Government guidance notes on night curfews for lorry operations should help local authorities improve out-of-hours delivery arrangements, to the benefit of retailers, daytime road users and local residents, according to the Freight Transport Association.
It said that growing daytime road congestion, coupled with the continuous need to improve performance and reduce costs, makes the advance of night deliveries increasingly important.
More than 40 per cent of UK supermarkets are have some form of curfew inhibiting deliveries overnight, usually between 10pm and 7am, the FTA said.
Over the last eighteen months it has been working with the Department for Transport and the Cabinet Office to produce advice aimed at both local authorities and retailers on how more night deliveries might be facilitated, resulting in two publications - Delivering the goods: guidance on delivery restrictions and Delivering the goods: a toolkit for improving night-time deliveries.
The guidance publication is a reference document bringing together existing regulations and is designed to assist local authorities, retailers and local residents to arrive at mutually acceptable arrangements when negotiating the possible relaxation of an existing night curfew.
The FTA believes that it will assist local authorities in reducing road congestion by removing lorries from peak daytime operations; improving road safety; and improving air quality by removing the stop/start nature of lorries operating in congestion.
The toolkit document is aimed at retailers with restrictions in place and contains advice on measures that they should take in order to minimise or remove the impact of any increase in lorry night operations, particularly noise control.
FTA deputy chief executive James Hookham said: “People are always asking our industry why it is that more goods cannot be moved during the night. The large number of night lorry bans in place is the principal reason. We believe that an open-minded approach to the new advice will benefit everybody.
“We are not looking for a total abolition of these restrictions, which we recognise is neither practical nor desirable bearing in mind the need for industry to be a 'good neighbour' to the local community and the general public. However, attitudes have changed and we feel that there is a positive case for greater flexibility in delivery times.
“Many of the current restrictions have been in place for twenty years or more. During that same period all technology has moved on, including engineering standards for lorries - quieter vehicles, fewer emissions, smoother suspensions and much more. At the same time changing customer and commercial needs in the twenty-first century require more flexibility.
“I very much hope that we can see some progress on this issue as soon as possible - more night operations for lorries means fewer day operations, good for lorry operators and good for car drivers.”
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