The head of Norges Lastebileier-Forbund (the Norwegian Truck Owners Federation) in Trøndelag thinks it’s unfair that electric cars don’t pay tolls, and believes local truck transport could get exceptions.
Regional Manager, Roar Melum, thinks that the construction of new and better roads is a good thing, but even if tolls remain a part of the funding for such projects, it is a part of the bill he does not think he and his colleagues should be responsible for’, wrote Adresseavisen newspaper.
‘The arguments for toll include getting people to use public transport. These arguments are easy to understand for passenger car users, but lorry drivers don’t have that choice. There should be an exemption from tolls for commercial transport’, he explained.
‘And if someone says that it saves toll costs when you drive outside congestion charge times, then you have not been a business leader, with people at work. It is a pointless thing to say.’
The truck drivers leader can’t understanding why electric vehicles are exempted from the toll.
‘Up to now, it was a good solution to get people over to driving emission-free vehicles, but in the future, new technology will ensure that even the most heavy vehicles will have the same opportunity. Thus, the environmental argument is gone, and instead there will be a usage fee to pay for infrastructure’.
Source: NTB scanpix / Norway Today
