Roads: Long and Heavy Vehicles Debate

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Department: Department for Transport

Roads: Long and Heavy Vehicles

Lord Geddes Excerpts
Wednesday 1st December 2010

(14 years ago)

Lords Chamber
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Earl Attlee Portrait Earl Attlee
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My Lords, most of what the noble Lord says is right. We are looking at an increase in the cubic capacity of an articulated vehicle, but we have absolutely no intention of increasing the gross weight of a goods vehicle, for precisely the reasons that the noble Lord explained.

Lord Geddes Portrait Lord Geddes
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My Lords, is the crucial question in this context not the axle weights rather than the overall weight?

Earl Attlee Portrait Earl Attlee
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My Lords, the noble Lord makes an important point. The damage to the road goes up in proportion to the fourth power of the axle weight, but we have no intention of altering the permitted axle weights either. However, the type of vehicle we are looking at will require different axle arrangements on the rear of the vehicle.