British truck drivers can pay up to £13 per day on special road charges when driving on the continent but, at the moment, their foreign counterparts pay nothing to drive on UK roads.
The new system, which the Government hopes will be in place before the end of this Parliament, will introduce an annual charge of £1000 per year for all trucks using British roads, regardless of whether they are foreign or British. British truck drivers will have to pay the charge but they will be able to claim it back against their road tax.
Industry groups have welcomed the plans and hope they will prevent foreign truck drivers, who make approximately 1.5 million visits to Britain every year, from undercutting British firms for domestic business.
Motoring organisations are more suspicious and some are concerned that this may set a precedent for “pay by the mile” road charging for all motorists.