Highways England have been working towards simplifying the administration for their fleet at Dartford Crossing. The updates are taking place after discussions that have taken place between ACFO and Highways England. Due to the free flow charging scheme that was implemented in 2014 the fleet managers involved have experienced a significant increase in the amount of administration taking place.

The ACFO, the main organisation for fleet decision makers in the UK, has been working with officials from Highways England. The officials from the government agency manages the Dart Charge, or the charge for those that use the road. Following these discussions the first of three expected improvements have been implemented in order to support the online administration for fleet accounts. The other improvements to this system are expected in August and September.

The Head of the Dart Charge project for Highways England is expected to speak at the ACFO autumn seminar that takes place on the 21st September. During the event attendees will be informed of the updates that have been made to the Dart Charge and a number of other issues such as the developments of the two Severn Crossing bridges, expected to be placed under central government control either at the end of the year or at the beginning of 2018. The event will also look at the new Lower Thames Crossing which is costing £6 billion and will connect Essex and Kent to the east of Tilbury and Gravesend on the other side of the river. This development has been started in order to reduce the amount of traffic using the Dartford Crossing.

Debbie Floyde, the director of the ACFO has been leading the organisation’s discussions with Highways England for several months in order to make the beneficial updates to the Dart Charge to improve the efficiency of the administration related to the crossing charges.