In his latest budget announcement, chancellor George Osborne has pledged to freeze fuel duty until spring 2015 in a move that will come as welcome relief to hauliers already feeling the pinch due to high diesel bills.
But alongside frozen duty, the chancellor also stated he would be pumping £200 million into repairing the potholes that are blighting Britain’s road network after recent bad weather.
Councils will be able to bid for money from the fund to help repair roads damaged by the recent floods. However, the cash falls short of the amount required to get the country’s roads back in order, with the estimated repair bill currently standing at £400 million.
Add to that the pre-existing £10.5 billion road repair backlog and it appears the government has some way to go before the UK’s network is back in good working order.
Elsewhere in the budget, there was good news for UK freight-forwarders as Osborne placed emphasis on getting more British businesses exporting – a move welcomed by members of the British International Freight
Association (BIFA).
“Of late, BIFA members have been reasonably confident about growth, but have noticed much of that growth is UK based, so it is good to see such a significant commitment to higher export subsidies for business,” said BIFA director general, Peter Quantrill.
