The chancellor, Gordon Brown, is considering plans to cut diesel fuel duty as part of a wider deal to appease hauliers, which will involve restructuring the road haulage industry.
Government ministers are still unpersuaded of the need to cut fuel duty for the general motorist. They are also deeply sceptical of the practicality of plans, widely supported by Scottish Labour, to offer cheaper vehicle exercise duty for the rural motorist.
Ministerial sources said last night that the chancellor wants to modernise the haulage industry, including investment in new computers and a crackdown on illegal foreign lorries operating in this country. Transport ministers have been studying the possiblity of increasing the cost of hauliers' entry licence from £6,000 to £20,000 in an effort to stop new entrants with little financial backing undercutting existing operators. Signs that the chancellor is willing to make some concession, in response to high fuel prices and last month's protests, emerged when it was confirmed that Mr Brown held a meeting with hauliers in Leeds last Friday.
The ad hoc group of 10 large and small hauliers had been convened by the transport minister, Lord MacDonald. The hauliers were surprised to see that the peer was accompanied by Mr Brown.
The treasury insisted that the meeting had not been secret and the chancellor had himself referred to the meeting in broadcast interviews in Wales this week.
In another indication that Mr Brown is willing to act, the treasury confirmed that the pre-budget report will be published around October 30, well before the end of the 60-day deadline set by the road hauliers at the end of their protest.
Mr Brown is under conflicting pressure from lobbying groups on how to act. The Freight Transport Assocation (FTA), the Society of Motor Manufacturers, the National Farmers' Union and the Confederation of British Industry will meet on Monday to try to finalise an unprecedented joint submission on cuts in diesel duty.
The FTA has been pressing for a 15p cut in diesel duty, which would cost the chancellor £1.5bn a year. They are also pressing for further cuts in the heavy lorries' vehicle excise duty and some form of tax on foreign hauliers using British roads. The legality of such a tax might be challenged by the EU.
Mr Brown is facing a difficult political judgment in deciding whether to centre the cuts on the road haulage industry or the general motorist. However, ministerial sources indicated last night that the bulk of the help will go to the farming and haulage industry.
Mr Brown is also being pressed to cut the annual road tax for drivers in rural areas to £45, but the treasury believes there are huge administrative difficulties, including exactly how to designate a rural area. The idea was also met with a cool response from motoring organisations yesterday.
Lobbyists want a £110 discount on the £155 vehicle excise duty on cars over 1200cc for motorists living in the Scottish Highlands, mid-Wales and remote parts of England. The cut could be implemented by examining the motorists' postcode.
Calum Macdonald, the Labour MP for Western Isles who has been pressing for cuts in rural fuel duty for more than a year, said: "I believe a postcode concession targeted at the most disadvantaged of our rural communities would be seen as fair. It is in these communities that low income households are most dependent on car transport. When a tax grows from being relatively small to fourth largest, it is inevitable that public tolerance comes under strain unless it is adjusted and adapted to make it be seen to be fair".
The proposal would have the advantage of bringing down the cost of motoring for farmers and rural drivers, who have been among the hardest hit by recent rises in petrol prices.
The AA warned that the scheme could be exploited by owners of second homes who could use their rural addresses to register cars.
