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Freight operators should get what they pay for

The Freight Transport Association says that between 2015 and 2016 around £4.7bn was spent on road maintenance, while HGV taxes raised £4.4bn and the estimated infrastructure damage by HGVs was £1.5bn. Total motor vehicle tax take was £33.5bn, it says.

FTA head of UK policy Christopher Snelling said: “Independent research showed last year that HGVs pay enough tax alone to cover almost the whole of UK spending on road maintenance - three times more than the estimated cost of damage cause to infrastructure by their movement - so why is Government eking out funding which is already in the national coffers, rather than investing in our roads?”