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EC's drawbar shockei
Page 8
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• European hauliers are reeling from last week's EC Commission proposal to limit the total load bed length of drawbars to 15.3 metres.
If adopted, the limit would cost the industry millions of pounds because drawbar rigs could no longer accommodate two 8.22m swap bodies. Like this year's directive on artics, the move is designed to maintain cab length.
EC law currently limits the overall length of drawbars to 18m. To maximise cargo space some manufacturers have designed prime movers with only 1.3m for the cab. Many drawbar rigs now offer the 16.44m of loading space needed for two swap bodies, each able to carry 20 Euro pallets.
International Road Transport Union officials in Brussels says that the proposed limit would cut a drawbar rig's capacity to 34 pallets. "Operators will need more lorries; vehicle fleets on drawbars will have to be increased by 10%," says the IRU.
The new limits envisage a slight overall length increase to 18.35m but with 3.05m reserved for the cab and drawbar linkage. Brussels wants the new measures to apply to all vehicles by 1 January 1995, but vehicles brought into service before 1 July 1991 would be able to operate under the old rules until that deadline.
The IRU and most of the major manufacturers have been pressing the EC Commission to go for an overall length of 19m, but Britain has opposed this, leaving 18.35m as a politically acceptable compromise. However there is likely to be strong opposition by the Benelux countries because of the huge extra costs involved. An executive with Harry Vos, one of Holland's leadin hauliers, has told Commerci Motor "We have more thar 700 of the 8.22m swap bodi All our development in the I five years was in these typ( of containers. This is a vet) big problem for us."
The EC expects to table proposals at a meeting of Ei transport ministers in Marcl but there could be hope of improvement: "It is possibk that at the end of the day ti will agree to a little bit mon says an official.