Trailer height proposals 'should be abandoned'
November 7, 2011
Plans to limit the height of future European semi-trailers to just four meters should be abandoned to end uncertainty in the sector, a trade body has warned.
In a toughly worded letter to the European Commissioner Siim Kallas, the Freight Transport Association (FTA) urged Kallas to withdraw the proposals before they pass beyond his control in the Brussels process.
The FTA said a future four meter height limit will have a “catastrophic impact” on many logistics contracts and wreck the efficiencies achieved through the use of high-cube trailers in the UK.
The Association said: “This proposal started life as one of those Brussels ideas that everybody assured us would go nowhere, but nine months later and there is still a piece of paper with ‘four meters’ written on it.
“We have supplied countless briefings to the (UK) Department for Transport, supported academic research into the impacts and FTA’s Brussels office has been working overtime making MEPs and Commission officials aware of the efficiencies and carbon savings achieved in the UK through the use of ‘high-cube’ and double deck trailers.
“Whilst we think double-deck trailers are safe we are now focused on getting the four meter limit for single decks removed. The best way we can see to do that is to kill the proposal.”
To tackle the EU’s proposals, the FTA has drawn up a five-stage battle strategy which involves: letters to the UK Secretary of State for Transport and EU Transport Commissioner, briefings for MEPs , arranging visits to UK depots for European Commission staff, and organizing a rally in Brussels to consolidate support for a higher limit and opposition to the existing proposals among other member States .
