Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government when the last comprehensive review of the damage impact of the heaviest heavy goods vehicles on road surfaces was undertaken.

A comprehensive review of the effect on road wear of the heaviest goods vehicles permitted to run in normal operations was last done as part of the process before the regulations about maximum permissible Heavy Goods Vehicle (HGV) weights were last revised in 2000. The Road Vehicles (Authorised Weight) (Amendment) Regulations 2000 permitted the use of 44 tonne vehicles for general use. These vehicles have been permitted in Great Britain since 1 February 2001.

Estimates of the road wear attributable to HGVs have been updated periodically, but not comprehensively, most recently in 2014 when road to rail and water mode shift grants were reviewed. A significant piece of research about the potential effects of longer and heavier lorries was published by the Department for Transport in 2008.