TRADE ASSOCIATIONS RESPOND TO THE RESEARCH
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"A valuable contribution to the debate," is Road Haulage Association policy director Jack Semple's summary of McKinnon's and Piecyk's paper. However, he does question how the industry can shift 14% of freight off the roads and cut empty running further. He says: "You have to operate within the realms of reality; pressure on the road system, drivers' hours and the average length of haul in the UK is relatively short." He also points out the flawed thinking in setting national targets for carbon emissions reductions: "We think there should be more manufacturing and process industry in this country. which would increase the UK's carbon output, but would reduce global carbon emissions,' he explains. "And we mustn't lose sight of the fact the UK's transport industry has got a reasonable record, and is continuing to keep a very good carbon performance, given what it's asked to do."
The Freight Transport Association says it will show the research to its modal councils.
Chief economist Simon Chapman says: "McKinnon is creating a starting point, [from] which we can begin to understand what needs to be done. We have got to come up with a plan on climate change 80% as a statistic is meaningless."