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Professor Alan McKinnon, one of the authors of the recent report into the potential for LHVs, says "the door is still open" for an on-road trial of longer trailers in the UK.

However, his view is that it will be something more along the lines of the Kögel Big-MAXX trailer (pictured),  which is 17.8m long, rather than the 25.25m unit proposed by the likes of Dick Denby.

He says: "This is a very difficult and controversial area - there are concerns over safety and the potential switch of traffic from rail to road. However, there is still the possibility that we could have longer semi-trailers that can carry an extra six pallets.

"There are a lot of companies that would want to take advantage of that."

He stresses that schemes that make efficiency savings, such as LHVs, are a better route to carbon reduction than biofuels.

McKinnon was speaking at the FTA's Carbon Dioxide Reduction Conference on 24 June.