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The long trail to reform

15th July 2010, Page 32
15th July 2010
Page 32
Page 34
Page 32, 15th July 2010 — The long trail to reform
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Which of the following most accurately describes the problem?

Dick Denby's campaign for longer, heavier vehicles hit the headlines last year, but as CM finds out, he is no novice in drawing on his knowledge of transport practices abroad for the benefit of his UK company.

Words: Christopher Walton / Images: Tom Cunningham Back in December last year, on the first of the month, the transport story of 2009 began to break. Everyone knew it was coming and the media were out in force watching a 75-year-old gentleman who has spent most of his life in road transport climb into the cab of his Volvo and tow a 25.25m combination out onto British roads The driver was Dick Denby, director of Denhy Transport, and the journey was designed not for the commercial benefit of the company (the trailers were empty) but to 'test and clarify' the law on the use of longer, heavier vehicles (LHVs).

Denby has long been a pioneer and advocate of the benefit of longer trailer combinations. It was a passion born on a holiday in South Africa:a tale that Denby recounts when CM meets him: "1 had known for quite a while that B-double trailers had existed, but I had never seen one until I went to South Africa,he says.

"In Cape Town they were running 3+2+2 combinations, and I watched them carry apples, grapes, and wine I suppose, from the production areas to the docks for export presumably to northern Europe. I watched them go round the town, and round the roundabouts, and I saw that these vehicles were very stable.

"I watched them two or three times and Elisabeth IDenby's wife] was tugging at my sleeve, saying 'yes dear: But I was thinking 'yes, we can do that, but we can do it by improving on the model with active rather than progressive steering'."

Campaigning for 20 years This was in 2002 and the gestation of an idea that would propel a man who started in road transport in 1955 to the forefront of one of its most difficult debates 45 years later. But let's not forget that Denby has been part of the heavier vehicles argument for the past 20 years. starting in 1992 when he was part of a Freight Transport Association committee that lobbied the-then transport secretary John MacGregor to increase vehicle weight limits to 44 tonnes, That campaign was successful and in 1994 the government approved a trial for selected routes for hauliers to run at 44 tonnes over six axles. lt is an interesting case to look at in the light of the ongoing debate about 25.25m drawbar rigs In 1994, the weight limit for British vehicles was set at 38 tonnes, but 44-tonners were permitted on roads in Belgium. Denmark. Italy and Luxembourg. it was not until February 2001 that the

maximum gross vehicle weight was changed to 44 tonnes.

The Road Haulage Association was then calling for a level playing field with European operators. It seems that in 17 years things haven't changed. The Dutch have published a study setting out the benefits of the use of the various LHV trailer options since 1995. Denmark too is conducting a three-year study into (i0-tonne, 25.25m vehicles.

This experience goes some way towards explaining Denby's progressive stance on the adoption of new technology: "Back in 1992. we knew that 38 tonnes was out of date. ABS had come on, and the price of oil was beginning to increase around the world. I was very supportive of going further, so Ewe) were pressing John MacGregor to do that."

Time for a change He adds: would say that between 45% and 75% of hauliers do not want any change. They think that change is in the customers' interest, and not the transport company's I look at it a different way. Maybe it is because I am left-handed and dyslexic! King Canute could not hold back the tide of change, but it's not in the interest of the haulier to hold back their own productivity."

He refers back to EU Council Directive 53/96, which cites

the "maximum authorised dimensions in national and international traffic and the maximum authorised weights in international traffic", not as a directive that holds back progress on vehicle dimensions, but as a document that has left the interpretation of vehicle weights and lengths open to member states The ELI Directive is 14-years-old and Denby explains that the nature of haulage has changed: "The merchandise we are carrying by road has changed a lot. And more and more fresh air is being carried. We used to be concerned about being overweight, but today, even as a company that carries machinery such as JCB diggers, we are nowhere near 44 tonnes. "If you arc a manufacturer of aluminium cans, the demand is space. not weight, hence why people are looking at double-deck trailers— and we run some — but we need greater capacity You don't need a degree to work out that we cannot go wider because of standard highway measurements. And we cannot go any higher —because we are realistically dictated by the height of bridges. So if you cannot do it with width or height, we have got to go longer."

We now know that Denby will not face legal action for the aborted trial of the F.co-Link trailer (CM 14 June).


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