use... The coalition Government has committed to work towards the introduction of a new system of HGV road user charging to ensure a fairer arrangement for UK hauliers... It recommends a distance charge varied by size/weight of lorry... (Photo from international.kent.gov.uk: Foreign lorries on UK roads)


* Penning promises not to add to industry taxes

London,UK -Road Transport, by Justin Stanton -5 October 2010: -- The government already looks to have torpedoed the proposals released by the Campaign for Better Transport (CBT) for a 15p/mile Lorry Road User Charge which it revealed yesterday as a means of levelling the playing field against cheap foreign trucks... Speaking at the Freight Transport Association's (FTA's) Transport Hub at the Conservative Party Conference last night (4 October) transport minister Mike Penning said that he was looking at a simple charge which may target tractor units only, as operators of those vehicles are most at risk from competition from cheaper foreign operators... Penning said: "The CBT study had suggested a distance-based charge of up to 15p/mile with hauliers compensated through funding to modernise fleets and train drivers"... However, the RHA has criticised the CBT report. It says: "It is hard to see how this proposed scheme would do little more than pile cost and administrative complexity on the industry"... (Photo from news.bbc.co.uk: Figures show an increase of foreign owned lorries on the UK's roads)

Labels:

posted by Unknown @ 11:40 AM  0 comments

Sep 18, 2010

EU TAXES * Switzerland - New study on road charging

EU Member States will end up paying much more than they will receive


(Video from YouTube, by Roadtrain72 -15 Dec 2007: Trucks on the Switzerland)

Basel,Switzerland -HGV UK -September 13, 2010: -- Only two Member States will benefit from extra wealth and national income from the internalisation of external costs whereas most EU Member States will end up paying much more than they will receive a new study has concluded... Road charges, when including excessive external costs, can reach up to €436 billion per year, yet without generating any effective action aimed at removing the externalities by earmarking the charges to effectively reduce road transport’s environmental impact, the study concludes... ProgTrans has presented the results of a study on the economic impact of the internalisation of external costs on individual EU Member States and the European road haulage industry, which reveals that:

* in 2009, the road haulage industry already paid 15 billion euro in road user charges;

* costs generated by the internalisation of the external costs would be 5 to 414 billion euro per year, depending on the year and charging scenario;

* adding the internalisation of external costs to current road user charges would result in a total burden on the EU economy of 20 to 436 billion euro per year.

When balancing each Member State’s revenues collected from national and foreign hauliers against related costs for their national trade, the ProgTrans study further reveals that:

* only two countries – France and Germany – would profit from the internalisation of external costs regardless of the study year and scenario;

* 16 countries would face serious losses of national income;

* the remaining 9 countries would experience various outcomes, yet with overall quite large losses of national income in most years and scenarios.

Labels:

posted by Unknown @ 9:38 AM  0 comments

Jan 7, 2010

INFRASTRUCTURE'S FUNDS * USA - Raising taxes, fees possible to keep roadwork on track

Detroit,MICH,USA -The Free Press, by MATT HELMS -Jan. 1, 2010: -- State officials are hoping to avert dramatic cutbacks in road and bridge construction beginning in 2011 as transportation funding collapses... Look for a renewed push in 2010 for higher gas taxes and vehicle registration fees, as well as serious examination of alternatives, including toll roads and private funding of roadwork. They're all in the mix of options that lawmakers and road construction groups are considering so the state might avoid delaying or killing badly needed road repairs... The U.S. House in mid-December approved a $154-billion jobs bill that could provide $800 million for Michigan roadwork in 2010 and waive state requirements for matching funds. The Senate is expected to take up the measure this month...

Labels:

posted by Unknown @ 8:11 AM  0 comments

Nov 11, 2009

TAX POLICY * Switzerland - Court over rules HGV levy increase

Zurich,Switzerland -HGV UK -November 10 2009: -- A Swiss Court has over ruled an increase in road freight tax for HGVs, prompting criticism from the country’s Ministry of Transport and and environmental groups... The levy is part of a compromise agreement with the European Union, which allows 40-tonne lorries on Swiss roads... The Federal Administrative Court upheld a complaint by the Swiss Road Hauliers’ Association against the government’s 2008 decision to raise the tax to a maximum of SFr325 per year. It had objected to the hike over the way it was calculated... (Photo from hankstruckpictures, by Martin Phippard: Sweiss truck and trailers)

Labels:

posted by Unknown @ 4:54 AM  0 comments

Nov 7, 2009

Fee Increase * USA - Toll Authority considers it, for Bay Area bridges

Bay Area Toll Authority commissioners are considering tapping into the stream of dollars flowing across the seven Bay Area bridges

Oakland,CAL,USA -The Oakland North, by Thomas Gorman -November 5, 2009: -- In an effort to raise money despite California’s battered financial situation, Bay Area Toll Authority commissioners are considering tapping into the stream of dollars flowing across the seven Bay Area bridges. By increasing tolls for drivers, including those who currently carpool for free, the regional transit agency plans to cover rising debt costs and pay for earthquake retrofits... Proposed plans call for a $1 toll increase for general passenger cars, and a $6 to $10 increase per axle charge for trucks. Two of the three options under consideration include a $3 fare for the carpool lane, which would be collected using the electronic FasTrak system... A third option would also include a congestion pricing system on the notoriously overcrowded Bay Bridge, charging autos an extra $2 to traverse the bay between the weekday morning peak hours of 6:30 – 8:30 AM. The Golden Gate bridge is operated by an independent toll authority, and would not be affected by these changes... Public opposition was muted during the first of three public hearings held Wednesday by the Bay Area Toll Authority (BATA). Five public speakers spoke about the proposals, with none registering opposition to the plan, which would go into effect in July 2010. Speakers did question the wisdom of charging carpooling drivers, or suggested alterations to specific toll increases... (Photo by Lauren Callahan - Cars line up to pay at the entrance to the Bay Bridge)

Labels:

posted by Unknown @ 6:12 AM  0 comments

Jun 28, 2009

FEES & TAXES * USA - DeFazio has a better idea

... Instead of more taxes at the pump, we should be taxing oil speculators!

Detroit,MICH,USA -The Detroit Trucking Examiner, by Linda Sunkle-Pierucki -June 26, 2009: ... The Highway Trust Fund need its usual six-year authorization for funding in the near future. Everybody agrees there has to be a better way to fund transportation improvements and repairs but nobody knows how it should be done... Part of the problem is that economic conditions have limited the money coming into the fund that keep it solvent. Part of the trust fund shortfall is due to decreased miles traveled and less fuel consumption... Truckers and the American Trucking Association fully expect to have to pay more fuel tax just to get critical repairs completed... Rep Pete DeFazio, D-OR proposed a method of funding the shortfall that we can only hope gets some play in Congress: His idea is that, instead of more taxes at the pump, we should be taxing oil speculators! ... DeFazio suggests imposing a 0.02% tax on all oil futures contracts. Two cents per hundred dollars sounds like a pittance but many of these contracts total into the billions of dollars... (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Labels:

posted by Unknown @ 9:42 AM  0 comments

Jun 11, 2009

TAXES * France - To Delay Truckers’ Tax to 2013

Paris,France -Bloomberg, by Francois de Beaupuy -June 11, 2009: -- French President, Nicolas Sarkozy, will delay a tax on truckers until after the next election because the government needs more time to set up the satellite- based tracking system, said Herve Mariton, a lawmaker of the majority Union for a Popular Movement party... “The truck tax won’t fetch money until 2013 for technical reasons,” Mariton said. “We don’t want to shock” truckers “before 2012,” when the next presidential elections are held, he said... The delay to 2013 from 2011 in the levy, intended to raise 1 billion euros ($1.4 billion) a year, will be a relief to truckers such as Groupe Norbert Dentressangle SA. The tax was intended to finance infrastructure and to encourage the use of trains, which are less polluting than trucks...

Labels:

posted by Unknown @ 7:15 PM  0 comments

Apr 23, 2009

Pirates in tow trucks * USA - Excessive city-approved fees give companies a license to print money

Motorists who return to where they parked only to find their cars have been hauled away by a towing company that will charge them hundreds of dollars to get their vehicle back are understandably apt to feel as if they've been robbed

Baltimore,MD,USA -The Baltimore Sun -April 19, 2009: -- No wonder Baltimore City Councilman Robert W. Curran has called the towing business "legalized vehicular piracy." ... People whose cars are towed usually have little choice but to pay up or lose their vehicle, regardless of whether they were legally parked or not... Until last week, companies could request fees of up to $410 for so-called trespass tows that remove vehicles parked on private property. For violations that occurred on public property, the city's tow board, which approves towing fees, had set rates ranging from $250 to $350. But those already stiff fees went up on Wednesday under a new towing contract approved by the city Board of Estimates. Under the contract, "trespass" towers can ask for fees up to $460 per tow - all of which is pocketed by the towing companies, not the city...

Labels:

posted by Unknown @ 5:42 PM  0 comments

Apr 8, 2009

Incremental Pricing * Australia - 'Costly for operators'

Naidu says revenue from incremental pricing may also be used to fix infrastructure bottlenecks. The ATA, however, says the industry should not be forced to pay for funding shortfalls

Sydney,Australia -ATN, by Brad Gardner -6 April 2009: -- The trucking industry may be financially burdened by an incremental pricing scheme, which is being opposed in favour of a fuel-only charging system...The National Transport Commission (NTC) has been told to scrap plans to charge operators for carrying an extra 10 percent mass because it will be costly and lead to overcharging... In its submission opposing incremental pricing, the Australian Trucking Association claims the NTC’s proposal will not deliver greater access even if operators invest time and money adopting the scheme... As an alternative, the ATA suggests fuel-only charging, saying there is a better alignment between use and charge because the latter varies with consumption... According to the submission, road agencies and operators will need to invest in new computer systems to comply with the scheme, which may be to no avail... The NTC’s, Meena Naidu, says there will be fewer trucks on the road, “resulting in lower freight rates, better safety and fewer transport emissions”...

Labels:

posted by Unknown @ 10:12 AM  0 comments

Apr 7, 2009

TAXES & FEES * India - Nehru Inland Fee Approved

New Delhi -The Journal of Commerce -Feb 28, 2009: -- India’s Tariff Authority for Major Ports has allowed the Port of Jawaharlal Nehru to levy current scale of charges for inter-terminal rail-handling operations of inland containers until April 30... The authority earlier fixed a fee of $8 per TEU on an ad-hoc basis, and called for a detailed application with cost analysis for its review by Feb. 20 before passing a final ruling...

Labels:

posted by Unknown @ 6:17 AM  0 comments