WORDS WITH NO WEIGHT
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If you like the taste of humbug, try this example from former Roads and Traffic Minister Robert Key: "It is always an uphill struggle to persuade people that heavier loads do not imply bigger dimensions, nor more damage to our roads. We must seek to inform the public and to consult them on the way forward." No... really? Key was speaking during his appearance before the House of Lords Select Committee which last week came out in favour of 44 tonnes on six axles for general haulage. Alas, Key fell victim to the last ministerial reshuffle so be had no chance to enlighten the public on the benefits of higher gross weights on more axles.
In any case, he would have been wasting his time. The man on the Clapham omnibus already thinks that heavy trucks are nasty, smelly things which are wholly responsible for all the roadworks on the M25. MPs who value their majorities, even those who know the facts, are understandably eager to pay lip service to this prejudice. So while their Lordships can take the logical view and call for higher truck weights from a position of unelected safety, few MPs are about to rush headlong into the lobby in favour of heavier goods vehicles.
To be fair, their lordships had the easy part. All they had to do was come up with the best way forward for British road transport, and adopting 44-tonnes on six axles would certainly please own-account operators. But there are plenty of hireor-reward hauliers who view the whole weight debate with scepticism, not least because they're unlikely to win higher rates for heavier, and more expensive, kit,. According to Key one of the ways to allay the public's fears would be to "give more prominence to the work of the Vehicle Inspectorate". Not a bad idea: if the public were convinced that rogue operators were being caught and punished they might take a more friendly view of the law abiding majority. What they probably don't want to hear is that the DOT is on course to cut enforcement levels as part of the 20% efficiency improvement set on the VI by Key's fellow reshuffle victim John MacGregor. The saddest thing about the Lords committee recommendation is that it is, to quote the FTA "only one more piece of evidence". And one which will carry little weight with the DOT, MPs or the electorate,