Possible Impact of Long and Heavy Vehicles in the United Kingdom—A Commodity Level Approach

Abstract

The potential effects of implementing longer and heavier vehicles (LHVs) in road freight transport have been studied in various countries, nationally and internationally, in Europe. These studies have focused on the implementation of LHVs on certain types of commodities and the experience from countries like Finland and Sweden, which have a long tradition of using LHVs, and in which LHVs used for all types of commodities have not been widely utilised. This study aimed to assess the impacts of long and heavy vehicles on various commodities in the United Kingdom based on the Finnish experiences in order to estimate the possible savings in road freight transport vehicle kilometres, costs, and CO 2 emissions in the United Kingdom if LHVs would be introduced and used similarly to in Finland in the transport of various commodities. The study shows that the savings of introducing longer and heavier vehicles in the United Kingdom would be 1.5-2.6 billion vehicle kms, £0.7-1.5 billion in transport costs, and 0.35-0.72 Mt in CO 2 emissions. These findings are well in line with previous findings in other countries. The results confirm that considerable savings in traffic volume and emissions can be achieved and the savings are very likely to outweigh possible effects of modal shift from rail to road.Lorries are used in various tractor-trailer combinations around the world from over 30-m long Australian B-triple vehicles with 90t gross vehicle weight (GVW) to European semitrailer combinations with 16.5 m length and 40t GVW (Figure 1). Also, the height of the vehicles varies from 4 m to 4.8 m of

Evolutionary game analysis of three parties in logistics platforms and freight transportation companies’ behavioral strategies for horizontal collaboration considering vehicle capacity utilization

“…They also contend that high-capacity vehicles will yield valuable environmental and financial benefits but are unlikely to have the same impact on road safety. Liimatainen et al [19] reported that the use of longer and heavier vehicles (LHVs) for various commodities in road freight transport can ensure considerable savings in traffic volume and emissions. Isler et al [20] designed a visualized geostrategic railway network for freight services to solve multiple freight type transport problems.…”

Evaluating the Effects of the A-Double Vehicle Combinations If Introduced to a Line-Haul Freight Transport Network

“…Future research might focus, in the first place, on expanding this research by considering its limitations. In addition, it would also be beneficial to examine the likely effects of the A-double vehicles from a macro perspective using a commodity-based approach as in [37]. Finally, future work might consider empirical research to examine whether or not…”

Analysis of Emissions and Fuel Consumption in Freight Transport

“…Quite the contrary, a drop in the emissions of PM, SO 2 , NO x , NMVOC per ton-kilometer was observed, which was, inter alia, a consequence of the increased efficiency of this mode of transport. Liimatainen et al [22] estimations have shown that the approval of LHV vehicles in the UK would contribute to the reduction of the emission of carbon dioxide (a greenhouse gas). Today, the PEMS-based measurements are becoming increasingly popular.…”