EC proposes mandatory load securing checks
The European Commission has proposed a package of road safety reforms that would apply across the European Union if adopted.
These would include mandatory load security checks whenever freight vehicles are subject to roadside stops.
Officials would be obliged to assess whether goods carried: “interfere with safe driving, or pose a threat to life, health, property or the environment. Checks shall be carried out to verify that during all kinds of operation of the vehicle, including emergency situations or uphill starting manoeuvres: (a) loads can only minimally change their position relative to each other, against walls or surfaces of the vehicle; (b) loads cannot leave the cargo space or move outside the loading surface.”
Under the package, diesel trucks with particulate filters would also be tested for compliance with ultrafine particle limits via new particle number (PN) tests, which have reportedly yielded positive results in Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands, and will be assessed for this alongside NOx exhaust emissions limits at the roadside.
The international road transport union IRU specifically welcomed the Commission’s push to shift from paper-based to electronic documentation, a further aspect of the package which the union said would simplify compliance and reduce the administrative burden for both operators and authorities.
Raluca Marian, EU advocacy director at IRU, said: “This long-overdue update is essential to reflect how far commercial vehicles have come. Smarter, digitalised and updated rules will boost safety and reduce unnecessary burdens on operators.”
Apostolos Tzitzikostas, commissioner for sustainable transport and tourism, said: “The EU is firmly committed to cutting road fatalities and serious injuries by 50 per cent by 2030. Today’s initiative marks a major step forward in making our roads safer, our air cleaner and making citizen’s life easier.
“By modernising our roadworthiness rules we are harnessing the latest technology, strengthening enforcement, and ensuring they keep pace with the evolving realities of mobility.”
More detail on the proposed new regulatory package can be found at the European Commission website.
