Government set to ban diesel HGV sales by 2040

Following recent concerns regarding the environment, the industry has seen many updated regulations and guidelines to improve emissions across the country. Including ULEZ across the city of London, which is also being applied to cities across the country one-by-one. While this is a frustrating experience for lorry drivers who suffer the most where costs are concerned for their vehicle, the Government is taking these precautions to meet the standards set by other countries across the roads in an effort to save the planet from the dangers of pollution and what it means for residents in those areas.

Considering this, the National Infrastructure Commission claim the Government should put their plan to remove petrol and diesel HGVs from the market by 2040 if they hope to meet their targets in the reduction of pollution. The expectation would be to make the road and rail freight industry carbon-free by 2050, stated by the National Infrastructure Commission.

A report called: “Better Delivery: The challenge for freight” was published by the commission, their research estimates during the next 30 years heavy goods vehicle transport will rise by a minimum of 27% and could reach up to a maximum of 45%. With vans, miles covered by these vehicles could rise by as high as 89% during the next 30 years.

Currently, it is estimated freight by road and rail balances to around 9% of the UK’s greenhouse gas emissions. Officials say if nothing is done to resolve this sooner then by 2050 a fifth of all allowed emissions would be from from freight by road and rail. The report warned that if the Government doesn’t take action soon, these problems will only get worse at a rate that will be much tougher to recover from in time to meet their listed targets through 2040-2050.

The NIC stated that they hope the Government will unveil all of their plans within the next 2 years, giving hauliers more than enough time to prepare for the inevitable future where their vehicles are concerned. They would hope for an in-depth description as to how the Government would intend on approaching the ban of all new petrol and diesel cars within the country for sale by 2040 and how the infrastructure will be prepared and made aware of changes in time for this transition – which is just over 20 years away from becoming a reality that hauliers will have to face.

With the advancements in technology, it is hoped that by the time this deadline arrives that electric-powered or eco-friendly vehicles will become the norm for many drivers across the country. This has caused some frustration for many hauliers and firms as there is much uncertainty as to how the Government plans to integrate this over the next 20 years, a well-structured plan would be more beneficial for members of the industry instead of simply stating when they plan to put these actions into effect without explaining how.

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