Plea for consistency on abnormal loads

Trade groups including the Road Haulage Association (RHA) and Heavy Transport As­sociation last month called for fair and consistent application by police forces of the rules around the movement of large or heavy cargo.

“We continue to receive re­ports from members claiming that some officers are enforcing blanket movement embargoes on abnormal loads which they say are increasing both red tape and cost,” said the RHA.

“According to the Heavy Transport Association, around five per cent of its members are considering no longer moving abnormal loads as the situation remains unresolved pending a response from police chiefs.”

The two organisations, to­gether with representatives of the holiday, home parks and caravan sectors, have asked police chief constables to con­firm whether their officers are following College of Policing guidelines on the Special Types General Order (STGO) regime.

In August, the RHA invited op­erators responsible for abnor­mal load movements to com­plete an online survey to further inform the situation.