Legend has it that there was once, in ancient Greece,
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an innkeeper called Procrustes who tailored his guests to fit his bed. If they were too tall, he cut off their legs; should they be too short, he stretched them to fit. This rather drastic remedy has its modern parallel in the refusal by. the GO% ernment to allow lorries to carry more freight by increasing the maximum permitted gross v) eight of vehicles. A refusal which is undoubtedly influenced more by emotion than by common sense.
A report by a working party set up by the Society of Motor manuacturers and Traders has pointed out that oil will be the principal fuel for road vehicle propulsion for many years to come. Hopes of the early advent of alternative propulsion methods were dashed when the working party came to the conclusion that it would be a long time before electricity could be used for this purpose. Yet the world is finding oil difficult and costly to obtain. Thus the report stressed the necessity for road s ehicle engineers to design vehicles with fuel economy foremost in mind.
Discounting the proposals to divert traffic to rail (which have to find its way eventually by road, apart from any other argument as to the railway's ability to handle it the transport of more freight with the same amount of fuel makes sense.
Contentions about increased axle weights do not stand up under examination. Already the Dutch carry more freight than the 32-ton limit here allows though they operate on an axle weight of 10 tons. Moreover, any increase in vehicle size would be minimal. If the Government really wants to conserve fuel it should legislate for increased permitted gross s chicle weights immediately.
Statements by a DoE junior Minister suggest that the Government may be coming round to the view that gross weights are not so sacrosanct as long as the axle limit remains unchanged. Perhaps we shall see this thinking reflected in next month's meeting of EEC Ministers of Transport.