News

Manufacturers and operators of truck-mounted tanks have been warned to be aware of changes to the standards governing their construction that will come into effect next year. Two new standards will be incorporated in ADR 2009, which covers the European transport of dangerous goods by road, and are designed to harmonise standards for tank manufacture across Europe.

Currently, a variety of different standards and technical codes can be used, such as ASME VIII and BS5500. "The adoption of  the standard for ADR 2009 means that tank makers will be prohibited from using technical codes like these as an alternative to the new CEN standards," explains Allan McKenzie, senior manager, vehicle legislation at the SMMT.

These two new standards are EN14025:2008, which will cover high pressure tanks (those with a maximum working pressure exceeding 0.5bar) used in such sectors as chemical tanks and vacuum waste tanks, and EN13094:2008, covering low-pressure tanks (those with a maximum working pressure up to 0.5bar) typically used for petroleum products.

"The new standard for high pressure tanks will be mandatory for all tanks made from 1 July 2009. Given the present lead times in the truck and trailer business, this will start to bite very soon," adds McKenzie. The working party looking into the new standard for low pressure tanks has not yet finalised its contents, but is expected to do so at its next meeting in October, meaning they are still likely to come into effect  within the next two years. "In my opinion this is most likely to be from 1 January 2010, but it could as early as 1 July 2009," says McKenzie.

"The majority of manufacturers will welcome the new standards but some will have to make modifications. The change will be most noticeable for manufacturers of low pressure tanks as they currently refer to a wider number of other technical codes," he concludes.