Pro-Rail Alliance response to government plans for LHVs

Berlin. The German Pro-Rail Alliance has sharply criticised an as yet unpublished transport ministry paper on test trials of longer and heavier vehicles (LHVs) in Germany. “The conservative-liberal coalition has not come up with an even remotely plausible explanation as to why it wants to carry out nationwide trials of mega trucks,” said Dirk Flege, managing director of the Pro-Rail Alliance, on Monday in Berlin. He added: “The federal government doesn’t have anything better to offer than the theory that since LHVs, which are just over seven metres longer, will be able to transport more goods there will be less heavy goods vehicles on the roads. That is simply a theory, and it has already been rebutted by researchers who have pointed to the long-term consequences for the transport sector. However, it is precisely these consequences will not show up in the government’s LHV trials.”

Answering a parliamentary question put by the SPD, the transport ministry’s parliamentary secretary of state, Andreas Scheuer, responded for the government in an as yet unpublished letter (parliamentary number 17/294). The government’s reply to the question - what contribution it was expecting LHVs to make towards sustainable mobility – was as follows: “In general, the nationwide trials are also intended to provide information on how much more freight will be transported per heavy goods vehicle while maintaining a maximum permissible weight of 40 tonnes. This could make possible a reduction in the total number of commercial vehicles or journeys, which would additionally lead to a reduction in CO2 emissions and traffic noise.”

“Among researchers and people in the industry there is complete agreement that licensing mega trucks for regular use would result in more heavy goods vehicles on German motorways and not less,” said the railway alliance’s managing director. “The additional loading space would make road freight transport around 25 percent cheaper. In other words, there would even greater cost incentive to use the motorways for freight storage, leading to a modal shift away from the inland waterways and the railways to the roads. Nationwide trials will not provide any insight into this issue because the transport industry will not be able to base any decisions on the narrow scope offered by these pilot trials. Only when the next step is taken and mega trucks are licensed for everyday deployment will major changes be made to logistics plans.”

At least the federal government has admitted that existing parking spaces for goods vehicles at motorway services are too small for LHVs, said the Pro-Rail Alliance. Flege added: “Taxpayers’ money will have to be spent on providing additional parking for these dangerous and environmentally damaging mega trucks, not to mention the fact that traffic roundabouts and railway level crossings will also need to be upgraded. And the general public is expected to foot the bill. Not exactly policies for sustainable transport.”