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Specialist guide to the West Midlands
Page 18
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A SPECIALIST TRUCK guide to the West Midlands will be made available free to truckers from this week.
The guide, funded by all seven metropolitan authorities in the region. recommends the best roads to use with details of low bridges, width restrictions, industrial estates and big supermarkets.
It is available from offices of the Road Haulage and Freight Trans port Associations as well as the various local councils.
John Howells, the RHA's area manager for the West Midlands, is full of praise for the guide: "It's almost A4 size, with quality mapping specialising in the information that truck drivers need. The roads are colour-coded to show suitable routes and it has everything from truckstops to weak bridges indicated. It should help to lessen bridge bashing as well."
The 200-page map, called the West Midlands Commercial Vehicle Drivers Road Atlas 2005, has had an initial print run of 1,000,but more could be made available.
Howells adds: "The aim is to eventually have a web-based system where people can download the maps, but a paper version was thought to be the best first step."
There are precedents for the West Midlands map, notably in Bristol,Worcester and Warwickshire, but the West Midlands' guide is the biggest project of its type so far.
"Everything that a haulier driving through the West Midlands needs to know is in this book," Howells concludes.
The councils backing the project hope the guide will help cut down on the damage done to minor roads by heavy trucks.