This week’s issue of The Hub’s sister publication Commercial Motor contains a look into what the political parties have to offer the road transport industry (or, as was outlined in a previous blog post, what they don’t).

So they’ve had their say. Now it’s time we take a look at what the road transport industry has to say about the political parties.

The overwhelming feeling is one of disappointment; no one thinks the issues faced by the industry have been properly addressed, as of yet.

The ever-vocal FairFuelUK campaign is worried that parties are looking to end the coalition’s five year freeze and increase fuel-duty once again.

Campaign co-founder Howard Cox said: “Labour, the Greens and the Lib Dems will put up fuel duty if in government, because they feel that pump prices are now so low enough they can add more tax without much public opposition. How stupid is that! Even the Tories and Ukip are only sticking to a freeze in duty till the end of 2015."

He warned that parties failing to look after the country’s motorists would only be shooting themselves in the food: “Not one major Party has written a single paragraph in their election manifestos about motorists and their justifiable concerns. It beggars belief!  Politicians ignore 32 million motorists at their peril”.

RAC chief engineer David Bizley also noted the absence of fuel-duty freeze commitments in party manifestos. He said: “There is no commitment in the [Conservative] manifesto to continuing the freeze on fuel duty, the toughest form of taxation on the motorist, in the long term. Indeed, this is something that is also lacking in other party manifestos.

“While this suggests there is little appetite to look at this, we call on all the main political parties to make their position on fuel duty crystal clear, so that motorists are not unfairly hit with a nasty surprise when the new government takes office after May 7”.

The RAC did grace Labour with a positive reception of the party’s plans to improve local road infrastructures, but said the reds could do with making their stance on the former government’s Road Investment Strategy.

“Not one major Party has written a single paragraph in their election manifestos about motorists and their justifiable concerns. It beggars belief!  Politicians ignore 32 million motorists at their peril”.

Bizley said: “On the one hand, the party states it ‘support[s] long-term investment in strategic roads’, but on the other reports indicate it plans to divert funds destined for two much-needed projects in Somerset and Hampshire to help fund a cap on rail fare increases.

“It would be a serious retrograde step for the nation’s roads if the RIS itself is now gone back upon, before there has been time for it to deliver tangible improvements to our roads. Is there also a risk that, as other spending cuts take hold, delayed projects actually never end up seeing the light of day?”

The Asphalt Industry Alliance (AIA) was equally concerned by the absence of infrastructure commitments from party manifestos.  Chairman Alan Mackenzie said: “Recent research commissioned by the RAC Foundation highlights that tackling thecondition of roads and pavements is seen by British adults as the single most important transport priority for the next government.

“Given this it is disappointing to see that there is little – if any – reference to roads in the election manifestos of the main political parties.”

Mackenzie echoed statistics used by Labour minister for transport Richard Burden when we spoke to him recently: 98% of the UK’s roads are part of a local network. Just 2% of the UK’s roads make up the strategic road network.

“Every mile of our motorways and trunk roads will receive £1.4m over the next six years, while our local roads will see just £31,000 per mile.”

And yet, said Mackenzie, the local road network receives just a “fraction” of the funding.

“Under current funding commitments”, he added, “every mile of our motorways and trunk roads will receive £1.4m over the next six years, while our local roads will see just £31,000 per mile.”

The FTA and RHA called for more attention for the industry in pre-election manifestos released at the CV show.

Karen Dee, FTA director of policy said: “Logistics underpins every aspect of modern life.  It is utterly indispensable to the working our home lives, our businesses, our schools and hospitals – everything.  We can make logistics more efficient, but we need better support from the Government.

The RHA was slightly more encouraging of the former government’s work, though still called for further commitment to road haulage: “It is important for ministers to acknowledge the good work of the industry in public as well as in private. We have started to see that happening to a greater degree during the last parliament and ministers in the next government should build on that example.”

With Labour and the Tories playing leap frog at the top of the polls, it remains unclear whether the party the industry choses as its favourite in a poll conducted at the CV show will mke it into Number 10.

Whatever the outcome though, the limited discussion of the road transport industry, means the industry is going to have to continue trying to make itself heard whoever wins power.