Latest Road Haulage

Lorry Insurance: costs set to rise from 1 November 2015. In this year’s Summer Budget the Chancellor announced a 58% increase to Insurance Premium Tax (IPT), raising the current rate of 6% to 9.5% with effect from 1 November 2015. The 2015 RHA cost tables detail the average insurance premium for a 44t lorry at £3,675,…

On the Road: And in the cloud? Road hauliers, both big and small, can enjoy the advantages of a cloud based accounting system. For the small operator, with say 4 or 5 vehicles, who is actively on the road, a cloud based system such as Xero or Quickbooks online will provide the ability to raise…

Business Credit Rating: Poor rating hurting your business? If there is one positive that has come out of the UK’s double-dip recession, then it is reminding businesses of how important their credit rating is. In many sectors, both suppliers and customers have now re-engineered their processes to routinely look at a company’s credit ratings. Within the UK,…

Self-Employed Lorry Drivers: Beware HMRC crackdown. HMRC have written to the RHA about the tax status of lorry drivers. The letter outlines the key points of HMRC rules in this area and suggests that a lorry driver is unlikely to be self-employed unless he is an owner driver. HMRC is particularly concerned about some ‘avoidance…

Road Hauliers: Fuel optimisation ideas. A further freeze on fuel duty along with the rates of HGV VED and Road user Levies in the March 2016 Budget were welcome news for Road Hauliers. The government followed on by saying that over the last 6 years operators have on average saved a total of £14,400 on…

Whiting & Partners: the ‘hub’ of East Anglia’s accounting services for Road Hauliers The Road Haulage team Whiting & Partners takes pride and enthusiasm in the services it provides to the transport industry.  Through our membership with the Road Haulage Association (RHA) and depth of industry knowledge within the team, we have the scope and…

Green Finance: Santander now lending on energy efficient CapEx. Santander, through their partners Macquarie Equipment Finance, have recently announced that they will lend on the following energy efficient asset purchases: Batteries/storage Biomass Boilers Boilers (condensing/gas) Building Management Systems CHP systems Energy Efficient Lighting (LED) Gas turbines Heating/ventilation air conditioning systems Metering Power factor correction Roof ventilation Solar…

Love the Lorry:  National lorry week (26-31 October). The Road Haulage Association is calling on all members all over the country to get involved with its national week-long awareness campaign to educate the British public about trucks and is inviting hauliers to sign up on www.lovethelorry.co.uk The savvy haulier will be aware of recent changes…

Road Haulage: Driver fines on the rise. Jack Semple from the RHA published a video on the rising fines for drivers on 5 August, which can be found at:  http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/video-news/video-road-haulage-association-on-rising-fines-for-drivers-31429477.html Key points discussed are fines for drivers who are found with migrants in their vehicles and the increase of 50% on last year in the…

Hauliers: HMRC introduce roadside fuel testing Operators will be interested to hear that HMRC announced on 28 July 2015 that new hi-tech equipment has been introduced to allow officers to test heavy goods vehicles at the roadside for illicit diesel. As HMRC will be ‘keen’ to use the new technology, it is envisaged the number…