Blog

80,000 UK drivers are only one speeding ticket away from losing their licence, finds TMC

New analysis of UK licensing data also reveals wide regional variations in penalty points carried, highlighting need for firms to check the validity of their business drivers’ licences Nearly 81,000 drivers in the UK have nine penalty points on their driving licences, putting them just one endorsable offence away from potentially losing their licence. Altogether, 2.7 million motorists in England, Scotland and Wales currently have three or

What’s in the pipeline for HGV and LCV fuels?

by Paul Hollick. New infrastructure commission report urges zero carbon deadline for new freight vehicles by 2040. Readers of my posts won’t need to be reminded that diesel-powered freight transport is one of the most – if not the most – important parts of the global economy. Whole books have been written about how quickly society would fall apart in the unlikely event that trucks ever stop running. This dependence on trucks and LC

Micromobility – coming soon to an LCV fleet near you?

By Paul Hollick. Two-wheeled LCVs probably sound a pretty niche proposition right now. But if government thinking is correct, we should expect electric bikes and trikes to play an increasing role with urban delivery and service fleets in the next few years. The wide-ranging Urban Mobility Strategy report just unveiled by the government says new regulations for ‘micromobility vehicles’ will be a priority. I really recommend reading the r

First thing’s first!

It’s interesting that the UK government have found time to publish an ambitious strategy for future urban mobility, at a time when fleets and businesses are crying out for basic but vital tax information. Don't get me wrong. I'm completely behind the application of expert, joined-up thinking when reviewing the opportunities and challenges around mobility policy. It’s key to the UK’s competitiveness. But it is imperative that the gover

Spring Statement 2019 Summary

The wait for clarity on WLTP and future BIK rates goes on... Yesterday's Spring Statement by the Chancellor offered few clues as to exactly when the government will put an end to the damaging uncertainty around WLTP and company car tax rates after 2021. A written statement from the Treasury stated only that the government will announce its response to its recent consultation on the impacts of WLTP on BIK 'in the coming months'. We expect the

Can businesses cut travel by 25% in the next five years?

By Paul Hollick. It's possible. But be careful how you go about it. With so many businesses scouring their bottom lines for cost savings in the current climate, I wasn’t surprised to see that a recent survey found a significant proportion of companies actively seeking to cut their business travel. Half of 250+car fleets and six out of ten 100-250-car fleets told Sewells, the fleet analysts, they believed they could reduce business travel b

Will the government undo its damaging company car tax policies in 2019?

Welcome to a 'baffling' and 'bonkers' 2019. I wish I were being flippant, but I'm not. Those are words recently applied by the SMMT and ACFO, respectively, to the government's peremptory changes to plug-in grants last October. They illustrate the industry's mounting frustration at the damaging disparity between the government's badly thought-out changes to fleet/motoring taxes and its goals for green mobility and a healthy automotive sector

Fleets and the company car business urgently need to change their approach to plug-in hybrids

by Paul Hollick No-one in the fleet industry should have been surprised by the high-profile BBC News story last weekend about the misuse of government-subsidised plug-in hybrid cars. In case you missed the story, TMC analysed real-world mpg data on thousands of company-run PHEVs for the BBC. Our figures show that the average PHEV drinks a gallon of fuel every 39.3 miles. That's 90 mpg less than the average advertised consumption and sign

Where next for fleets after the Budget?

By Paul Hollick You don’t often hear an entire industry say “Whaaaat?!” but that is pretty much what happened after the Budget on October 29. Fleets are justifiably angry and frustrated at being kept waiting for clarity on future company car tax (CCT) rates. The Government will say the delay is all for the long term best. WLTP has turned into a worldwide lesson on the law of unintended consequences, so it’s right to rev

UK government could bring in monthly rises in fuel duty from next year

By Paul Hollick Despite the Prime Minister's high-profile party conference promise to keep fuel duty frozen in the Budget, higher rates may still be on their way. A highly influential think-tank, the Institute for Fiscal Studies, has just said the government should look at uprating fuel duty in line with inflation every month. The IFS says its idea would allow the government to steadily – others might say stealthily – recoup the £9b

Company car alternatives are back on the agenda.

Until the UK government started tinkering with the well-established car BIK regime in 2015, traditional company car benefits had enjoyed several years of stability. The number of car tax payers had settled at just below a million drivers. They could count on predictable tax liability because average CO2 emissions kept on falling, which offset the steady annual tightening in the BIK scales. What could go wrong? Well, not only did the governm

A Better Way By Miles