London, UK: The government should make use of longer trailers a permanent fixture on the UK’s roads, says the FTA.
A Department for Transport funded study released today shows longer trailers reduces carbon emissions and road congestion and are safe for drivers and other road users.
Failure to make longer trailers permanent is holding back an opportunity to significantly reduce carbon emissions, says Phil Lloyd, head of engineering and vehicle standards policy, FTA.
Longer trailers present an efficient and environmentally-prudent method of freight transport, he said. “The quantity of freight that needs to be moved is relatively fixed – if we can move the same amount with fewer journeys, the better for the environment, the economy and other road users,” Lloyd said.
The department has been running a trial of the operation of lomger trailers for the past seven years. Over this period, the use of longer trailers has removed 365,000 journeys saving of 37,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide and 187 tonnes of nitrogen oxide.
“At a time when the road transport sector needs to reduce its environmental impact while businesses are also seeking to improve efficiencies, LSTs present a perfect, well evidenced, solution. We hope government seizes this opportunity and makes their use permanent as soon as possible,” Lloyd said.
