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Which party is the transport industry's best friend?

A recent report by the Road Haulage Association (RHA) stated the Tories are ‘miles ahead in industry poll’.

More than half – 57.7% chose the Conservatives. Labour accounted for just 8.2% and the Lib Dems just 0.8%.

These were the results of an exit poll taken at the Commercial Vehicle Show in April.

Richard Burnett, Chief Executive of the RHA comments, “these results are no revelation, under the last Government, the industry benefitted from a sustained fuel duty freeze”. He went on to say that other political parties see fuel duty as a cash cow, and voters are concerned that this will happen again.

Of course we’re interested in any party that pledges to keep fuel duty down, promises to invest in our roads infrastructure and tackle the problem of congestion.

These all help to keep transport costs down, costs which then don’t need to be passed on to the consumer – so we’re all winners.

But here at Courier Direct, we’re worried that the recent drop in oil prices may make a hike in fuel duty a more attractive option for a future government. We’re all used to prices being higher than they are now, so political leaders may be think an increase won’t cause uproar and protests that we have seen previously.

The AA reported a sharp drop in road miles travelled since the financial crash, and with lower fuel prices some fear this trend will reverse and we’ll see more journeys being made. Will this be an added incentive to raise fuel duty?

We know that our customers are very price sensitive, and it’s important to maintain a stable pricing structure for our services, as they are such an integral part of our customers’ business.

For our part, we’ve made a steady investment into building our fleet of newer, well maintained vehicles, a project that’s been ongoing for some years. So our customers and we have benefitted from a cleaner, more efficient and reliable fleet, which has a direct beneficial effect on our costs and prices.

And we hope that whoever wins the election, they’ll deliver the much needed dual carriageway along the A303 and A358 with the tunnel beneath Stonehenge, promised by the Tories. Anything that keeps us running our ship on rails, reduces transport times, and increases reliability is a good thing.

We’re watching the election debates unfold with interest, and are keen to find out what’s in store for the transport industry post election. Let’s hope whoever gains power remembers that low fuel prices are the driving force of a growing economy.