Latest Fuel News

Mitsubishi’s Specialist Vehicle Operations Centre (MSVO) has reported a record number of new vehicle orders that will see the Cirencester-based operation turn out more high-spec vehicles in the next three months than it does in the average year.

Most EU states already charge lorries for using their roads which means that British vehicles have to pay to drive in Europe, while foreign lorries can drive in the UK without paying for the wear and tear they cause on the roads.

The new charge is supported by UK businesses and will be introduced in April 2014. The levy will be a time-based charge of up to £1,000 a year or £10 a day and will apply to lorries weighing more than 12 tonnes, using UK roads.

Every year there are around 1.5 million trips to the UK by foreign registered lorries but none of them pays to use our roads, leaving UK businesses and taxpayers to foot the bill. In contrast, when UK hauliers travel abroad then in most cases they have to pay to use the roads.

This new act will help the UK logistics industry remain competitive by making sure that operators from abroad are paying towards the cost of building and maintaining the UK’s roads, as well as creating a level playing field for domestic operators.

The FTA (Freight Transport Association) has welcomed the new law. “FTA has supported the idea of a charge on foreign vehicles for many years as a way of partly addressing the competitive differences between British registered operators and foreign-registered vehicles,” states James Hookham, FTA’s managing director of policy & communications.

“There were important conditions attached to our support to avoid additional costs and burdens falling on UK operators, as the charge could not be applied to foreign vehicles alone – and, so far, these have been met,” he continues.

“The next key event is the Chancellor’s Budget Statement on 20 March when the new reduced VED [Vehicle Excise Duty] rates will be announced. We will be watching to make sure that UK operators are not disadvantaged.”

UK hauliers will pay an annual or a six-monthly charge for each lorry at the same time and in the same transaction as they pay its VED. Foreign hauliers can pay daily, weekly, monthly or annual charges. Non-payment of the charge will be a criminal offence, which could result in a fine of up to £5,000.

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The London Congestion Charge will be 10 years old on Sunday 17 February. The FTA is calling on the powers-that-be to consider offering the freight and logistics industry the gift of free access which FTA says should be granted for essential users.

The  FTA is asking ‘Transport for London’ the organisation responsible for the congestion charge – to drop the charge on freight operators who have no option other than to use the city’s roads and Congestion Charge zones. The London Congestion Charge was introduced on 17 February 2003 and includes the whole of the City of London, the financial district, and the West End, London’s primary commercial and entertainment centre, and remains today one of the largest congestion charge zones in the world.

In order for London businesses to thrive, to be at the centre of the world economy and to attract tourists, the capital is dependent on the thousands of deliveries made to shops and businesses every day, and FTA is asking ‘Transport for London’ to recognise that this inevitably leads to an essential requirement for goods vehicles to enter central London, which are subject to the Congestion Charge.

FTA’s Head of Policy, Natalie Chapman, said:

“Whilst traffic has now risen back to pre-charging levels, there is no doubt that congestion in central London would be far worse without it. However, FTA believes that the Congestion Charge is purely a tax on deliveries and its focus should be to deter discretionary or non-essential journeys where there is an option to choose an alternative time or to use public transport.”

FTA states it fully recognises that the aim of the Congestion Charge is to reduce congestion, CO2 emissions and improve air quality, but considers the charge to be a ‘tax on deliveries’ as in many cases the delivery driver has no choice but to enter the Congestion Charge zone. In addition, FTA is asking that where the vehicle is essential to the journey and the user has little or no choice, such as is the case for blue badge holders, a 100 per cent discount is and should continue to be offered.

FTA also makes the point that it is not feasible to deliver goods on public transport and nor are alternative modes practical for the to-the-door deliveries that central London requires. With no charge-free breaks available in the daytime to encourage deliveries to be made outside of rush hour, the Association is appealing to ‘Transport for London’ to consider all available options for providing discounts and exemptions to the scheme for freight.

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Fleet companies could make significant fuel savings by reducing the amount of weight in the back of vans and light goods vehicles, according to new research from the Energy Saving Trust.

The Energy Saving Trust says that if half the goods vehicle drivers in the UK lightened their vehicles by 75kg it would save around £50m on diesel each year, this would also result in 100,000 fewer tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions.

The figures are based on new research carried out by the Centre of Excellence for low carbon and fuel cell technologies – on behalf of the Energy Saving Trust, which for the first time models the impact of weight on fuel consumption using real-world driving conditions.

The research studied empty and fully loaded LGVs on typical urban and rural driving routes that accurately represent everyday driving conditions.

Under these conditions the research found that a typical car-derived van, will use around 26% less fuel when empty compared to when fully loaded and for panel vans such as the Peugeot Boxer, the difference in fuel consumption was up to 33%.

Energy Saving Trust senior knowledge manager Tim Anderson said: ‘Drivers often treat commercial vans as mobile store rooms for rarely needed equipment or parts, reducing the vehicle’s fuel economy. In addition, items such as unused roof racks add to air resistance, which increases fuel consumption.

‘Reducing the amount of additional weight in a vehicle will not only improve their fuel economy but it may also reveal that they have more space than they need.

‘As a result, businesses could consider downsizing their fleets and opting for smaller, more economical vehicles which better suit their company needs.’

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Fleet vehicles and the price of petrol are a crucial part of the day to day running of a large number of businesses. Almost all business require vans for deliveries – to and from clients and suppliers – as well as transporting around equipment, and even advertising their company. However, these vehicles and drivers are being threatened by the increasing cost of petrol and diesel.

A recent report, in The Telegraph newspaper, claimed that the average monthly motoring bill had increased by as much as £10. Initially, this might not sound like very much, but if a company hires several vans, this very quickly adds up. Over the space of a year, an entire fleet could be costing a company thousands in petrol alone, and that is before MOTs, road tax & van insurance.

For van drivers, especially those who are working as “self-employed”, this is particularly worrying. Many companies are looking for ways to reduce their costs, and often this including cutting down on the number of vans and of course van drivers that they use. The underlying problem is that even if van drivers attempt to cut down on the amount of fuel used, by doing less journeys, driving economically and organising delivery routes that are the most cost effective isn’t doing enough.

It is quite common, in the UK, for prices to hike at the beginning of the summer before the school’s break up. They will then, ordinarily, begin to reduce once summer is over. Whilst reductions do still occur, they are still not good enough.

Another issue that many van drivers must now contend with, as a direct result of price hikes on petrol is fuel theft. With rises going through the roof, the number of people who can no longer afford to run their vehicles has vastly increased, which has led to a subsequent increase in the number of fuel thefts. Unfortunately for their unwitting drivers, vans as well as lorries are the biggest targets for thieves. The question is why? There are a number of reasons, but the most popular assumptions are because vans and lorries tend to sit for long periods of time, or even that they contain larger amounts of fuel than most other vehicles

In other news,  Women’s car insurance premiums are to rise by 26%!

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By the end of this year the EU gender directive will be implemented putting a ban on gender based pricing for motor Insurance forcing  car insurance premiums for women up by 24%.

Last year, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruled that the long-established practice of setting insurance prices according to gender is illegal discrimination.

The Court’s decision forced members of the European Union to introduce a ban on gender-based pricing, and this ban will come into force on 21 December 2012.

Currently, women drivers typically pay less for car insurance than their male counterparts because they are statistically safer behind the wheel.

A report by HM Treasury states financial services providers should be allowed to make sensible decisions based on sound analysis of relevant risk factors.

What’s more, young women will feel the effects of this ruling the most – a 24 per cent rise in the cost of car insurance for 17 to 25-year-old females, according to government figures.

However, while the EU ruling is bad news for women, it’s good news for men’s prices, particularly young male drivers who can expect their premiums to fall.

In other news, Is your fleet fuel bill giving you nightmares?

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Sussex safer roads want you to know that between 2008 and 2010 over 70 people that were driving for work were killed and seriously injured on Sussex’s roads? 

Did you know that speed limits are lower for vans and commercial vehicles than for cars? 

Sussex Safer Roads Partnership have developed a free road safety package specifically for business drivers for ‘COSTS’ (Company Operator Safer Transport Scheme) Project.  Offering free Occupational Road Risk assessments, free Lunch and Learn workshops and free information resources, COSTS aims to drive down Sussex road injuries and help companies to improve their bottom lines through reduced repair bills.

Their new short film looks at the issue of van speed limits, as well as the benefits seen by local Sussex businesses from the free Lunch and Learn workshops.  Take a few moments to watch the film, a must for drivers from all over the country.

Let www.forecourtfuelcards.co.uk show you the best deals based on your individual requirements, from your estimated fuel spend to the size of your fleet.    

Speeds of up to 137mph have been clocked on road works on two motorways near Bristol, “lives are at risk”, a charity has said.

Work is underway to open up the hard shoulder on the M4 and M5 near the Almondsbury Interchange.

A Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents spokesman said the “excessive speeding” was “ludicrous”.

A spokesperson said, “These drivers are not only risking their own lives, they are risking the lives of other road users and the people who work in the road.

A Highways Agency spokesman said safety was its “top priority”.

“Road workers work in a dangerous environment, only feet away from moving traffic, and deserve respect and consideration from drivers, Driving through a mile of road works at 40mph takes less than 40 seconds longer than it does at 70mph but that difference can save lives.”

Between April and September, some 14,000 motorists were caught speeding by the average speed limit cameras – one driver was clocked doing 137mph.

The figures also revealed more than £168,000 has been paid in speeding fines, and that this figure was set to increase.

Police in Avon and Somerset said they were still dealing with a backlog of cases from the speed cameras.

They said, “Not all of the drivers have been identified or…court processes are still in progress if drivers have elected a court hearing rather than accept a fixed penalty notice or attend a speed education course”.

Average speed cameras record vehicle speeds by registering the time a car, lorry or motorbike takes to cover a fixed distance from which the speed can be calculated.

The system uses number plate recognition cameras to identify individual vehicles.

Some of the top speeds recorded were

137 mph – 11 August

135 mph – 11 August

131 mph – 6 June

126 mph – 16 September

125 mph – 8 July

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ENVIRONMENTAL activists targeted a petrol station in the Monday morning rush hour – padlocking the petrol pumps to stop them working.

Members of Greenpeace carried out the planned attack on the Shell garage in Beddington Lane, which left the station unable to trade for three hours, in a protest over the company’s plans to drill for oil in the Arctic.

Shocked staff could do nothing but look on as protesters stormed the forecourt at around 7.45am on Monday and chained the pumps, using padlocks to stop them working.

Station manager Shailesh Patel said: “I had just arrived after it happened and one of the workers was here; he did not know what to do.

“He had been serving customers and a load of people from Greenpeace came and padlocked all of our pumps so they could not be used.

“They were coming in and waiting for customers to finish fuelling then as soon as they put the pumps down, they were chaining them up.

“We were shut for three hours; in that time normally we would have sold 4,000 litres of petrol here.”

And Croydon was not the only place to be targeted by the campaign group.

Activists shut down more than 50 other petrol stations in London and Edinburgh in their protest on Monday.

As well as padlocking the pumps, the activists were also shutting down stations by using an emergency shut-off switch to stop petrol going to the pumps, then removing a fuse to delay it being switched on again.

In other news, Shell employ petrol pump attendants to fill your tank

Let www.forecourtfuels.co.uk show you the best deals based on your individual requirements, from your estimated fuel spend to the size of your fleet.