Road Legal

The Department for Transport (DfT) has established the regulatory framework for restrictions on delivery, including lorry bans, primarily through the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984.

This Act allows traffic authorities to impose Traffic  Regulation Orders (TROs), which prohibit, restrict or regulate the use of a road or any part of the width of a road by any class of vehicle. A TRO can specify through routes for heavy vehicles or prohibit their use in specified zones or roads.

Lorry bans have proved to be a controversial issue and have attracted press coverage due to the polarized views among the public and industry on the subject. See Gloucestershire and East Yorkshire lorry ban stories as examples.

A local authority may also decide to review a delivery restriction because of a change  in circumstances. The DfT has produced a guidance document, called Delivering the Goods: Guidance on Delivery Restrictions, which provides more detail on the circumstances surrounding TROs and reviews on restrictions.

Trade Associations such as the Freight Transport Association (FTA) and the Road Haulage Association (RHA) say an increase in lorry bans over recent years is resulting in difficulties for operators delivering goods and services to towns and cities.

The FTA says it is making considerable inroads on this problem through campaigning for greater flexibility in delivery times. It has worked with the DfT and created a Working Group, including representatives from the RHA, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and the Department of Trade and Industry to help stakeholders better understand the complexities of issues like night-time deliveries and ensuring regulatory powers are used in a proportionate and coordinated way.

A toolkit has also been developed, which the FTA says is mainly aimed at retailers/logistics operators and identifies the methodology that should be applied when they want to negotiate a relaxation.

The London Lorry Ban

The London Lorry Ban (LLB) was introduced in 1986 to reduce disturbance caused to residents of the capital by HGVs at night or at weekends. London Councils (formerly the Association of London Government) maintains the scheme and issues 56,000 permits annually to operators with essential business in London. A team of London Councils officers enforces the ban and it claims to prosecute around 2000 offences each year. A sample map of the LLB zone shows where the ban is enforced.

The FTA says the requirements of the ban are leading to long diversions for HGV drivers which are resulting in a cost to the industry of £30m a year. The trade association is therefore campaigning for a relaxation of the LLB because night deliveries would alleviate congestion during the day and technological advances have meant noise and emission levels from trucks have been greatly reduced.

It has produced two documents, More emissions, more miles, more money and Exempt route network study, which shed more light on the problem.

Points to ponder

The Knowledgebase on Sustainable Urban Land use and Transport (Konsult), set up by the Institute of Transport Studies at the University of Leeds, has carried out some research on the use of lorry bans. It says they do reduce traffic noise on the roads subject to the restrictions, but that it is still questionable whether the bans have any effect upon physical damage caused by airborne vibration of HGVs.

It also says these bans only reduce the amount of air pollution in specific areas and specific pollutants. It raises the problem of re-routed trucks simply causing congestion and pollution problems elsewhere. See Why introduce lorry routes and bans? for more information.

Konsult case studies of lorry bans in Windsor, London and Tokyo all conclude that their introduction does not affect the supply of road space, but rather changes how it’s used. See case studies for more information.