Longer and/or Longer and Heavier Goods Vehicles (LHVs) – a Study of the Likely Effects if Permitted in the UK: Final Report Published Project Report PPR285 Goods vehicles that are longer and/or longer and heavier (abbreviated as LHVs in this report) than those currently permitted in the UK are in use, under trial, or being considered, in a number of countries both within the European Union (EU) and elsewhere. The European legislation that controls the maximum dimensions of vehicles, and the maximum weight that guarantees free circulation within the EU, permits trials and the use of these vehicles under certain strict conditions. The legislation is also the subject of a review by the European Commission to consider whether Longer and/or Longer and such vehicles should be part of the Freight Transport Logistics Action Plan to improve the efficiency of transport and logistics in the EU by 2010. Heavier Goods Vehicles In the UK, applications from two hauliers, each wishing to trial an LHV, were refused in 2005. However, interest has (LHVs) – a Study of the grown within the road freight industry both in the UK and elsewhere in Europe. In light of this, and the work of the European Commission, the UK Department for Transport (DfT) decided to undertake research better to inform policy making. TRL, in partnership with the Logistics Research Centre at Heriot-Watt University, were appointed to Likely Effects if Permitted in undertake this research - a formal assessment of the likely combined effects on road safety, the atmospheric and built environment, and the efficiency of freight transport, including the effects on modes other than road transport, if the UK: Final Report different types of LHV in excess of the current weights and/or dimensions limits were to be permitted in the UK. This involved assessing a wide variety of factors, including but not limited to: I Knight • potential demand for LHV operations W Newton • economic efficiency of such operations • effect on other freight modes and the potential impact of freight traffic generation Prof A McKinnon (Heriot-Watt University) • effect on the frequency and distance of vehicle movements et al. • effect on safety and accidents • changes to vehicle emissions and the environment • effects on infrastructure • effects on drivers This enabled the effects to be estimated and compared for eight scenarios, which were used to illustrate different potential regulatory approaches. This report fully describes the findings of the research. Other recent titles from this subject area PPR096 The Heavy Vehicle Crash Injury Study (HVCIS) Project Report I Knight, R Minton, P Massie, T Smith, R Gard 2008 PPR310 Adaptive vehicle structures for secondary safety. A Thompson, M Edwards, O Goodacre, G Coley et al 2008 PPR260 Compatibility and frontal impact test procedures – additional work to support VC-COMPAT: final report. H Davies, M J Edwards, A Thompson 2008 PPR211 Low Energy Rear Impact Tests using RID3D, BioRID II and Hybrid III for EEVC Working Group 12. C Willis, J Carroll, R Torcal-Serrano 2008 Price code: 6X ISSN 0968-4093 TRL Published by IHS Crowthorne House, Nine Mile Ride Willoughby Road, Bracknell Wokingham, Berkshire RG40 3GA Berkshire RG12 8FB United Kingdom United Kingdom T: +44 (0) 1344 773131 T: +44 (0) 1344 328038 F: +44 (0) 1344 770356 F: +44 (0) 1344 328005 E: [email protected] E: [email protected] W: www.trl.co.uk W: www.uk.ihs.com PPR285 Longer and/or Longer and Heavier Goods Vehicles (LHVs) – a Study of the Likely Effects if Permitted in the UK: Final Report by I Knight, W Newton, Prof A McKinnon, A Palmer, T Barlow, I McCrae, M Dodd, G Couper, H Davies, A Daly, W McMahon, E Cook, V Ramdas and N Taylor PPR 285 Clients Project Reference Number S0516/V7 (PPRO/012/034) PUBLISHED PROJECT REPORT TRL Limited PUBLISHED PROJECT REPORT PPR 285 LONGER AND / OR LONGER AND HEAVIER GOODS VEHICLES (LHVs) – A STUDY OF THE LIKELY EFFECTS IF PERMITTED IN THE UK: FINAL REPORT Version: 1 by I Knight, W Newton, T Barlow, I McCrae, M Dodd, G Couper, H Davies, A Daly, B McMahon, E Cook, V Ramdas, N Taylor (TRL), Prof A McKinnon, A Palmer (Logistics Research Centre, Heriot-Watt University) Prepared for: Project Record: S0516/V7 (PPRO 4/012/034) Longer and/or longer and heavier goods vehicles (LHVs)– a study of the likely effects if permitted in the UK Client: Commercial Vehicles and Regulation, Transport, Technology and Standards Division, Department for Transport (DfT) Copyright TRL June 2008 This report has been prepared for the Department for Transport, Transport Technology and Standards Division. The views expressed are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of the Department for Transport. Nothing in this report, including any interpretation of the legal or regulatory system, is intended, or should be taken, to be legal advice as to rights and responsibilities arising under or in relation to legislation (including that of the European Community) Published Project Reports are written primarily for the Customer rather than for a general audience and are published with the Customer’s approval. Approvals Project Manager W Donaldson Quality Reviewed I Simmons This report has been produced by TRL Limited, as part of a Contract placed by the Department for Transport. Any views expressed are not necessarily those of the Department for Transport. TRL is committed to optimising energy efficiency, reducing waste and promoting recycling and re-use. In support of these environmental goals, this report has been printed on recycled paper, comprising 100% post- consumer waste, manufactured using a TCF (totally chlorine free) process. CONTENTS Executive summary iii 1 Introduction 3 2 Limitations of the study 3 3 Trends in UK Freight 3 3.1 Road Freight 3 3.2 Rail Freight 3 3.3 Water Freight 3 3.4 Forecast Growth in UK and European Freight 3 4 LHV Scenarios 3 4.1 Vehicle types 3 4.2 Scenarios 3 5 Impacts of LHVs 3 5.1 Safety 3 5.1.1 Manoeuvrability 3 5.1.2 Field of view 3 5.1.3 Braking 3 5.1.4 Stability 3 5.1.5 Impact Severity 3 5.1.6 Junctions, Railway Crossings and Overtaking 3 5.1.7 Accident risk 3 5.2 Environment 3 5.2.1 Emissions 3 5.2.2 Noise 3 5.3 Infrastructure 3 5.3.1 Roads 3 5.3.2 Bridges 3 5.3.3 Parking / interchange points 3 5.4 Operating costs 3 5.5 Congestion 3 5.6 Drivers 3 5.7 Public opinion 3 5.8 Regulatory Impacts 3 5.9 Compliance and Enforcement 3 6 Assessing the potential use of LHVs 3 6.1 Factors Affecting the Replacement of Existing Heavy Goods Vehicle Movements 3 6.2 Effects of Imposing Network Restrictions on LHVs 3 6.2.1 The need for network restrictions 3 6.2.2 Definitions of networks 3 6.2.3 Effect of restrictions on LHV use 3 6.3 Vehicle utilisation and average loads 3 TRL Limited PPR 285 6.4 Estimating take-up rate 3 6.5 Estimating Modal Shift 3 6.5.1 Rail – bulk commodities 3 6.5.2 Rail – deep-sea containers 3 6.5.3 Rail – domestic intermodal 3 6.5.4 Overall effect on rail traffic 3 6.5.5 Payload neutral scenarios 3 6.6 Projected Traffic Generation 3 7 Estimated costs and benefits of LHVs 3 7.1 Effects which could not be financially valued within the scope of this project 3 7.2 Parametric cost model 3 7.2.1 Overview 3 7.2.2 Results 3 7.3 Investments 3 8 Discussion 3 9 Conclusions 3 Acknowledgements 3 References 3 Appendix A. Identification and selection of vehicle types for analysis 3 A.1 Introduction 3 A.2 Methods 3 A.3 Results 3 A.3.1 Identification of EU combinations, proposals and vehicle characteristics 3 A.3.2 Other existing LHV combinations 3 A.3.3 Engine Power 3 A.3.4 Initial selection of vehicle types for detailed analysis 3 Appendix B. Analysis of impacts on safety 3 B.1 Manoeuvrability 3 B.1.1 Low speed off-tracking 3 B.1.2 Performance Limits 3 B.1.3 Evaluation of off-tracking and out-swing for the LHV types assessed 3 B.1.4 Out-swing 3 B.1.5 Summary 3 B.2 Field of view 3 B.2.1 Indirect vision requirements 3 B.2.2 Existing research 3 B.2.3 Geometrical analysis – assuming 2003/97 compliant mirrors 3 B.2.4 Geometric analysis summary 3 B.2.5 Collision warning and camera systems 3 B.2.6 Field of view conclusions 3 B.3 Braking 3 TRL Limited PPR 285 B.3.1 Braking efficiency 3 B.3.2 Brake system response time 3 B.4 Stability 3 B.4.1 Static rollover threshold 3 B.4.2 Rearward amplification 3 B.4.3 Dynamic load transfer 3 B.4.4 High speed transient off-tracking 3 B.4.5 Yaw damping ratio 3 B.4.6 Influence of basic design parameters on key stability parameters 3 B.5 Impact Severity Assessment 3 B.6 Junctions, crossing and overtaking 3 B.7 Stakeholder concerns 3 B.8 Accident risk 3 B.8.1 Statistics from literature 3 B.8.2 In-depth review of multi-fatal LHV accident in Finland 3 B.8.3 Predictions of future accident involvement rates 3 B.8.4 Potential safety countermeasures 3 B.9 Discussion 3 B.10 References 3 Appendix C. Analysis of impacts on Emissions 3 C.1 Introduction 3 C.2 Methods 3 C.3 Results 3 C.4 Discussion 3 C.5 References 3 Appendix D.