The government must do more to help freight operators reduce their carbon emissions, the Freight Transport Association said in response to a National Infrastructure Commission report.
Head of UK policy Christopher Snelling welcomed the report saying: “The National Infrastructure Commission’s report is an important step towards the development and implementation of a comprehensive, long-term strategy for the logistics sector. The report recognises the competency of the sector, but understands it needs assistance to drive substantial environmental change.”
FTA members were committed to reducing their environmental impact, said Snelling, “but they need the government to provide the necessary infrastructure and tools to drive maximum improvement.
“FTA supports the National Infrastructure Commission’s recommendation for achieving this, including: providing the logistics sector with regulatory certainty, incorporating the needs of freight operators into spatial planning, and working to drive higher data quality to maximise freight efficiency.
“Nevertheless, FTA is disappointed the report uses share of traffic as the metric by which to judge the sector. What is important is the value it provides to society – road freight delivers 80 per cent of the goods the UK needs each day – not the number of vehicles in operation.”
