Just over half of fleets would encourage drivers to use new toll roads in the UK and reclaim the costs to help avoid downtime from congestion.

A total of 51% of operators surveyed by Arval said they would encourage their drivers to use new roll roads and reclaim the cost 

As part of the 2019 edition of Arval Mobility Observatory, which covers 3,930 fleets and asks a wide ranging set of questions about fleet and mobility trends, 51% of operators said they would encourage their drivers to use the tolls and put in claims for the costs.

However, 26% considered it the responsibility of the driver to choose whether to use tolls at their own expense.

And the research indicates a discrepancy between the attitudes of larger and smaller operators, with almost twice as many businesses with more than 1,000 employees (35%) considering it up to drivers to pay for tolls than those with fewer than 10 employees (18%), who in turn are more likely to reimburse their drivers (59%) than their larger counterparts (45%).

Shaun Sadlier, head of Arval Mobility Observatory in the UK, said the support by firms to actively pay for tolls was presumably being made in the expectation that they are reasonably priced and will help to make transport faster and more efficient.

“For us, this is further evidence of the concern that employers have about the impact of congestion on their operations, something that is seen elsewhere in our research.”