DEAR
Page 64
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SIR
• The proposal to increase the overall length of drawbar outfits from 18 metres to 18.35 metres (Directive 85/3/EEC) needs to be examined in the light of the additional restrictions that accompany the draft regulations, namely the 15.35 metres total body length and 16 metres maximum over the bodies.
In practice, these restrictions nullify any benefit that may appear to be offered by the extra overall length.
Few operators could hope to see any improvement in productivity or economy from the draft directive. Indeed, for many users it will actually mean shorter bodies, with the added prospect of existing fleets becoming illegal by 1995 — or sooner if replacement vehicles are needed before then. It is not just specialised close-coupled outfits that will be affected. Many conventional A-frame outfits with 241t bodies exceed 16 metres over the bodies.
Under the proposed regulations, any outfit having bodies longer than about 7.35 metres will need to be equipped with a special close-coupling drawbar system. Yet it is the directive's implied aim to discourage the use of such devices.
The only alternative is a centre bogie, fixed-drawbar trailer — a tempting option on the grounds of cost and simplicity, but one that may be unsuitable on safety grounds with other than a full-length, uniformly distributed load.
If the recently introduced 12.5-metrei5.3-metre-radius turning corridor is considered to be a reasonable test of the environmental acceptability of an articulated outfit, it must surely be a fair standard for judging the road behaviour of any vehicle, Any properly designed drawbar outfit can negotiate the test corridor with room to spare — even at 19 metres overall length.
And if 18.35 metres is deemed a safe overall length for a drawbar outfit, does it really matter how much of that length is cab, and how much of it is body?
The backlash against ultrashort cabs has resulted in proposals that ignore the existence of day cabs. Operators who do not need long sleeper cabs will be penalised by being limited to shorter bodies than can be achieved at present.
All that these proposals offer is an unnecessary increase in cab length, in exchange for a reduction in productivity, economy, safety and environmental considerations.
Every effort should be made to persuade the legislators to think again, and come up with some more logical and beneficial proposals.
John Dalzell, Chief Designer, Ray Smith Demountables, Peterborough.
EUROSHELL SPREAD • Peter Rowlands article on diesel credit cards (CM 11-17 January) states that the Euroshell card is accepted on 3,000 sites. Your readers might care to note that the new card is now acceptable on approximately 11.000 sites in 25 countries, of which nearly 3,500 provide a special welcome to trucks.
Of these 11,000 sites, 5,000 have pump-linked card readers, providing extra security for the customer who can, if so desired, direct drivers to these sites. The invoice provides a back-up by actually indicating if fuel has not been picked up on a site with a pump-linked card reader.
Euroshell, for the record, has been offered in the UK since 1972 and magnetic stripes/Personal Identification Numbers (PINs) are not a new innovation, having been introduced in 1984. However, while Euroshell cards can be used on automatic forecourt pump dispensers and on unmanned sites in countries like France, Germany and Sweden, they are not currently acceptable on the Shell Transden• network in the UK as stated in the article.
Finally, customers may be interested to learn that mileage collection is already an option when the card is used abroad and will, in the near future, also be available in the UK. Rimbi Abayomi-Cole, Shell Cards, Shell UK Oil, London.
• The Hawk reports that the latest proposal to end congestion on motorways will be to install traffic lights to control access (CM, 1-7 February).
This is madness! What are frustrated drivers going to do when they are confronted with a red light at the top of the slip road? Drive to the nearest ayby and have a quiet nap? Go home and have another slice of toast? Melt into the ether No — what they will du is head for the next junction, via the nearest town, village, housing estate, or A-road running parallel to the motorway, already choc-a-bloc with the e vehicles coming off the motorway because of the congestion.
The best place for congested motorway traffic is on motorways — not scurrying round local communities trying to find a slip road with a green light!
Geoff Stephenson, Harefield, Middx.