NFC backs UK 40-tonne delay
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• Transport Secretary Paul Channon's reluctance to accept a 40-tonne limit has received strong backing from an unlikely quarter in the shape of NFC Distribution Group, which says that any delay in moving to higher gross weights should come as "welcome news" for the clistribtion industry.
Martyn Pellew, the group's sales and marketing director, accepts that the move to the current 38-tonne limit "brought about significant improvements in the operating efficiency of n-lost transport fleets — and in particular those of specialist distribution companies", but he warns: "There would be a severe danger that we could lose sight of these opportunities by concentrating on the 5% or so improvement to be gained by a two-tonne increase in the present weight limit.
"To increase the limit under any new legislation would only benefit a small proportion of movements," claims Pellew, who says that the cubic capacity of a trailer "is most often the limitation — not dead weight".
NFC Distribution Group claims that distributors are already achieving cost and efficiency savings which "dwarf the effect of any gains made in lorry payloads". It maintains that "an unduly quick increase in the vehicle payload limit could hinder advances in distribution technology and innovation, because there will be less incentive for users to make these advances".
With the proposed harmonisation of operating practices in Europe scheduled for 1992, the group is looking forward to introducing 40-tonnes in three to five year's time. "This will also leave more time to undertake the necessary bridge strengthening and road service improvements to better cope with the heavier loads," it believes. Next week we feature NFC Distribution Group.