Q I understand that Com mercial Motor Tables of Operating
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Costs are not now available. Can you tell me how lean arrive at the information they contain, and can .vou answer the following questions? (i) 11 38-ton vehicles are allowed with .five axles, will there he legislation saving where the extra axle will have to he — on the truck or the trailer? (ii). 11, as suggested in CM (February 21), a length increase of 0.5m is approved. will this be allowed .only on the tractor unit for the purpose of encapsulating the engine to reduce noise?
A It is true that the 1974 edition of CM Tables of Operating Costs is sold out and the 1975 version will not be available for several months.
However, what you would appear to require is details of how to compile your own tables, and one method of doing this will be found in the CM publication What a haulier needs to know price 65p post paid, from the Cashier's Department, !PC Business Press (Sales and Distribution) Ltd, 40 Bowling Green Lane, London EC1R ONE, This will be of assistance to you until the new Tables are available, So far as your other questions are concerned, there seems little prospect of a 38-tonne gross vehicle weight being authorized in the UK for some time. However, if this does materialize, the axle configuration on which this gross weight will be allowed will depend on an amendment to the Motor Vehicles (Construction and Use) Regulations 1973. It is possible to get 38 tons with either three-axle tractive units or three-axle trailers without exceeding 10-ton axle loads, but the matter may be influenced by EEC proposals for minimum percentages of gross weight on the driving axle(s).
The suggestion that an extra 0.5m (1 ft II in) be approved has been made in order to enable operators to match tractive units and 40ft container trailers without restrictions, and we have seen no proposal that the extra length might be restricted in application in the way you suggest.