UK rejects super-lorries

摘要

The UK Government has rejected a proposal from road hauliers to increase the size of vehicles allowed on UK highways. A report commissioned by its Department for Transport from the Transport Research Laboratory found that super-lorries 'could lead to an increase in CO_2 emissions due to goods shifting from rail to road, create serious implications for the management of the road network - as the vehicles would be unsuitable for many roads and junctions - and introduce new safety risks'. If approved, some of the changes studied would have permitted the maximum drawbar vehicle length to be increased from 18.75m to 25.25m, enabling 1 × 40ft and 1 × 20ft to be transported at the same time and the maximum all-up weight for intermodal transport to be increased from 44 tonnes to between 60-84 tonnes in defined cases.