Major Changes for Large Vehicle Drivers in London

From October 26^th 2020 the Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) is being expanded to the M25 boundary with fees being charged to vehicles over five tonne that don’t meet the low emission criteria. This change will certainly have an impact on many London bus and coach drivers as the zone now includes many major attractions and Heathrow airport.

The LEZ, ULEZ and congestion charge schemes have been implemented in an effort to lower pollution levels in the city. Each fee is payable separately so it can really add up for anyone who visits central London on a regular basis. The LEZ scheme encompasses most of Greater London including some lengths of the M4 and M1, the ULEZ scheme extends further, and by October next year will include everything within the M25 ring.

The system all runs automatically via Automatic Number Plate recognition, when you’re entering a LEZ or ULEZ zone you’ll see roadside signs indicating entry. The charge is payable whenever you enter the area on a daily basis and unlike the congestion charge runs 24 hours a day 365 days a year.  It’s also worth bearing in mind that the fees are payable from midnight to midnight, so if you’re driving in the area from say 11pm until 2am, you’ll be liable for two charges as you were there on two days. The fees currently are either £100 or £200 depending on your vehicle.

For those vehicles that are already within the zone, the fee will be applied when the vehicle leaves the depot. If the vehicle remains stationary for the entire day then no fee is charged.

The system has already had a big impact on businesses with many having to foot large bills to either replace their vehicles with low emission models or have expensive alterations made to their vehicles to make them compliant. The trade in used coaches has taken a down turn too as purchasing them is simply not viable when you take into account the £100 a day charge just to leave the depot.

LEZ may be the solution for lower pollution, but it’s certainly very controversial and it doesn’t have  many fans within the coach and bus industries.

For less than the price of 2 days LEZ fees, you could have a LEZ number plate. We probably won’t sell that many to big fans of the LEZ scheme, but we do sell plenty of these plates to people called Lesley! We’ve got BE61 LEZ and AE02 LEZ available for under £200. We’ve also got LEZ 20, LEZ 1600 and LEZ 110 for sale.