1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182 
NO TO TRUCK BANS BY THE BACK DOOR
Page 3
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
Last week we let off steam about local councils tinkering with national and international engine emissions legislation as they seek to clean up their patches with knee-jerk policies, seemingly with no consideration for the wider context and implications. This week we report on Somerset County Council's manipulation of sat-nay technology in an attempt to prevent trucks using particular roads (see page 16).
All clever stuff, and backed by good intentions. But what it amounts to is truck bans being implemented via the back door. Councils already have a means to restrict truck movements in their locality: weight limits. Details of these are readily available to the sat-nay companies, which are including them in their 'truck-friendly' software.
Of course there are routes that are unsuitable for trucks, but that doesn't justify local attempts to short-circuit the democratic if somewhat cumbersome process for the implementation of truck bans. Other councils will be looking on with interest, so it's important that our industry cries foul whenever this sort of tinkering is attempted.
"Our industry must cry foul whenever this sort of tinkering is attempted"
• This week we kick off a column from Paul Holland, MD at ReD Fuel Cards in Ipswich. He'll be offering a number of insights into fuel pricing with advice on fuel-saving techniques that can give sustainable efficiency gains.
His opening piece looks at fuel pricing, and it makes for a sorry tale, The recent fire at the Coryton oil refinery in Essex has severely dented fuel supplies to this country and, as Holland points out, any threat to fuel supply sends a wobble throughout the markets. The wholesale price of diesel is fast approaching E1 (inc VAT) and while operators will put what pressure they can on the fuel suppliers to get their diesel at the lowest possible price, sustained gains will only come from effective fuel management.
At a time when every CV operator in the country is concerned about the rising cost of fuel, our new columnist will offer some powerful pointers on what you can do now.