CPA says HGV phase-out mandates are premature in response to government consultation

The Construction Plant-hire Association (CPA) has published its response to a government consultation on a new regulatory framework to cut carbon emissions from heavy goods vehicles, arguing that new mandates and phase-out dates are premature.

In a post on its website, the trade body said the proposals present a profound risk to the plant-hire sector.

The CPA said it wants the government to focus instead on infrastructure, incentives and technology-neutral solutions, rather than fixed dates and mandates.

The consultation

The consultation was run jointly by the Department for Transport (DfT) and the Office for Zero Emission Vehicles. According to GOV.UK, it opened at 9am on 6 January 2026 and closed at 11.59pm on 17 March 2026.

The government said it was seeking views on the most appropriate future regulatory framework to support the transition to zero emission HGVs.

The consultation document considers options to support phasing out the sale of new non-zero emission HGVs weighing up to and including 26 tonnes by 2035. It also considers options to phase out the sale of all new non-zero emission HGVs by 2040.

The DfT says on the consultation page that it is analysing the feedback it received. No outcome has yet been published.

Background

The 2035 and 2040 dates are not new. In its 2022 response to an earlier consultation on when to end the sale of new non-zero emission HGVs, the government confirmed that a phase-out date for new non-zero emission HGVs of 26 tonnes and under would be introduced from 2035.

The same 2022 document said that from 2040, all new HGVs sold in the UK must be zero emission. The government said at the time that confirming the dates provided market certainty.

The 2026 consultation moves on from the dates themselves to the regulatory framework that would deliver them, which is the point the CPA has now addressed.

What happens next

The CPA's full response is available as a document linked from its website post. The DfT has not given a date for publishing the outcome of the consultation, which closed on 17 March 2026.