According to new government statistics, the harmful NOx emissions from trucks have been halved between 2013 and 2018. Department for Transport figures show a 52% fall in the five year period as haulage firms upgraded to cleaner Euro VI lorries.

The trend is set to continue and projects that NOx emissions from HGVs will have reduced by more than 80 percent by the end of 2025, said the Road Haulage Association (RHA). But the Association in its NOx Emission Assessment warns that many operators face an uncertain future as local authorities press on with plans which will see hauliers charged up to £100 per day to enter clean air zones.

RHA Chief Executive Richard Burnett says that efforts to improve air quality will fall short until they proportionately target sources of emissions.

“The Government is signing off poorly conceived measures which punish hauliers for local authority failures to keep emissions in check,” he said.

“But we’re leading the way – we’ve more than halved our NOx emissions in the last five years and this will only continue as firms upgrade their fleets.”

Citing National Atmospheric Emissions Inventory data, the RHA said lorries and buses account for a small, declining proportion of NOx emissions. Figures from 2015 show that the sectors were responsible for only 7.6 percent of NOx, whilst the share from other key sources such as ‘passenger cars’ and ‘combustion in industry’ were much higher.