BIG LORRIES

Under normal E.U. rules, lorries (including their cargo) can weigh a maximum of 44 tonnes, either in the form of a truck and trailer or a "horse" and semi-trailer. The maximum lengths are 18.75m and 16.5m respectively, and in both cases there are usually six axles. In sparsely populated Finland and Sweden, however, they have long used - and, since 1996, have been allowed to run - truck and semi-trailer EuroCombi combinations reaching up to 25.25m and weighing up to 60 tonnes, usually with eight or nine axles. Securing the exemption from the E.U. was a crucial demand of these countries' important forestry and paper industries, which required transport of large numbers of long trees.

Since modern diesel engines are so powerful, a lorry can today pull 60 tonnes almost as easily as 44 tonnes, so using EuroCombi variants significantly reduces driver and fuel costs, and emissions, per tonne. Furthermore, the key determinant of wear and tear on the roads is not total weight, but weight per axle. In general, spreading 60 tonnes over 9 axles has roughly the same effect on the road as 44 tonnes spread over 6 axles.

With the question of carbon emissions increasingly in Governments' minds, and much of that carbon coming from lorries, more and more countries have begun to experiment with EuroCombi variants. Denmark, Germany and the Netherlands, as well as non-E.U. Norway, all allow the bigger lorries, though only on certain routes. Generally, these are the motorway network, plus access roads to major freight terminals. The results of these trials will inform politicians' willingness to extend the scope of EuroCombi lorries.

A lot of people get hot under the collar about big lorries, but in the absence of alternatives (eg we ship much more by rail, which is unlikely to happen), the transport and environmental benefits are, to my mind, compelling. I suspect we'll see more and more big lorries in the future.

Walter Blotscher