The Institution of Mechanical Engineers is calling for the Government to introduce a new national freight strategy to reduce congestion, improve air quality and boost the economy.
UK Freight: In for the Long Haul says that up to 30% of road haulage vehicles on UK roads are empty, and that there is an average of 150 million preventable lorry miles per year. It argues that urban consolidation centres could help avoid partially loaded vehicles from making unnecessary deliveries in urban areas.
Better timing and routing of freight could also be assisted by better analysis of data and a consistent approach to the way in which metrics are used across different modes.
- For more on this, read RAIL 804, published on July 6.
- To read the current state of the rail freight industry, read RAIL 802.
FrankH - 28/06/2016 00:07
The partially loaded vehicles are that way because they've already done deliveries elsewhere en route, you will also find that they have collected cages at each delivery to go back to the main depot for re filling. Empty cages slot into each other taking up far less space. Lorries do not run empty unless there is no alternative. No mention is made of coal, bio mass, fuel and other bulk commodity trains running empty for 50% of their mileage.