Rimmer is equally forthright in his views regarding the M6 Toll: “It is a must during busy periods but vastly under utilised at any other point which would indicate the pricing mechanism for this road isn’t working as intended.

“And the M6 is still heavily congested despite the introduction of the toll road.”

Rimmer also highlights another source of concern to professional drivers which might ensue from increased road charging schemes.

He says: “If road charging became widespread throughout the country, there is little doubt that other neighbouring roads would see an increase in traffic, particularly if there was no advantage or disadvantage to the journey time.

"In fact, the neighbouring roads could be used as a means of cutting through particular bottleneck’s which potentially could have a detrimental effect on road safety.”

Future road charging initiatives

In July last year, the DFT announced that plans to upgrade parts of one of Britain’s most congested roads – the A14 – would potentially be funded by tolls along with taxpayer contributions.

The move is intended to tackle congestion on the dual carriageway that crosses the east of England from the M1 and M6 to the ports of Felixstowe and Harwich.

The proposals include a bypass around the Cambridgeshire town of Huntingdon as well as two new roads which would be built parallel to the A14 north of Cambridge for local use.

Transport policy and research organisation the RAC Foundation has broadly welcomed the DFT’s decision to take forward the A14 enhancement scheme while considering alternative ways to fund it.

Professor Stephen Glaister, director of the RAC Foundation, said: “Ministers have gone further than before by opening the possibility for tolling existing roads and not just brand new capacity – in this case a widened section of the A14, a critical international trade route.