Haulage industry wants varying duty on petrol and diesel

The Road Haulage Association (RHA) has called on the Chancellor to vary the duty level on diesel and petrol to ensure that the pump price of the two fuels remain roughly the same.

The RHA says that a year ago the difference between petrol and diesel prices was around 2-3 pence, but that gap has widened to the point where diesel now costs up to 15p-per-litre more than petrol.

The RHA says this is because the UK has failed to invest in diesel refining capacity, with the knock-on effect felt keenly in the haulage industry and passed on to consumers in food and goods prices.

“It makes sense to ensure that diesel users are not penalised compared with petrol users," said RHA Chief Executive Roger King.

"As diesel and petrol sales volumes in the UK are roughly the same, a 5p a litre reduction in diesel duty could be off-set by a 5p a litre increase in petrol duty; in the current market that would simply restore the price position of the two fuels to the well-established position of a year ago.

“The reduction would also go some way to closing the fuel duty gap between British trucks and those fuelled elsewhere in the EU, including Ireland, where duty levels are half that of the UK.

“We believe that we have won the argument in respect of UK/EU fuel duty levels for hauliers; and using the duty level to restore the intended balance between petrol and diesel prices is a practical way of giving British hauliers a more level playing field on which to compete."

The price of diesel is affected by the cost of imports, necessitated by rising demand for diesel, and rising demand during winter in heating gas oil.

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