Efficiency needs cash
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• More efficient trucks arc impossible without legal changes and Government grants, says a new report from the Freight Transport Association, Freight Matters— Vehicle Gross vehicle weight should be increased to 44 tonnes, says the report, urban access and movement should be improved; and investment should be made in communications technology.
Earlier this year former Transport Secretary Brian Mawhinney urged the industry to look at ways of making better use of its vehicles to cut congestion. "On 29% of journeys lorries are empty. Cannot this figure be reduced by, for example, businesses sharing information, loads or lorries?" Mawhinney asked.
The report is part of the FTA's response; Mawhinney's successor Sir George Young is expected to announce his conclusions next year.
But the ETA argues that the average work done per lorry, expressed in tonne-kilometres per year, has increased by 300% over the past 25 years and is unlikely to rise much further without Government help.
"We can go so far ourselves hut we need help in terms of legislative change or grants to go the extra miles," says the FTA. It adds that 44-tonners would cut the vehicle part: by 9,000 and the road network must be used more efficiently.