Faced with the skyrocketing increase in fuel prices, Belgian carriers will not be able to absorb a significant increase in the kilometer charge in Flanders. That is essentially the message that Philippe Degraef, director of Febetra, delivered yesterday during a hearing before the Mobility and Public Works Committee of the Flemish Parliament. “For a classic Euro 6 truck, the increase in the kilometer tax can amount to 40%. The combination of this increase with that of the diesel price is the recipe for an unprecedented wave of bankruptcy. Although the government has no influence on the oil price, it does have an influence on the kilometer tax. We therefore ask the Flemish government to postpone the increase by at least six months. Give our carriers the financial breathing space they so desperately need to keep their heads above water. We support the ecological transition as provided for in the Flemish Energy and Climate Plan (VEKP), but this is only possible if the companies that have to implement this transition do not go bankrupt due to an accumulation of costs.”
