RHA response to Lib Dem Manifesto release

RHA response to the release of today’s Liberal Democrat General Election Manifesto:

The Liberal Democrat manifesto transport plan focusses almost entirely on people rather than goods. Their freight strategy can be summarised in one bullet point: “a national freight strategy to move as much freight as possible from road to rail, supported by a freight growth target and the electrification of freight routes.”

We believe this is too simple an answer for an increasingly complicated question. 89% of all freight is moved by road and we are a long way off a significant shift to rail without the required infrastructure to make this happen. Even if significant modal shift is achieved, the road freight industry will still need to provide final mile services. Practical proposals rooted in reality must be brought forward. The commitment to investing in green infrastructure is hopefully indication on that measure but more detail is needed.

The commitment to smoother European trade will hopefully benefit operators struggling to maintain business with Europe, but the Commercial Landowner Levy risks significantly increased costs for haulage firms who by necessity operate large footprint premises. The proposed “environmental and human rights duty of care in business” is a significant concern and is an additional regulation on top of an already highly regulated industry that could negatively impact our nation’s supply chain and ability to keep goods moving and the economy growing.

We will provide a full response on all the main party manifestos.