The Freight Transport Association (FTA) have displayed their disappointed to the claim from Local Government Association (LGA)’s stating that freight transport is to blame for the poor condition of the roads in the UK. The FTA have instead pointed the blame on the lack of investment that infrastructure in the UK receives. The FTA have called on the government to reverse the downturn in spending on local infrastructure.
Swannells – Warehousing Huntingdon
Head of Policy at the FTA, Chris Snelling said:“Freight levels on our roads are still not back to the pre-recession totals of 2006,”
He continued: “so the LGA’s assertion that HGVs are solely responsible for the increased number of potholes on Britain’s roads is incorrect. It also indicates a clear lack of understanding of the impact of freight vehicles. Larger lorries do not cause increased damage to the road surface – in fact, they have more axles which spread payloads more evenly. When combined with road-friendly twin tyres and road-friendly suspension, this reduces the impact of road usage by lorries. Moving to a greater number of smaller vehicles would not ease the problem, but would simply compound the impact on an already weakened infrastructure.
“For the LGA to make this sort of statement, instead of discussing the issue with the freight industry, is simply a cheap attempt to make headlines and pass over responsibility for an issue which sits in their remit. The real issue is the need for increased funding from central government to address the potholes problem nationwide. Local authorities are facing large bills – one-off costs of approximately £69 million* per council – to bring their roads up to a reasonable condition. If local authorities are not able to spend enough to do this now, then FTA wants to work with LGA in securing more support from national government to address the problem.
“The transportation of essential goods on our roads is crucial to the continued health of the economy, and to claim that lorries are the cause of the potholes across the country is simply not true. We call on the government to make a significant investment to ensure that British business can keep moving smoothly, without potholes.”
Swannells – Warehousing Huntingdon
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