Tim W linked to this article this morning:
A superlorry, which is 24ft longer than a bendy bus and as heavy as a fully armoured Challenger 2 tank, will take to the roads for the first time today....
However, the Government has refused to allow road trials because it is concerned about undermining the market for rail freight. It also fears they would be unpopular with car drivers.
Mr Denby claims his superlorry is permitted under the 1986 Road Vehicles Regulations, which state that “certain vehicles” may be permitted to draw more than one trailer and can be up to 25.9m (85ft) in length. This section was apparently intended for the recovery of broken down trucks but the regulations do not mention that.
The DfT said it believed Mr Denby’s superlorry was illegal but it admitted that the issue of length came under “quite a fiddly bit of legislation”. A spokeswoman said: “I couldn’t really tell you if there was a loophole...”
Lincolnshire police intends to allow Mr Denby to drive a couple of miles before stopping him and inspecting the vehicle at a layby on the A46 Lincoln bypass. A police spokesman said: “Lincolnshire Police will be enforcing the law and stopping the road train to investigate any construction and use offences which may be found...”
At 13:07, the BBC reported:
A 25.25m (83ft) long so-called superlorry has been blocked from being driven on public roads by police in Lincolnshire. The new longer vehicle was being driven from the headquarters of owners Denby Transport, in Lincoln, when it was stopped earlier... Denby Transport said its lawyers believe the lorry complies with all the current regulations.
A spokesperson for Lincolnshire Police said: "There are a set of 'construction and use' regulations within British law which cover the use of motor vehicles on UK roads, "These include regulations on length, width and towing capacities of various classes of vehicles. If the Denby road train falls outside these definitions then it will be deemed to be illegal on UK roads. Therefore Lincolnshire Police will be enforcing the law and stopping the road train to investigate any... offences which may be found."
Best go on the safe side, lads? Nick 'em just in case. These stinkers, paying their road tax and fuel duties and then having the temerity to whizz up and down public highways delivering nasties like cornflakes and soap powder. Possibly to terrorists or somebody.
Quick update
4 hours ago
12 comments:
“quite a fiddly bit of legislation”.
Particularly now as we are no longer England but the EU.
"However, the Government has refused to allow road trials because it is concerned about undermining the market for rail freight."
If that is true, then it represents a reversal of decades of Dept of Transport (or whatever it's called today) thinking, which has always supported road freight over rail, to the point of changing the rules to kill off the "intermodal" road-rail freight trailer business. I expect the existing ban has more to do with what happens if you try and stop one of these road trains in a hurry on a wet road.
"These stinkers, paying their road tax and fuel duties and then having the temerity to whizz up and down public highways delivering nasties like cornflakes and soap powder."
I can't see what that has to do with it. The idiot who built the superlorry was trying it on and he knows it. He's not some ordinary trucker. The lawyers are laughing though - nice fat fees from the up-coming court case; they've set Mr Denby up very nicely.
Yes, it will be unpopular with motorists.
Lorries are already too big, heavy, unwieldy and dangerously driven, particularly by east European drivers.
All but the outside lane of the nation's motorways are grooved and mangled thanks to the proliferation of lorries.
At a lot of times of the day, the entire of the car and van population is confined to lane 3 due to the density of lorries in the inner lanes. Sometimes it's very difficult to get left to come off at a junction. Speed limiters have a lot to answer for in this respect (cheers, EU).
So, I can't think of a better plan than rail-freight and inter-modal wossisfaces, because the railways are no feckin use to passengers.
Remember the '70's and 80's when the police were viewed as the lackeys of fascism? Well, they are now. And the people thinking of them as fascist lackeys are jujst the same people that supported them in the '70's and '80's - like me.
JH, indeed.
Bayard, "the existing ban has more to do with what happens if you try and stop one of these road trains in a hurry on a wet road."
If you read the full article, you'll see that he is well within the weight limits, the point was he wants to transport light stuff like cornflakes and soap powder. I think it's weight rather than length that determines stopping distances. It is possible that Denby was set up.
AlJ, re East European drivers, that's easily fixed, see JH's comment. What's the problem with "the proliferation of lorries"? I bet that lorry drivers complain about "the proliferation of cars".
Somebody's got to get the stuff from factory or farm to the shops, all for the greater benefit. If roads need to widened by a lane or two, that is a different topic.
L, even more ironically, it's those who accused them of being fascist lackeys who've finally turned them into fascist lackeys.
Seems pretty puny compared to the big buggers you see in the outback.
I saw a report on this on local TV yesterday.
He wasn't set up. He and the police were co-operating to have a test case to put to the courts.
He has lots of drivers working for him, and he's retired from driving. Rather than risk one of their licences, he's renewed his in order to do this short drive. Then he's arranged that he'll drive out of his depot at a certain time and the police will stop him at the next long-enough layby. That means there's a case to be put before the courts.
Automated rail could deliver fully loaded containers to any marshaling yard overnight, without drivers & thus cheaply.
I was going to post this here but it was getting long.
Gave you a link and stuff, though. :-)
"I think it's weight rather than length that determines stopping distances."
I was thinking more of the tendency to jackknife. Perhaps dearieme could shed some light on what happens with road trains in Oz.
I think the road trains in Oz avoid the jackknifing problem by refraining from braking. It's up to everyone else to get out of the way.
Did he actually get nicked though ? If it doesn't go to court nothing will be tested and the whole thing a waste of time.
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