FTA blasts hush kit plan
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• The Freight Transport Association is launching a blitz on new London laws that are forcing many hauliers to fit hush kits and air brake silencers to their trucks.
The rules, which come into effect this month, give London boroughs the right to demand vehicle modifications when operators apply for 1988 permits to use roads in the capital.
The ETA says that these regulations go against the idea of vehicle harmonisation across the European Community by making parts of London no-go areas for lorries which otherwise comply with EC safety and noise standards.
The devices could also be unnecessary and expensive to fit, it claims. It is asking its members to appeal against the new permit condition, issued by the London Borough Transport Committee.
The FrA also claims the move could be illegal: "It is questionable whether the law allows them to introduce traffic management controls requiring vehicle changes as opposed to dimensional ones," says the association's South East chief, John Guttridge.
Although the changes have been mooted for several months, it is only now that they are coming into force, and the VIA says it is considering taking the LBTC to court.
The rules will also hit hauliers travelling to London from the Continent. A French operator delivering fruit to Covent Garden will now have to comply, says Guttridge. They also introduce a precedent: "It is like Frankfurt making dimmed lighting compulsory and Birmingham doing something else. It drives a coach and horses through the whole idea of vehicle harmonisation."
Air brake silencers could cost up to 2200 a lorry to fit, and many hauliers are not convinced about their safety. These, and hush kits — insulation wraps for engines — could interfere with cooling systems and bung up engine parts; and they have not been endorsed by all manufacturers, he says.
All operators have the right to appeal against the condition when they apply for new permits. The LBTC is issuing new plates to vehicles which comply to all the requirements — the old Greater London Council plates are being scrapped.