RHA Recovery Group says "Give us a break Mr Livingstone"
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RHA experiences Longer Heavy Vehicles on the Public Highway
Road Haulage Association Chief Executive Roger King recently attended a special meeting of the International Road Transport Union in Amsterdam to consider an EU view on the desirability of arriving at a common view on longer, heavier vehicles; the 25m/25m concept.
"We received various presentations from the German, Dutch, Swedish and EC representatives and most constructive they were", said Roger King.
"Again and again manouverability was cited as a cause for concern, along with weight problems for EU bridge infrastructure but the general concensus was that neither of these was a show stopper."
One road haulier, currently operating trial vehicles in Holland presented figures which he believed demonstrated that operators have no fear in embracing the concept. Delegates travelled to the Dutch auto industry test facility to see for themselves the wide variety of combinations permissible under the maximum length rule.
“I went out on the main highway (driven of course) to judge for myself how these larger vehicles inter-act with other road users," continued Roger King. "I have to say I was very impressed at how trouble-free the whole exercise was. Of course, there are route limitations in the Dutch trial; speed is limited by law to 50mph and no overtaking is permitted other than agricultural vehicles, but my driver assured me that none of this was a problem.
"The clincher, he said, was the environmental benefit of two LHV trucks doing the work of three normal ones”.
King’s conclusion was that the UK should follow Holland and a growing number of other EU countries and stage its own trials. “Otherwise," he concluded, "as our economy grows, more trucks will be needed and this will add to congestion. This technology could help alleviate this”.
