Logistics expert Professor Alan McKinnon does not expect to see road pricing "in my lifetime". Instead, he suggests, the road transport industry needs to start thinking about alternative ways to combat mounting congestion. McKinnon was at the Road Haulage Association annual conference to make a presentation on the Eddington report, including the problems of congestion and the likelihood of road pricing. He ended his talk with a list of alternatives to road pricing and said he was disappointed that the discussion did not pay more attention to these.

The delegates rejected the political argument that road building is not the answer. Roadtech MD Derek Beevor said: "This argument that new roads just fill up with new traffic is a fallacy. Building the M6 toll road has cured local congestion - and congestion is largely caused by the government's unwillingness to pay for roads over the last 10 years." Many delegates agreed with McKinnon's argument that just in time (JIT) logistics is very expensive for operators and creates traffic. "If you charge for transit time then congestion shouldn't matter," he said. "It matters because it is a high proportion of lead time."

He argued that lead times should be relaxed and suppliers should carry more stock to take the pressure off the roads.

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