December 2022 – A French independent trucker was slapped with a hefty fine of 205,000 Euros from Britain within a fortnight.
Léo Taccoen, a transporter hailing from Pas-de-Calais near Calais, who was operating solo and undertook the Rungis-London route with a Scania S500 Euro 6 truck, found himself accumulating fines totaling 205,000 euros in England for “irregular passages in low-emission zones.”
“I’m in London every other night, given that I transport goods between Rungis and London refrigerated units. One of the markets I deliver to is just 2km from Big Ben, squarely within the toll zone,” Taccoen remarked.
Seeking legal representation, he enlisted the services of a lawyer to plead his case.
Here’s the backstory: In 2020, when attempting to register online to pay the toll in London, he believed that a Euro 6 truck was exempt from toll charges. However, the website stipulated a mandatory fee (“congestion charge”) of 15 pounds (17.5 euros) per day for driving or parking within the designated area. This toll applies from 7 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Monday to Friday, excluding public holidays. The affected area includes the Inner Ring Road, which encompasses the financial and tourist hub (The City) of the capital, as well as an “Ultra Low Emission Zone” levy of 12.50 pounds (14.57 euros) per day, applicable 7 days a week, except for Euro 6 HGVs.
Within a span of two weeks, beginning from 18/11/22, Taccoen received a staggering 333 fines, with the first dated 1/11/22.
Of these, 12 were for congestion charges, while 321 were for breaches of the Ultra Low Emission Zone regulations.
Initially receiving fines individually, he was later hit with a bulk of 100 fines at once.
Taccoen is not alone in facing such penalties, as numerous fellow carriers have reached out to him since the story gained traction in a French national newspaper.
Source: Les Routiers
Translated from French to English with Google Translate.
