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The road to nowhere?
Page 34
Page 35
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Satellite navigation systems might seem like the ideal solution for vehicles making journeys to lots of different sites. But is the current technology up to the job for LGVs? Dylan Gray and Roanna Avison investigate.
Afly operator or transport manager who is involved in planning routes for LGVs needs to know which roads are affected )3/ height, weight and width restrictions.
When the only way to plot and follow a route vas with a map and road signs, there was rarely 1 problem. But drivers are increasingly relying rn satellite-navigation technology. And while his equipment works well with cars and vans, here have been numerous instances of at-nay-equipped trucks becoming stuck on nappropriate roads (see panel).
This issue was highlighted last week in the Vest Sussex town of Petworth,where there are )1ans to install a harrier to stop LGVs following at-nay directions into its narrow streets rather han taking the truck advisory route around he town (CM 12 April). Tex Pemberton, the county councillor responsible for highways and transport in West Sussex, says he has taken his concerns about sat-nay to the EC Commissioner for Transport, Jacques Barrot.
"We need to have all local authority regulations across Europe incorporated into sat-nav," he says.
Mapping restrictions
Pemberton has already persuaded Ordinance Survey to feature the local authority restrictions on maps of West Sussex, but there is no regulation to make the sat-nay companies buy this upgraded information.
"I think they should be required to update their systems whenever any new local authority restrictions come into force," he argues. However. Pemberton admits that even this might not solve the problems of truck drivers ignoring restrictions because most sat-nay systems do not update automatically: That still requires people to update their systems frequently, but Isuggest that the systems should be switched to ones that update automatically when new information is available."
The problem is that most sat-nay systems are aimed at car drivers rather than LGVs. Chris Ram pley, manager for infrastructure at the Road Haulage Association,says that as a result the software in the navigation systems does not incorporate all the height, width and weight restrictions needed by truck drivers.
She reports that several companies are mapping the restrictions and the RHA is talking to software companies about including that information once it is available: The aim is to have that information available for sale as an LGV sat-nay package."
But she warns that in the meantime drivers who use sat-nay and do not pay attention to the signs will continue to fall foul of restrictions.
Sat-nay systems
Despite the fact that most sat-nay systems are not designed with LGVs in mind, some professional drivers appear to rely totally on this technology, rather than using it in conjunction with maps and road signs.
Don Armour, manager of fleet information at the Freight Transport Association, says: "There are lots of experienced drivers out there who, when given a sat-nay device, find all their experience and knowledge goes out of the window so they don't pay attention to the signs."
The problems appear to have arisen because the restrictions have not been mapped in away the software companies can use; but things are changing on this front.
Access to D6vc-r Eirty on defivery point destination ;impossible selection
Aspokesman for Ordinance Survey explains that the company began mapping restrictions as part of its Integrated Transport Network Layer last October and now has data on thousands of road restrictions across the UK.
He adds that OS decided to look at this because of the number of problems with LGVs and emergency services vehicles being directed down inappropriate roads.
"While we often provide mapping for satnay systems, systems, it can take a while for the process to trickle through," the spokesman says." Even when [the software companies] update their software, it relies on the user downloading the latest version."
A spokesperson for the EC was not available for comment as CM went to press. •