Germany has become the latest European country to legalise the mega truck – a type of giant articulated HGV measuring up to 25.25 metres long and weighing up to 60 tons.
Mega trucks are permitted in Sweden, Finland, Denmark and the Netherlands. Cross-border and international use of these vehicles remains forbidden.
Proponents of the mega truck claim these giant lorries have a positive effect on the environment and road safety. However, studies suggest the effect of widespread use of mega trucks would road freight cheaper and thereby undermine efforts to shift goods from road to rail. There are serious concerns that the substantial weight and size would increase road danger.
Currently, the maximum permitted length for a lorry on British roads is 18.25 metres with a total combined weight of 40 tons. But the new mega trucks would be 6.5 metres longer and 20 tons heavier. In comparison, a Boeing 737-300 carrying its maximum 127 passengers weighs 57.6 tons at take-off, making it lighter than a mega-truck.
The Environmental Transport Association (ETA) is part of a pan-European coalition of organisations against the widespread introduction of the mega trucks. A spokesperson explained that mega trucks represent an unacceptable risk to other road users: “One in five fatal road collisions involves a heavy goods vehicle and these mega-trucks are like articulated lorries on steroids – they are simply too big, too heavy and too dangerous in many situations.”
In London, 55 per cent of all bicycle deaths between 2008 and 2013 involved a heavy-goods vehicle. Despite HGVs accounting for only four per cent of London’s road miles; 20 per cent of pedestrian fatalities in 2013 involved an HGV in the city.
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Lorries of this size are used in New Zealand where roads are arguably bendier than the UK. If restricted to main roads they would reduce the number of lorries required and reduce fuel consumption per tonne of freight. Surely fewer lorries on the roads is good! Rather than fight against them maybe you should fight for them as long as they contain pedestrian and cyclist protection measures! Yes trains would be better, but that’s not going to happen any time soon is it!