Height restriction deals a body blow to UK hauliers

For local truckers, who are peeved at the Department of Transport’s (DoT) strict refusal to increase trailerand- load height in this country above 4.3-metres, the latest news from the UK makes this war wound only a superficial injury. The SA road transport industry was looking for an increase in height so that the members could legally transport high-cube containers (with a travel height of 4.5-4.6 m) on normal rather than lowbed truck trailers. But the department has determined that it will not increase the height of 4.3-m as stipulated in Regulation 224 (Overall height of vehicle and load). But, compared to this, the latest news out of the European Parliament in Brussels, is fatal – and has left UK truckers absolutely devastated. In practice, there is no legal height limit in the UK. But, in general terms, double-deck and tall trailers in the UK are normally built to 4.88-m (16-ft). But the latest European Union (EU) proposal has stunned the road freight industry. The parliamentarians in Brussels, with European conformity in mind, have decided that they are going to restrict all new-build semi-trailers to 4-m in height. The proposal has been sent to all UK trailer builders and, if passed into law, would see all semitrailers built under Whole Vehicle Type Approval (WVTA) restricted to 4-m in height – spelling the end of high-roof and multi-deck trailers. The Road Haulage Association (RHA), for example, has criticised the proposal, which it believes would pose a threat to the efficiency of the UK road haulage industry and pushup carbon emissions.