London, UK: The Department for Transport is proposing a limited 48 tonne intermodal freight trial of six-axle articulated trucks.
The department said the trial could be permitted for repetitive container loads that travel along a set route. “Increasing the load capacity for each lorry involved could reduce the number of lorry movements to service each train, with the operations liable to happen frequently, feeding into scheduled trains operating on one or more days a week.”
“The Department for Transport (DfT) has some technical assessments and this consultation is about the possibility of a limited trial for this type of operation.”
Secondary legislation is likely to be needed to allow the trial to take place. The department’s consultation will help it decide whether to put legislation forward. The consultation period began on 9 November and will run until 4 January 2021.
Phil Lloyd, head of engineering policy, Logistics UK, welcomed news of the trial. “While the consultation is ongoing until January 2021, it is proposed that the trial will allow six-axle articulated lorries to run at 48 tonnes by specific operators and will comply with existing constrains of the current road infrastructure, such as bridge capacity. As a result, some current routes may not be permissible.
“Those taking part in the trial will also be required to comply with other existing rules, such as maximum axle weights, and it is likely that they will be limited to a maximum journey length; currently proposed to be 50 miles. Operators are also required to be part of domestic intermodal – road and rail – operations,” Lloyd said.
“Currently the maximum laden weight for a six-axle articulated lorry on the roads of Great Britain is 44 tonnes. Allowing a 48-tonne operation would therefore enable a reduction in the number of journeys required to service each train, resulting in reduced road congestion and lower emissions.”
