Longer Lorries

[Saleen836]

From today lorries up to (approx) 2m longer will be allowed on UK roads, this will apparently take one standard sized trailer off the road ut of every 12 trips!
https://news.sky.com/story/longer-lorries-allowed-...

Having spent much of my youth in the passenger seat of my father's 40ft artic on many roadtrips even that was a hassle sometimes with negotiating places and roads

[Oggs]

They will probably only go to distribution centres and not in to city centres.

[Matt_E_Mulsion]

They've been on trial here for the last eleven years so they are nothing new as such. It just means that anyone can now operate them, not just the companies that have had the special dispensation for the last decade or so.

[mwstewart]

Oggs said:

They will probably only go to distribution centres and not in to city centres.

As an aside - thankfully now those monoliths are shod in gradiated cladding which has the effect of blending them in to the horizon, and what a difference that makes.

[DaveE87]

I shunted one in a yard today. It requires a bit more room to manoeuvre but will get used to it easily enough. You might see them take up a bit more room splitting lanes etc, especially on roundabouts, although the rear steering axle helps.

[Grumps.]

EmailAddress said:

Cycling Uk
Proportion of all non-motorway traffic mileage
1.3% (2015-19)
2.4% (2020)
1.7% (2021)

Statista
2021, approximately 6.5 million people participated in cycling, either for sport, leisure or travel, in England.

Cycling UK's campaign manager says the decision to allow longer lorries was "alarming" and that "further testing in real life scenarios should have been done to assess and address the risks".

Why would we give a flying what Cycling UK think when it affects such a minority, versus the majority benefits.

Wrong thread mebe?

[fido]

A lorry trying to use a side road to turn around took out the 85/265 bus routes one morning last week (Roehampton, SW London). I also saw one get stuck near Wimbledon Village - took 10 minutes to get it free. Surely this will happen more often with longer lorries.

[Biggy Stardust]

EmailAddress said:

Why would we give a flying what Cycling UK think when it affects such a minority, versus the majority benefits.

Because they demand courtesy & consideration despite never giving any of the same.

edit: That they imagine these extra-size vehicles will be taken into city centres shows how little they actually think.

Edited by Biggy Stardust on Wednesday 31st May 22:10

[Jader1973]

An extra 2 metres? How cute.

These are normal down here.

[cherryowen]

Jader1973 said:

An extra 2 metres? How cute.

These are normal down here.

Down there?

Aus?

If so, perfectly viable across the Nullabor Plain. Not so much on the A38 (M) I suspect

[Jader1973]

cherryowen said:

Jader1973 said:

An extra 2 metres? How cute.

These are normal down here.

Down there?

Aus?

If so, perfectly viable across the Nullabor Plain. Not so much on the A38 (M) I suspect

They are widely used everywhere, not just long distance stuff. Unlikely to find one in the CBD but certainly in the outer suburbs. If you are running from DC to DC they could easily work in the UK.

Long distance (in Aus) is more likely to be a 2 or more trailer road train.

[twister]

cherryowen said:

Down there?

Aus?

If so, perfectly viable across the Nullabor Plain. Not so much on the A38 (M) I suspect

They seemed quite at ease negotiating the roads around the edge of Melbourne's city centre when I was there a few years back, so no reason why they'd struggle with a half-decent trunk road in the UK.

[Stussy]

I drive with one and it’s hardly any different to a normal trailer. It’s only really tight corners that need to be taken a little wider than usual.
As already mentioned, they’ve been on our roads for years already with hardly anyone noticing, yet some people claim it will be chaos etc!
One of our longer trailers does multi drop around a city centre daily with no issues, I’ve done it myself too. It’s often easier to reverse in tight spots with the rear steering too.

[gotoPzero]

Given the cost of these trailers I would not worry about it too much, most firms wont be able to make it pay right now (and the wait for delivery!). Only the bigger operators with 10+ trailers might consider it, but in reality you are talking regional / national companies that will be the main user.

You will see more of them, but I dont think its going to be a case of everyone rushing out to buy one. Perhaps in 5-10 years when used ones are on the market.

As has been said the likes of TPN etal run them from RDC to RDC. Multi drop is few and far between.

And before that we have had wagons dragging since time began and moffetts hanging off the back since the 80s.

[dvs_dave]

Jader1973 said:

cherryowen said:

Jader1973 said:

An extra 2 metres? How cute.

These are normal down here.

Down there?

Aus?

If so, perfectly viable across the Nullabor Plain. Not so much on the A38 (M) I suspect

They are widely used everywhere, not just long distance stuff. Unlikely to find one in the CBD but certainly in the outer suburbs. If you are running from DC to DC they could easily work in the UK.

Long distance (in Aus) is more likely to be a 2 or more trailer road train.

Clue is in the name. UK doesn’t need them as we have not only much shorter distances to travel, but also actual trains widely available instead.

[smifffymoto]

A non story really,we went from 38t to 40t,then up to 44t.In the time between 40t and 44t ,trailers were built to take 2 extra pallets.
A bigger difference in road transport would be upping gross weight,thus making trucks more efficient per mile.

[phil-sti]

Bit of a none story, they have been around for 10 years easily now. i ran them for a bit and the vast majority of customers arent set up for the extra length. What needs to happen is what has already been said gross weights need to increase and instead of using the biggest of these new trailers just use the one that adds 2 pallets.

[J4CKO]

Biggy Stardust said:

EmailAddress said:

Why would we give a flying what Cycling UK think when it affects such a minority, versus the majority benefits.

Because they demand courtesy & consideration despite never giving any of the same.

edit: That they imagine these extra-size vehicles will be taken into city centres shows how little they actually think.

Edited by Biggy Stardust on Wednesday 31st May 22:10

Yes, of course, every cyclist demands things they never give.

Cyclists aren’t a different species strangely, despite your strange view.

Would you be discourteous and entitled if you rode a bike ?

[Matthen]

smifffymoto said:

A non story really,we went from 38t to 40t,then up to 44t.In the time between 40t and 44t ,trailers were built to take 2 extra pallets.
A bigger difference in road transport would be upping gross weight,thus making trucks more efficient per mile.

Not sure raising the max weight would pay off for society
- the major roads around here are already trenched by the lorries, any more weight would only make it worse.

[Sixpackpert]

Matthen said:

smifffymoto said:

A non story really,we went from 38t to 40t,then up to 44t.In the time between 40t and 44t ,trailers were built to take 2 extra pallets.
A bigger difference in road transport would be upping gross weight,thus making trucks more efficient per mile.

Not sure raising the max weight would pay off for society
- the major roads around here are already trenched by the lorries, any more weight would only make it worse.

Also bearing in mind fully loaded trucks struggle to make it up some hills as it is, Birdlip in our area, I can’t see extra weight being an answer.