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An exhausti g affair
Page 18
Page 19
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With the London low-emission zone (LEZ) opening for business next week,
ick Flute reviews
his tong journey to compliance_
There's no doubt about it impact of the
London low-emission zone (LEZ) is now being felt. In fact many operators, from the largest to the smallest, are in despair.
No doubt Transport for London (TIL) has good intentions, and perhaps they are all you need when organising a village fete. But good intentions are not enough when imposing the biggest single change on British road transport for many decades.
Perhaps the most important aspect of the LEZ is that, despite extensive consultation, TfL failed to realise the profound effect its scheme would have on such an enormous industry.
Operators might have expected at least three years' notice of an emissions limit that would force some of them to buy new vehicles; doubtless they would have preferred 10. In the event TfL left them only a few months to react, investigate, plan and place orders. TfL also seemed to pick the most complicated scheme possible.
In the Netherlands they already have not one but 10 LEZs, though with typical Dutch pragmatism the authorities have opted for a simple, blunt approach. All trucks manufactured to Euro-2/3 (October 1997-October 2006) must be fitted with particulate filters; older trucks are banned.
Sad to say, but PCV operators have been far better at reacting to the inevitability of the London LEZ than their LGV counterparts — and their trade associations have been more e spreading the word to their members.
Meanwhile the road haulage industry has been afflicted by a 'they'll never get away with it' mentality. This fails to take into account that the Mayor of London and TfL have absolute jurisdiction in this matter; the government has no powers to intervene, even if it wanted to. The path to LEZ compliance is paved with many pitfalls, especially for owner-drivers By Tf Ls own admission its estimate that only 12,000 vehicles would be affected was wildly inaccurate —the latest guess is 80,000. Similarly, the original list of engines that meet the LEZ requirements ran to four A4 pages it now exceeds 80 pages.
I have been reporting on my own voyage towards the London LEZ, and when deciding on the company that was best for my needs I first looked for proven ability and then asked if I could afford it.
Invariably the best product is the most costeffective in the long term, regardless of the initial cost — although this can be hard to keep in mind when finances are limited.
Eminence of Eminox
That's why I elected to buy the Eminox system even though it came in at nearly twice the price of some alternatives.
Eminox and Pyroban-Envirosafe have taken it upon themselves to offer impartial advice on the LEZ free of charge — a service which I took full advantage of.
, I visited the factory in mid-January 2008 get my truck fitted out (my order had eon placed in October 2007). With the
. .
LEZ coming in on 4 February the switchboard was in danger of being overwhelmed by calls from worried operators.
Pyroban-Envirosafe looks after the smaller orders for Eminox and gave me excellent service and advice. If any complications arise (in my case a new system had to be designed), the issue is passed back to Eminox.
The Eminox factory in Gainsborough, Lines is about to celebrate its 30th anniversary. But right from the start this Uncoin-based company — which began life with two employees— focused on designing and manufacturing state-ofthe-art stainless-steel exhaust systems. Even now it is best known for the vertical stacks that adorn some of the most desirable wagons on UK roads,
David Mutes, one of the two founders, is at heart an engineer who still takes a hands-on approach. While most of us thought Eminox was simply producing US-style straight stacks, the company was really addressing much bigger issues such as developing lowemission, particulate-trap exhaust systems for buses in London and Paris, for example. Nowadays the company offers thousands of designs for a global market. Its Swedish . • • . . sister company Sweriox has been working closely with the two biggest Scandinavian truck manufacturers at the Gothenburg Technical Centre (there is another factory near Paris).
When I delivered my truck to the Gainsborough plant it had to wait in line behind two buses from a large Belgian bus operator that will be converting 165 vehicles to an advanced Eminox system. With these two buses to work on, Eminox will develop a standard system to be retrofitted on-site at the operator's depots throughout Belgium.
One major issue when establishing an EU system is establishing inducements to retrofit equipment that will cut exhaust emissions, such as reduced road tax and tolls.
In the case of the London LEZ, however, TfL is offering a big stick with no carrot. All this should have been thought through and finalised years ago, as soon as the equipment became available and before various local authorites were left to their own devices to develop LEZs.
No doubt the industry will cope with the London LEZ as it copes with all the rest of the endless red tape. But if TfL had done its homework before setting out to save the capital from the dreadful trucks that infest its streets. it could all have been so much easier.