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The maximum authorized dimensions that are allowed for national and international traffic and the maximum weights and dimensions that are allowed for certain vehicles in international traffic were prescribed in the EU Council Directive 96/53/EC of May 25th 1996. As result of the "modular concept" (see illustration front page) introduced in this directive, Sweden and Finland were permitted to retain the longer lengths for vehicles operating in national traffic. In principle all Member States are allowed to apply the modular concept. Today, apart from Sweden and Finland, the Netherlands have also started an experiment with long trucks and Denmark and Norway are also considering allowing its use. Studies on the use of the modular concept in Sweden, Finland and the Netherlands, have shown that it results in substantial reductions of vehicle kilometres and fuel consumption, thereby decreasing congestion, greenhouse gas emissions, road wear and transport costs, without compromising road safety.

Background

White paper EU Transport Policy 2010

The white paper on EU Transport Policy (2001) announced 60 measures that would allow the market shares of the different transport modes to return to their 1998 levels and thus make for a shift of balance from 2010 onwards. There would also be a marked break in the link between transport growth and economic growth. Road transport would grow with 38% rather than 50% between 1998 and 2010. The measures in question were directed at revitalising alternative modes of transport to road and to internalise external costs, especially in road transport.

Kyoto progress report

The Commission recently published the fourth Kyoto progress report (Monitoring mechanism of Community greenhouse gas emissions, COM (2003) 735 final), suggesting that with existing measures in 2010 the emissions of the Community will have decreased by only 0,5% (7,5% short of the Kyoto commitment). The situation has worsened compared with a year ago, and the transport sector is responsible for the largest share in the increase of CO2 emissions (20%). On the positive side, when additional measures planned by the EU member states are taken into account, due to a projected overachievement by six of them, it would bring the EC as a whole close to the 8% reduction (7,2%). Nevertheless, many member states are not on schedule and transport emissions pose a big problem. Allowing the use of the modular concept is a policy measure that can contribute to decoupling transport growth from economic growth and to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the transport sector.

Long haulage

In international long haulage transport within the EU articulated vehicles, usually called semi-trailer combinations, are dominant. Their regular loading capacity, of about 85 m 3 and 26 tonnes is provided by a 13.6 metre long semi-trailer (the maximum total weight being 40 tonnes or 44 tonnes if the cargo consists of a 40-foot ISO container). Also road trains, consisting of a lorry and a centre-axle trailer, are used. The maximum loading capacity is approximately 96 m 3 and 26 tonnes.

Sweden and Finland

The modular concept practised in Sweden and Finland since 1997 is based on the CEN standardised 7.82-metre long unit load carrier and the 13.6-metre long semi-trailer. The maximum length of this combination of "modules" is 25.25 metres. All cargo units in the system are well adapted for rail transport in combined transport either as single vehicles or as separate load carrier units. The combination is built on existing vehicles and load carriers available in large quantities on the European continent. A study on the use of long haulage in Sweden and Finland shows that the modular concept will change and improve the logistic system and reduce congestion on the European continent. On average the reduction of number of trips was approximately 32 %, fuel consumption was reduced by approximately 15 % (and thus emissions as well) and the cost savings about 23 %. The study concluded that an estimated third of heavy vehicles could benefit from the modular system, potentially reducing the number of heavy vehicles from the highways with 20%. The road space occupied by heavy vehicles would be reduced by around 24% according to calculation by VOLVO. The study also indicated that the use of the modular concept reduces road wear (using 2 instead of three vehicles but with the same number of axles, to transport the same amount of cargo) by 15-20% and contributes to increased road safety through a reduction of the number of vehicles. Individual longer trucks have not shown a higher accident risk than regular trucks.

The Netherlands

A similar study was conducted in the Netherlands after a pilot involving four companies using longer or heavier trucks on specific routes. The pilot lasted from December 2000 untill June 2003. The trucks which were used in the pilot had a maximum weight of 60 tons and/or a maximum length of 25.5 meters. The experiment demonstrated that the deployment of longer and heavier vehicles may lead to a decrease in fuel consumption per ton kilometer. Fully loaded heavier vehicles have shown reductions in fuel consumption up to 30%. The test did not show that LHV’s have a higher accident risk than conventional lorry combinations: during the experiment no incidents or accidents occurred. Due to the success of this pilot, the Dutch minister of transport has decided in December 2003 to extend the pilot with a further 2 and a half years. This time 300 LHV’s will be allowed to participate. They can make use of the whole Dutch highway network, and drive a further 20km off the highway to get to their delivery addresses.

Modal shift

Some people might point out that allowing the use of the modular concept will not help rail transport to compete with road transport, working against modal shift policy. Aside the question whether this is true or not (long trucks generally transport high-value goods and rail low-value goods), recent scientific evidence suggests that in non-bulk transport over longer distances, in 2010, road transport’s environmental performance will be better than rail transport and waterway transport. In this market segment modal shift would actually be counter-productive for reducing air pollution (CO2 performance differences were small in the study, the outcome depending on the specific case). Furthermore, all modular cargo units in the system are well adapted for combined/rail transport. In any case, ESC considers that blocking progress or efficiency gains in road transport is not the right way to arrive at a sustainable transport policy. Any policy measure should be tested on its effectiveness to achieve concrete transport policy objectives, and long haulage more than qualifies.

Conclusion

The positive experience with the modular concept in Sweden, Finland and the Netherlands, has shown that allowing the use of the modular concept is a policy measure that simultaneously decreases congestion, greenhouse gas emissions, road wear and transport costs (thereby incentivising companies to make use of it), without compromising road safety. Less congestion, less pollution and less costs. ESC calls on the Commission and the Member States to recognise the positive role that the modular concept can play in a sustainable transport policy, and to promote its wider use. It is a most effective measure to decouple transport growth from economic growth, as called for in the White Paper on EU Transport Policy.

Annex: Modal shift study by CE Delft, the Netherlands (March 2003)

‘To shift or not to shift’

The main conclusions on the environmental performance of transport modes (passenger and freight) were:

from an environmental perspective it makes no sense to speak of ‘clean’ or ‘dirty’ modes of transport. Environmental performance generally depends more on installed technology and logistical characteristics than on mode per se.;
the results of any environmental comparison depend on the policy question for which an answer is sought. If, on a particular route, rail transport has lower emissions per tonne kilometre than road transport, say, this does not imply that building a new rail link will reduce the environmental burden.

The main findings when comparing freight transport of over 100 km were the following:

In 2010, long-distance road transport will outperform non-bulk intermodal water and diesel-powered rail transport with respect to air pollution. Differences in CO2-emissions between modes are relatively small in this segment. Which mode scores best depends on the specific case.
The picture is more favourable for rail and water transport when bulk transport and/or the year 2000 are considered. Crucial factors for rail and water appear to be type of traction (electrical power is far ’cleaner’ than diesel), environmental performance of diesel engines (currently lagging behind road transport), logistical efficiency and vessel size.
More generally, the differences in environmental performance between transport modes in homogeneous and competing freight markets are smaller than the differences between the average emissions of the modes in question. This is because the relatively cleanest sub-segment of road transport - long-distance transport with relatively new, well-filled and large trucks - is precisely the segment that competes with rail and water transport.

For further information contact: Nicolette van der Jagt, Secretary General of the ESC - Brussels 00 322 230 2113