Clean Air Zones – you could be heading for a very costly future

If you operate older trucks and if a Clean Air Zone  is on its way to an area near you, your business could be heading for significantly higher costs.

Cleaner air strategy

The UK government has a long-term strategy to reduce carbon and nitrogen dioxide levels in road transport and improve air quality across the country – especially in targeted city centre hotspots. One of its weapons in this battle is to discourage and penalise the use of older, more polluting commercial vehicles. As a result, the government has tasked some local authorities with introducing Clean Air Zones (CAZ). They’ve already been introduced in Bath, Birmingham, Bradford, Bristol, Glasgow, Newcastle, Portsmouth, and Sheffield.

Oxford has also established a Zero Emission Zone, and London’s Ultra Low Emissions Zone was extended last year.

But more CAZs are under consideration and could be on their way!

Clean Air Zone enforcement

CAZs are enforced using Automatic Number Plate Recognition cameras, which record all vehicle movements in and out of the zone.

The minimum compliance requirement for diesel HGV engines is Euro 6 (vehicles registered roughly after the end of 2015). Using non-compliant vehicles results in a daily fine.

Costs

Non-compliant HGVs are charged up to £50 per day to travel in a CAZ zone. That could be as much as £18,250 per truck, per year!

You need to prepare for the change and mitigate against the increased costs. Make sure you don’t sleepwalk into the new charges and allow your profits to go up in smoke!

If you do business in various areas, you might have multiple CAZs to deal with and their financial impact on your business could be crippling.

Some businesses might go to the wall. Act now to avoid being one of them!

New trucks, new opportunities

If your business doesn’t already operate in a CAZ, upgrading your fleet to compliant vehicles will give you greater flexibility and an opportunity to expand your business into new areas.

Buying or replacing

If buying and maintaining your own trucks suits your business model, we can help you find affordable options that keep you on the right side of CAZ legislation and clear of costly charges.

Here at Dawsondirect, all our tractor units, rigids and dropsides already meet the latest CAZ requirements.

If replacing is your preferred option, why not let us dispose of your old vehicles and buy more up-to-date, compliant ones through us?

Planning ahead

Everyone’s busy, but you ought to make time to plan ahead and discuss your options with us.

We can help you meet the current CAZ legislation and prevent your business losing thousands of pounds while, at the same time, play a part in bringing cleaner air to the UK.

Why not take a few minutes to contact us on 0800 023 4554 to discuss how we can make Dawsondirect work for you?

You have nothing to lose except the real risk of racking up CAZ charges year after year.

Guy Pinder, Sales Manager, Dawsondirect

If you’re thinking of buying a used truck or trailer and value excellent customer service and industry leading understanding of Clean Air Zones, contact us on 0800 023 4554 for advice on renewing your fleet, and discuss how we can work together to create a Smarter Asset Strategy for your business.