Call for multimodal strategy meets mixed reception
The Institute of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE) has called for the UK government to develop a national multimodal freight transport strategy to ease congestion, reduce pollution and boost the economy. But the report, UK Freight: In it for the Long Haul, has been given a mixed reception by the UK’s two leading road transport bodies.
They have been angered by the IMechE’s assertion that 30 per cent of truck mileage is run empty, and that this could be reduced by better planning as trucks currently drive around 150 million miles a year “unnecessarily”.
The Road Haulage Association points out that the while the number of trucks on the UK’s roads is relatively static, it is van and passenger car numbers that are rising exponentially.
RHA chief executive Richard Burnett said: “The number of lorries on our roads has hardly changed over many years; nor has empty running, much of which is inevitable, as the report concedes.
“By contrast, the number of cars and vans on UK roads is rising rapidly. The idea that replacing efficiently-operated large goods vehicles with vans will reduce congestion is illogical. Lorries are good for cities.
“Road haulage is a vital, IT-driven and innovative service industry that powers every sector of the UK economy. It responds remarkably well to very challenging customer requirements, despite the restrictions of tightly-defined drivers’ hours and other regulations. An already inadequate road network – the HGV driver’s main place of work – does not help the situation.
“The suggestion that road hauliers don’t know what they are doing is ridiculous. They will continue to serve the economy but they are the victims, not the cause, of increasing congestion. It’s a fact that of 35 million vehicles on UK roads, little more than one per cent are lorries.”
Traffic could be reduced by making better use of the UK’s ports, the report suggests. It points out that 65 per cent of the UK population lives within a 150-mile radius of Liverpool Port. However, 91 per cent of deep-sea goods enter or leave via either Southampton or Felixstowe.
This is estimated to equate to 150 million wasted road miles and 200,000 additional truck journeys, increasing road congestion and creating about 0.2 million tonnes of unnecessary CO2 emissions from moving goods to where they are needed.
Philippa Oldham, head of transport at IMechE and lead author of the report, said: “The government must urgently look to create a strategy which looks at the entire range of transport methods used to deliver freight that have the potential to ease congestion, improve air quality and boost the economy ― as well as making travelling and commuting more agreeable for the public as a whole.”
The Freight Transport Association rejected some assertions in the report. Christopher Snelling, FTA’s head of national and regional policy, said: “IMechE itself notes in the report that the 30 per cent (empty running) figure is not representative of the situation as it includes such things as petrol and milk tankers returning to base, where there is literally nothing you could put in them. So it is disappointing that they chose to put it forward without that caveat in their press release.”
Regarding the claim of wasted lorry miles generated by under-use of northern ports, Snelling said: “These deep sea ships will call at south-east UK ports as one call out of six or seven in the northern European sea corridor – that is northern France through to the Baltic. There is no prospect of them diverting en masse to north west England.
“The logistics industry is working hard to maximise efficiency and minimise social impacts like pollution. There are some good ideas and useful points in the report that IMechE has produced,” Mr Snelling concluded.
