Supplementary memorandum by The Institution
of Mechanical Engineers (RH 21A)
BACKGROUND
The IMechE was pleased to provide a submission to
the Inquiry and have been invited to give evidence on 22 March
2000. To assist the Inquiry this supplementary submission has
been prepared as a reference document.
The IMechE does not own or operate commercial
vehicles, it does not employ drivers, it does not engage in or
initiate the movement of freight by road, rail, air or sea. However,
the Institution is the Professional Body for Mechanical Engineers,
many of them engaged in automotive engineering. Moreover, it is
a Learned Society for Mechanical Sciences and Technologies; from
this base we believe that it can provide a meaningful input to
the Select Committee on Road Haulage.
INTRODUCTION
The Institution believes that the Government
is facing a number of important issues on the subject of Road
Haulage.
ISSUES
The Institution believes that road haulage is
successful:
— The volume and weight of freight
being transported by road within the UK is continuing to rise.
— Road haulage systems provide a (relatively)
low cost and efficient method of moving freight, from large ISO
Containers to small quantities of parcels and palletised goods.
— Road haulage has many other attributes
for the business plans of "freight movers", it is controllable,
flexible and generally reliable.
This growth in the transportation of freight
by road brings undesirable side effects:
— Motorways, major highways and centres
of urbanisation are becoming more congested year by year.
— Expenditure on road systems will
have to increase to maintain "congestion" at present
levels.
— Air quality is reduced, particularly
in urban areas.
— Damage is inflicted to roads and
buildings.
The Institution believes the Government is committed
to reducing the spiralling expenditure on roads and to improving
the environment. Thus new policies must be developed to reconcile
possible conflicting interests.
WHAT CAN
THE IMECHE
CONTRIBUTE?
The IMechE covers the application of Mechanical
Engineering Sciences throughout the whole of Industry with particular
association within the Aerospace, Automobile, Rail and Manufacturing
Industries. From this very wide perspective the Institution believes
that two basic alternatives exist for the way ahead:
(1) To accept that road haulage will continue
to provide an increasing share of all freight movement in the
UK. Therefore, the Government can either reinstate, or even accelerate,
expenditure on the road infrastructure or incentivise the adoption
of new technologies to enhance operating efficiencies and reduce
environmental impacts.
(2) To initiate, and assist the funding,
of cost effective alternatives to road haulage which are cost
competitive, and controllable, flexible, reliable.
The IMechE has considered it appropriate to
provide a supplementary submission divided into two sections:
Part 1. A review of emerging technologies
in Automotive Engineering and an assessment of the degree to which
the Road Haulage Industry—and the Effects of Road Haulage
on Society—will (or could) be improved by such technologies
in the context of:
— Exhaust Air Quality.
— Road Transport System Efficiency.
— Infrastructure/Environmental Impact.
— Safety.
Part 2. A review of possible alternative
transport modes that could be promoted to compete more successfully
with road haulage.
Submission Part 1(a)—Emerging Technologies
Details of Emerging Technologies and Policies
for Implementation are shown in the first two of the four tables
attached:
Potential Technological Improvements—Short
Term.
Potential Technological Improvements—Long
Term.
The influence of each measure is classed as
either Strong, Medium or Weak and where appropriate a negative
is highlighted.
Note: Numerous papers
have been presented at the Institution over the last two years
that relate to the items shown in the tables and have been cross
referenced. A full list of references is enclosed. This however,
is not a full list and other papers may be available.
This Institution concludes that:
(1) There are many technologies emerging
in the short term which could when applied have a marked effect
on:
(a) Air Quality. The use in particular of Particulate
Traps and NOx Traps, which require fuels with sulphur levels of
less than 30ppm, will reduce the emission levels of vehicle exhausts.
(b) Transport Efficiency. The use of Traffic
management, Aerodynamics, New materials, Low Friction Powertrains/Tyres
and Telematics will improve "system" efficiency.
(c) Environmental Impact. Suspension Developments,
Noise Reduction Measures and the Recycling of Materials are all
improvements.
(d) Safety. For drivers Noise Reduction, Telematics
and Traffic Management will all have a feature of reducing fatigue.
The use of new materials in vehicle construction potentially have
a huge application for improved collision safety.
(2) Whatever transport system is utilised
a standard of "clean" technologies must be applied to
all forms of prime mover.
In the Short Term, inducements may be necessary
to incentivise the adoption of emerging "product" technologies
as update packages for older vehicles to bring about the required
improvements in Air Quality, Transport Efficiency, Environmental
Impacts and Safety. This might be through Vehicle Excise Duty,
or other appropriate forms of incentives, to encourage owners
and operators to adopt the new "clean and friendly"
technologies. This approach is considered more desirable than
"scrapping" policies which may be difficult to manage.
In order that UK Operators are not penalised versus Continental
Operators, apan-European approach is essential. However, countries
with lower population densities and good road networks may see
no reason to seek these benefits.
In the Long Term, technologies emerging include
Alternative Fuels (not yet sufficiently developed to permit a
high confidence assessment of impact), Autoguidance (reducing
driver fatigue and improving safety) and Hybrid Vehicles (permitting
short periods of operation under electric propulsion within towns
and cities) but all require further development.
Submission Part 1(b)—Possible Policies
Details of Potential Policy Initiatives are
shown in the other two tables:
Potential Policy Initiatives—Short Term
Potential Policy Initiatives—Long Term
For the Short Term opportunities include, incentives
to upgrade older vehicles with new technologies (as described
above), promoting better Traffic Controls (phased traffic lights,
route guidance, speed monitoring and control on all motorways)
plus consideration of fiscal incentives to get freight diverted
from road to alternative transport systems.
The Long Term opportunities highlighted recognise
that the demand for goods in the Internet Age will continue to
rise, therefore improvements and expansions of either road networks,
or rail networks, or both are essential. Potentially, road and/or
rail improvements should be made in conjunction with additional
Container Ports all of which require to have good links to rail.
This is covered in Part 2 below.
Submission Part 2—Alternative Transport
Systems
In considering a selection of an "optimum"
mode of transport for freight this Institution believes it is
dependent upon:
— Distance to be transported
These parameters frequently exclude the consideration
of Air, Rail or Sea/Inland Water based modes of transportation
as alternatives to Road Haulage for the UK. To consider the possible
alternatives in turn:
— Air Freight. Movement of freight
by air is optimal when time is the primary consideration; it becomes
more cost effective over long haul distances but cannot match
the cost per tonne.mile of other systems. Weight and volume, unless
special aircraft are used, are severely restricted. The small
geographic size of the UK makes it difficult for Air to compete
for a significant portion of intra-UK freight movement;
— Rail. Between 1995-96 and
1999-2000 the volume of ISO Container traffic carried by Freightliner
increased from 470,000 to 650,000 containers. Overall, around
25 per cent of all container traffic is by rail, but there are
wide regional variations ranging (60 per cent to and from Scotland
to nothing [zero per cent] on the Felixstowe-London route). Potentially,
Rail could provide a significant alternative to Road but realisation
of its full potential must recognise:
Rail wagons can accommodate only one ISO container;
8' x 8' x 40', but to become more cost competitive needs to accommodate
two ISO containers per wagon; ie one of 40' length and one of
20' length;
— Shipping companies are progressively
adopting "taller" containers with cross section measuring8'
x 8' x 9' x 6'; this trend will reverse the present increase in
container traffic on rail due to loading gauge restrictions in
the UK. This can be addressed only by the use of sub-optimal wagon
utilisation (restricting the number or weight of containers that
can be carried on each wagon and therefore producing unfavourable
economics in relation to wagon cost, train length and terminal
operations).
— Containers of 8' x 9'6" section
are not a problem for road haulage.
— "Piggy-back" modes where
trucks are loaded on wagons for long distance travel are also
impeded by the loading gauge restrictions.
— Europe has developed a new standard
Inter-Modal container (Swap Body) which is readily transferable
between road and rail in Continental Europe, but this is based
on a greater width container which can at present only operate
on a limited number of rail routes in the UK.
— The Inter Modal container is not
a problem for road hauliers.
— The introduction of the 44 tonne
limit for trucks provides a small but significant competitive
shift in favour of Road Haulage and could retard the positive
rate of growth now recorded in rail traffic.
Policies are needed to "promote" Rail
Haulage as an alternative to Road Haulage. These include being
proactive in the definition of dimensions for inter-modal containers
and prioritising specific rail links for modifications to accept
a wider range of "taller" section and inter-modal containers.
Sea Routes. Most movement of freight
by sea excels when the priorities are low cost over a long distance,
but time is not a premium. There are few restrictions on volume
and weight. Most goods entering Northern Europe are in ISO or
"taller" section containers and use Rotterdam; the majority
of containers entering the UK do so at Felixstowe. It is regrettable
that present rail links to Felixstowe have major restrictions
on container freight.
Most trucks entering UK from Europe do so at
Dover; again, it is regrettable that Dover has rail links that
restrict the onward transportation of trucks by "Piggy-back"
rail wagons. Thus, the degree to which sea routes could be developed
as an alternative to road for the longer distances (500 miles)
is severely impeded by:
— Lack of efficient container ports
in SW and NE of the UK, for example at Plymouth, Liverpool and
Glasgow for example.
— Lack of efficient rail links to the
existing major ports of Felixstowe (containers) and Dover (trucks).
Policies are needed to "promote" Sea
Routes as an alternative to Road Haulage, these include more container
ports and better rail links to all ports. Alternatively, the use
of inland water routes as a direct access into major cities and
towns should not be overlooked.
Recommendations
The Institution has identified a number of emerging
technologies which will improve exhaust emissions, operating efficiency
and safety when moving freight by road. Also, the technologies
which reduce environmental impact and make road haulage more "friendly"
to the public at large. We recommend promotion or incentivisation
of a number of these technologies for new vehicles and especially
the upgrading of older vehicles to make them "clean and friendly".
This will however, need to be a pan-Europe approach to ensure
UK Operators are not unfairly penalised. We recommend:
(1) The adoption of new technologies to improve
traffic management systems in the UK which will reduce both direct
and indirect costs and reduce driver fatigue.
(2) Policies are established to promote the
development of alternative freight movement systems; these include:
(a) Rail. Train and track systems are developed
which permit the cost effective movement of containers and a wagon
for the "piggy-back" carriage of trucks and trailers.
(b) Sea. More Container Ports are established
to serve the major centres of population, each with excellent
rail links.
(c) Inland Water. With the increasing automatic
guidance technologies that are emerging practical use should be
made of the navigable inland waters.
The institution considers that air freight is
not a significant competitor to either road or rail for intra-UK
freight (except for rapid, premium or special cargoes) due to
the small geographical size of the UK.
The Institution is currently conducting a comprehensive
study into Integrated Transport Systems. The study, scheduled
for completion in Autumn 2000, will identify opportunities, and
make recommendations, for comprehensive improvements in transport
systems for people and freight within the UK. Clearly, there will
be further recommendations affecting Road Haulage.
D H Atton
Manager, Aerospace & Automobile Divisions
M G Gidlow
Chairman, Automobile Division
A P Ives
Immediate Past Chairman, Automobile Division
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