Government assistance to buy a new truck ends soon

British truck operators have only a few weeks left to take advantage of Government assistance to buy a new truck, assistance which could be worth £3,000 or more over the life of a heavy truck.

The support comes by way of a Reduced Pollution Certificate (RPC) for Euro 5 trucks – which pays up to £500 per year for the life of the truck. But the RPC is only available for trucks registered by 30 September 2009.

DAF has exceptional availability of Euro 5 trucks at its dealers now. More than 90% of customers have been ordering Euro 5 spec models this year (perhaps one reason why 30% of all trucks over 6 tonnes registered this year in Britain are DAFs), And because they use DAF’s SCR technology, the Euro 5 models promise the same class leading fuel economy as their Euro 4 predecessors.

This month is in fact an exceptional time to make a truck purchase for other reasons too. The switch to Euro 5 from 1 October plus the continuing weakness of Sterling against the Euro mean that manufacturers will inevitably have to raise prices in the face of higher costs from European suppliers. Then there’s the attraction of a new ’59 ‘registration plate – which, together with the ‘lifetime’ VED benefit, will give added resale value in the future.

“Once Euro 5 becomes mandatory from October 1st, the RPC scheme comes to an end, so anyone considering a new vehicle in the near future would be well advised to move quickly to capitalise on this one-off opportunity’”, says DAF Trucks’ Marketing Director Tony Pain. “We all know there are utilisation and financial issues for many operators but – at the same time, with Government incentives running out, the time will never be better than now to supplement the fleet with cleaner, fuel efficient Euro 5 vehicles”.