Longer semi allocation: let the battle commence
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By Christopher Walton CONCERNS ARE growing over the allocation of longer semitrailers as part of the government’s 10-year pilot of 1,800 extendedlength trailers.
Bids to run the 900 semi-trailers of 1m in increased length as well as the 900 at 2.05m longer than a traditional trailer, are widely expected to be over subscribed with the largest operators in the UK, including Wincanton, Stobart Group and Bibby Distribution, aiming for a signiicant proportion of the trailers on trial.
Hugh Basham, director of transport strategy and policy at DHL Supply Chain, tells CM that, as the largest commercial leet operator in the UK operating more than 10,000 trailers, it has “suficient scale and diversity in our UK operations to take on a leading role” .
He explains: “While DHL would be prepared and able to take on the entire complement of trial trailers, we recognise that the scheme is likely to be over subscribed and that it must be seen as an industry-wide initiative. We would therefore hope that the allocation of the trial is proportional to operator size and that DHL is allocated a signiicant number. “Given the high proile of this initiative, we would also hope that the Department for Transport [DfT] recognises the need for selection criteria based on commitment to the environment and to standards in health and safety.” Richard Owens, marketing manager at trailer maker Don-Bur, says: “There will be a lot of small operators that would be left out to dry, but there are a lot of smaller operators that would do well by running them. Think of the pallet network operators, but whether or not the pallet networks can apply on their behalf is unclear.” Owens adds that the manufacturer, which has jointly developed a 15.65m trailer with Wincanton, has been inundated with enquiries in the past week since the trial was announced.
It is also looking to offer a 2.05m longer version of its double-deck trailer as part of the trial: “We have spoken to the DfT and there is no overall height speciication. That makes it a viable animal.” However, Luke Roberts, MD at Manchester-based pallet specialist Roberts Transport – which runs a leet including four artics with single-deck trailers that typically move very low-weight, high-volume goods – doesn’t believe he will be pressured into getting longer semi-trailers.
He says as the irm delivers to urban areas, in order to get the most from their leet, a standardlength trailer provides more lexibility. “We’d get less runs out of [the longer-semi] and we can’t afford to have it sitting around just in case.” • See CM’s investigation on page 18 for more details.