20 days to stop mega trucks

There is continuing uncertainty over whether or not a new type of ‘mega truck’, which weighs more than a fully-laden airliner, will be allowed on European streets.

The European Commission seems poised to make mega trucks legal on European roads by default. A final decision on introducing mega trucks has not yet been made on a European level and it seems likely that mega trucks will be permitted to make international cross-border journeys when the Commission re-interprets the harmonised maximum dimensions for international lorries at 40 tons and 18.75 m.

Megatrucks would then circulate in and between Scandinavia, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. Pressure on surrounding countries like France, Poland, Czech Republic would soon grow to be irresistible.

The bottom line is that cross-border use equates to a general allowance. The only difference is that the change will be gradual rather than abrupt.

60-ton mega-trucks measure more than 25 metres in length and are heavier than 52 family cars, or a Boeing 737-300 airliner.

Currently, the maximum permitted length for a lorry on British roads is 18.25 metres with a total combined weight of 40 tons. But the new mega-trucks would be 6.5 metres longer and 20 tons heavier. In comparison, a Boeing 737-300 carrying its maximum 127 passengers weighs 57.6 tons at take-off, making it lighter than a mega-truck
The Environmental Transport Association (ETA) is part of a pan-European coalition of organisations against the widespread introduction of the mega trucks.

Too big, too heavy, too dangerous

Director of the ETA, Andrew Davis, explained that the mega trucks represent an unacceptable risk to other road users: “One in five fatal road collisions involves a heavy goods vehicle and these mega-trucks are like articulated lorries on steroids – they are simply too big, too heavy and too dangerous in many situations.”