The Freight Transport Association (FTA) is urging the Chancellor of the Exchequer to aid the UK logistics sector and abandon its two pence per litre fuel duty increase.

Without it, the logistics sector will be shouldering an £810 mllion burden, thanks to three hikes in less than a year, it said.

Jo Tanner, communications director at the FTA, said: “Many companies in the logistics sector are at breaking point, but the Chancellor can provide a real lifeline if he stops this rise - the third since last December - from going ahead. With oil prices already rising and many businesses on their knees as a result of the recession, is this really the best time to be increasing fuel duty, again?”

The number of HGV drivers claiming for Jobseekers’ Allowance has risen by 258 per cent between July 2008 and July 2009, with many other jobs in the logistics sector also in jeopardy.

There is continued concern within the sector that we have yet to see the worst of the recession’s impact and, while some commentators may be talking the economy up, the reality for the logistics sector is very different.

The FTA is also angered by the government’s reliance on ‘greenwash’ as a reason to increase the tax burden on the sector.

Tanner added: “For an industry with little in the way of green shoots to shout about the last thing we need is greenwash. While higher fuel costs may force private motorists onto public transport, logistics doesn’t have that luxury. We’re already at the forefront of reducing emissions, both through more fuel-efficient driving and by using newer, greener vehicles. The irony is that, if the government keeps increasing fuel duty, our members will be less able to invest either in the training of their drivers or in their fleet. We’re always going to be caught in a Catch-22 situation, and we’ll continue to be the government’s cash cow.”