Heavies braking out
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• Trailer manufacturers are worried that braking requirements in the new Special Types regulations are impossible to meet.
Companies like Andover Trailers reckon that there is no existing axle on the market to cope with Category 3 semitrailers, for example, which have a 16.5-tonne maximum axle rating and a motorway speed limit of 48kmph.
Heavy hauliers in the Road Haulage Association have also expressed concern about the onerous new braking requirements, and industry leaders like Tom Llewellyn at Econofreight have long maintained that the new special types speed limits for heavy hauliers are far too high.
The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders is responding to the pressure by submitting alternative braking proposals for Category 2 and 3 vehicles to the Department of Transport.
The braking performances at the heart of the crisis are in Statutory Instrument 1327, which came into force at the start of this year. It stipulates that special types vehicles will have to meet a 0.45g deceleration ceiling. This is 45% more stopping power than the previous requirement of 0.33g.
To develop an axle and a trailer to meet these regulations will simply not be feasible, say the manufacturers, because the financial return on such a large development investment will be too low.