Seven trade associations have joined forces to call for commercial road users to be involved in shaping future motoring-tax reforms, warning that declining fuel-duty revenues could lead to unnecessary costs and complexity for businesses.
The Road Pricing Coalition, launched on 16 October ahead of the UK Budget on 28 October, brings together the Road Haulage Association (RHA), Logistics UK, British International Freight Association (BIFA), British Vehicle Rental and Leasing Association (BVRLA), Chemical Business Association (CBA), British Association of Removers (BAR) and Construction Plant-hire Association (CPA).
Its first report, Paying for our Roads: The Decline of Fuel-Duty Revenues and the Choices Ahead, examines the fiscal challenge facing the Government, the policy options available and lessons from road-charging systems in other countries.
The coalition is not advocating the introduction of road pricing or endorsing a particular replacement for fuel duty. Instead, it wants businesses to have a voice in the development of future charging systems before key decisions are made.
The report highlights projections from the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR), which estimated that fuel duty raised £24.4bn in 2024/25. Its July 2025 forecasts indicated that receipts would halve during the 2030s and approach zero by 2050/51 as the vehicle fleet electrifies.
Fuel duty and Vehicle Excise Duty currently generate more than £33bn annually, according to the coalition. As fuel duty contributes to general government revenue rather than being ring-fenced for road spending, its decline presents a wider challenge for the public finances, as well as raising questions about the future taxation of road use.
Meanwhile, demand for the road network remains strong. DfT figures show that vehicles travelled 342.6 billion miles on Great Britain’s roads in 2025, 1.2% more than in 2019.
The report sets out five principles that the coalition believes should guide any future changes to motoring taxation.
These include involving businesses throughout policy design, testing, implementation and review; aligning reforms with wider government objectives, including economic growth, productivity, competitiveness, supply-chain security and decarbonisation; and ensuring fair and proportionate treatment of road users across sectors, vehicle types and regions.
It also calls for phased, transparent and evidence-led implementation, giving operators sufficient time to adapt and allowing proposals to be tested under real operating conditions.
The fifth principle is coordination and interoperability between charging schemes, with the coalition warning against a proliferation of separate registration systems, payment methods and overlapping national, devolved and local charges.
The report calls for compatible registration and payment arrangements, consistent vehicle classifications and clear rules governing how different charging systems interact. It also argues that UK and overseas operators using the same roads should face comparable obligations.
Tim Doggett, chair of the Road Pricing Coalition, said the decisions taken over the coming years would have significant consequences for business costs, investment, supply chains and the wider economy.
“The tax system for road use is going to change. The OBR’s forecasts make that increasingly difficult to ignore, and the introduction of eVED shows that the transition has already begun,” he said.
“The question is how government responds, and whether the businesses that depend on the road network are involved in shaping the answer. We are not launching this Coalition to campaign for one particular model.
“We are launching it because the decisions taken over the coming years will have major consequences for business costs, investment, supply chains and the wider economy.”
Doggett added that the government had time to develop an effective approach but that discussions needed to begin immediately, with commercial road users involved from the outset.
The coalition’s launch comes as the government prepares to introduce Electric Vehicle Excise Duty (eVED), a mileage-based charge scheduled to begin in April 2028 alongside existing Vehicle Excise Duty.
Under the initial plans, battery-electric and hydrogen fuel-cell cars will pay 3p per mile, while plug-in hybrids will pay 1.5p per mile. Vans, HGVs and other vehicle classes are outside the initial scheme.
The OBR’s November 2025 analysis estimated that eVED would offset around a quarter of the projected decline in fuel-duty receipts by 2050/51, leaving wider questions about the future of motoring taxation unresolved.
The coalition argues that this makes early engagement with businesses particularly important, as any broader reform could affect operators with limited flexibility over their road use.
Richard Smith, RHA managing director, said changes to road-use taxation would have consequences beyond the haulage sector.
“Road transport is an enabler of the whole economy. Our members move the goods that keep businesses operating and communities supplied, so changes to the way road use is taxed will be felt far beyond the haulage sector,” he said.
“A cross-sector Coalition gives industry a stronger voice to make sure future reforms are workable, proportionate and support growth.”
Andrew Large, director general of the British Association of Removers and vice-chair of the coalition, said: “For many commercial operators, road use is not discretionary.
“Removals businesses cannot simply avoid journeys, switch to another mode of transport or always choose when and where they travel.
“That is why it is so important that any future system reflects how businesses actually operate. A reform that looks straightforward on paper can create substantial costs and complexity in practice, particularly for SMEs.
“The Coalition gives sectors like ours the opportunity to bring that practical experience into the debate at an early stage.”
The coalition says its report is intended to establish a starting point for discussions with the government, ensuring that future reforms take account of the practical realities of commercial road transport and avoid imposing unnecessary costs on businesses and supply chains.
