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P LETTER OF THE WEEK
Page 16
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OfT: 'Your responsibility is to the State, not your sponsors`
YOUR ARTICLE suggesting the Department for Transport (DtT) is more likely to approve longer semis than to embrace full 'B' Doubles is probably right (CM 10 December).
How could it be otherwise when ministers' first and preferred plan is to do nothing?
The DtT's second option, when it can no longer sustain plan A, is to allow that 15% extra cube that the longer semi offers, which will give the shipper the level of capacity that they already possess with drawbar combinations.
The government's third option, to allow proper longer, heavier vehicles that gives 57% more cube frightens ministers to death.
Overriding all of these is the policy, running for six years or more now, which protects the government's rail sponsors.
That means 'kill it if you can' — the fallback option being delay, and when you can no longer delay, then restrict the viability of better lorries in any way possible.
It seems to go over the heads of those who don't want to know that the UK moves a greater percentage of its inland freight by road than France, Germany, Spain or, indeed, any other EU member state. We need efficient road freight more than other Europeans do and yet we are falling behind. We hope all government ministers — and indeed shadow ministers — will get this in focus sooner rather than later.
Current DfT policy is to applaud and even finance productivity advances of rail freight, but impede those of road freight.
Ministers, your responsibility is to the State, not to your sponsors.
Ministers, look at your warrant of office.
David Payne Pegasus Logistics Engineering