Outsize Problems
Page 3
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ON November 1, new controls over the movement of large and awkward loads come into effect and the range of loads that are subject to restriction is widened. Thus the lot of the specialist operator will become even more onerous than it is now. The haulier, it would appear, is to bear the full brunt of realizing the Government's ambition of reducing the number of outsize loads.
But the loads themselves have been getting larger. Bridge sections, for example, that once were carried in small parts and assembled at the site are now, because of increasing labour costs, fabricated at the factory. And notice is often too short. In many cases hauliers find themselves faced with the problem, after receiving limited advice by telephone, of moving an awkward piece of plant, and police and highway authority dispensation has to be sought for the movement.
Some apprehension is therefore felt about what will happen to these "out of gauge" pieces after November 1. It seems obvious that only by the closest co-operation between haulier and manufacturer will such loads be able to reach their destinations by road in the future. Too little consideration is given to the method of eventual transport when these structures are at the drawing board stage. In future, the haulier will surely have to be consulted before extra-large items are fabricated.