Bunratty haulier welcomes toll holiday

BUNRATTY haulier Eoin Gavin has welcomed the decision of Transport Minister Leo Varadkar to provide a one-month toll holiday for HGVs on seven tolled routes across the country.

Mr Gavin, who is president of the Irish Road Hauliers Association, made the suggestion to the minister following a similar initiative implemented on the M6 toll by the industry’s partner organisation in the UK, the RHA.

“The IRHA has long argued that HGVs should enjoy toll-free access across the nation’s tolled routes in order to promote road safety, while facilitating efficient and environmentally-conscious freight movements nationwide.

“The current level of charges on tolled routes for HGVs has been a source of frustration for the IRHA for many years, as the high toll cost is prohibitive when high volume traffic is involved. The frustration is further compounded by an exorbitant level of road tax on HGVs which is rendering many operators uncompetitive, resulting in some establishing a base in Northern Ireland where operating costs are far more favourable,” Mr Gavin told The Clare Champion.

Mr Gavin stressed it is in no one’s interest to have HGVs travelling through small towns and villages. Motorways, he added, are designed to draw HGVs away from these unsuitable routes and for the month of November, they will actually serve their purpose.

“Tolls and road tax are a major blight on the Irish road haulage industry. The one month toll-free initiative will be a welcome boost for the sector and the minister is to be commended for supporting our initiative. He now must maintain that momentum and address commercial vehicle road tax in order to inject further efficiencies into our national fleet,” he added.

Minister Varadkar proposed the removal of  the fees for November to “coax truckers off the back roads”,  saying “I want to find out if trucks will start using our motorways more often if we change the current tolling regime”.

The move has been prompted by the relatively low traffic levels using some of the tolled motorways, including the M3 Dublin to Kells, the Limerick Tunnel and the M1.