Longer truck trial report published
20 Jun 2014 11:40 AM
The trial of longer
semi-trailers second annual report has been
published.
The second annual report on the trial of longer semi-trailers which
is helping to reduce traffic and cut carbon emissions was published yesterday
(19 June 2014), Transport Minister Stephen Hammond has
announced.
The longer semi-trailer
trial was launched in 2012 allowing companies to apply for a share of
1,800 allocations to operate longer vehicles until the trial ends in
2022.
The vehicles allow more goods to
be transported at once, allowing operators to reduce the number of lorries on
the road. The report shows that between 600,000 and 900,000 vehicle kilometres
have been saved by use of the longer semi-trailers in the trial so far, which
means reduced emissions of carbon and other pollutants.
The report also shows that the
longer semi-trailers are operating safely, with a lower rate of injury
incidents than standard lorries. While these are preliminary results, this
gives reassurance that they are at least as safe as other
lorries.
Stephen Hammond
said:
Freight operators help to keep
the wheels of our economy well-oiled so we are determined to do all we can to
support UK trade and industry in transporting the day-to-day goods we
need.
Longer semi-trailers enable
freight companies to transport more goods, more efficiently so could have
significant economic and environmental benefits – it is great news that
these longer lorries are now delivering real results in fewer journeys and it
is encouraging that there have been involved in fewer incidents than standard
lorries.
Longer semi-trailers should
provide significant economic and environmental benefits to the UK. The
operational trial will enable the government to look at these issues further
and also represents an opportunity for industry to show the benefits these
trailers can bring to the UK.
The trial is expected to save
over 3,000 tonnes of CO₂ over 10 years. The overall benefits are estimated at
£33 million over 10 years.
The longer semi-trailer trial
was launched as part of the 2011 logistics growth
review. We are also publishing an update on this and other actions from
that review:
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