Trucking industry body condemns operators caught cheating diesel emissions

A haulage industry body has condemned trucking companies that have tried to cheat emissions standards.

It follows an investigation by Channel 4’s Dispatches programme that found some lorry drivers and operators were disabling their vehicles’ emissions controls to save money on maintaining them.

Filters are fitted to diesel vehicles to inject urea-based AdBlue into the exhaust system to reduce harmful emissions, and won’t allow the vehicle to run if they are damaged or depleted, costing as much as £5,000 to replace on HGVs.

Richard Burnett, chief executive of the Road Haulage Association, said that rogue traders were in the minority and not representative of any business.

However, he added: “There is growing evidence from our members that technical problems have arisen concerning the emission equipment on some HGVs. This has led to frustration for some haulage firms who have resorted to inappropriate solutions, which are, of course, wrong.

“We welcome the news that the Department for Transport is to commission a research project to review in-service emissions testing and equipment, but this has now become a time-critical issue.

“We are calling for an urgent, collaborative investigation by the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency, the Department for Transport and the Traffic Commissioners to establish exactly which vehicles are being modified, and why.

“As soon as the information becomes available we can begin to effectively address the problem. In addition, this will help and support those operators who are having difficulty with the emission systems of some lorries.”

The Department for Transport has confirmed that it will be looking into truck emissions but declined to comment further.