Small hauliers set to keep capital ban
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• Big hauliers could get a chance to break the London Lorry Ban but smaller ones will be forced to stick to the old rules, under controversial pro posals from the capital's transport chiefs.
The Transport Committee for London (TCL), which controls the ban, wants to include measures to let some hauliers use routes that would normally be kept lorry-free.
Under the TCL plan haulage firms would be able to apply for a special exemption to travel down restricted routes. But it warns that operators with around half a dozen trucks or fewer will not qualify
Barry Hornett, the Tas head of traffic enforcement, explains: "Permit condition 5 states that a vehicle [must] take the shortest route, That Still stands but we are hoping to create a sub-clause which states that we could come to an agreement with large hauliers to approve an excepted route as a regular run, We are taking a common-sense view."
Harnett is ruling out 'fleets of one or hatf a dozen" from getting this preferential treatment because he says that would undermine the working of the ban. 'if that became an accepted route for all and sundry it would mean that any heavy goods vehicle could travel from east to west and from west to east," he adds. We would just open the thing up."
The TCL's latest move follows its completion of a review of roads where a night prohibition applies. It wants operators to submit their opinions on this proposed network by the end of August.