News

The introduction of longer semi-trailers (LSTs) for 18m artics would have an immediate and significant effect on reducing the UK road transport industry's carbon footprint, insists Freight Transport Association head of policy and communications James Hookham.

Speaking at last week's 18m articulated vehicle seminar, organised by Iveco, Hookham declared: "I would challenge any politicians to come  up with a single action that can make that kind of change."

Data from the recent Department for Transport (DfT)-backed TRL LHV study indicates that a 'standard articulated fleet' switching to LSTs could cut its vehicle journeys by 57 million kilometres and its CO2 emissions by 45,000 tonnes.

The FTA has joined forces with Iveco in calling on the DfT to allow on-road trials of artics up to 18m in the UK. However, Hookham says: "We need to sell LSTs in terms of their carbon reduction. The public has a poor understanding of why big trucks are necessary, although they are consumers and concerned about climate change.

"We need to stop talking about them as longer semi-trailers and start talking about them as carbon-saving vehicles - that's the responsibility of everyone. It's about carbon-saving logistics, delivering consumer demand, sustainably."

While the DfT has commissioned consultants to report back to it by the end of the year into  the possible benefits - or drawbacks - of LSTs, it has already ruled out any parallel hike in artic gross combination weights to offset any increase in the longer trailers' tare weight.

However, at last week's seminar, Hookham criticised the department for taking such a pre-emptive 'payload-neutral' stance before the study was even completed.

If the DfT does agree to longer artics, volume-sensitive operators in the own-account and pallet networks are likely to be the biggest LST users, along with inter-modal operators, not least by allowing 13.76-metre containers to be carried on a 44-tonne articulated combination.

A full report on LSTs and the Iveco 18m artic seminar will appear in Commercial Motor on 5 November.