With the economy opening up again – and social distancing rules being further relaxed – following a prolonged lockdown, there is growing optimism of better times ahead for many sectors of our industry, and not before time, although it is clear that some in transport & logistics have fared significantly better than others over the past year or more.
That other big issue of recent times, though, the UK’s exit from the European Union, is still presenting its challenges which are slowly but surely being overcome
As you will read in John Martin’s RHA column, the Irish Government appear to have agreed to re-instate the road fuel TIPP/TIPCE excise reclaim scheme for NI hauliers. As John says, this is a significant achievement as it enables NI hauliers who purchase fuel in Ireland to reclaim the excise duty, and it also sets a precedent that other EU states may follow.
We note, too, that in line with UK government’s aim to achieve a net-zero emissions economy, some LCV operators here have started the switch to electric vehicles, but says Seamus Leheny, Policy Manager for Northern Ireland at Logistics UK, for HGVs there is still significant uncertainty over the potential of hydrogen fuel cell, battery electric and electric road systems to enable zero emission alternatives. In other words, there’s a long and winding road ahead.
Meanwhile, we are happy to report in this issue that the RHA is celebrating UK transport and logistics professionals in a new campaign. The ‘RHA Heroes’ initiative will encourage the industry to recognise staff and teams who’ve gone the extra mile over the last year. Good to know, and well deserved!
Also in this issue, we report on the unveiling of IVECO’s new T-WAY, and on a major upgrade for the Renault Trucks range; we’ve also been putting a Mercedes-Benz Arocs to the test.
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for the May-June 2021 issue of Export and Freight Magazine.
