Roadway Update 11 September 2019

Road to Logistics gets £1m Government boost

The Road Haulage Association and leading telematics company Microlise are delighted that Government has pledged £1m to support Road to Logistics – a not-for-profit scheme founded by the two organisations.

“This is the culmination of three years of collaboration and hard work between the RHA and Microlise,” said RHA chief executive, Richard Burnett.

Following a successful trial with HM Prison Sudbury and other prisons across the UK, Road to Logistics aims to train up to 300 drivers in the first year. The scheme will link potential drivers with employers, mentor them and put them through the necessary training including taking their HGV driving test.

Read the full story on RoadwayLive.

RHA welcomes Brexit awareness campaign

On Monday the Government emailed over 70,000 UK operators, industry bodies and other interested parties with essential, detailed, information.

The Road Haulage Association is pleased at the news from the Department for Transport that they are launching a multi-million-pound public information campaign to ensure that businesses and hauliers are Brexit-ready.

This campaign will make sure hauliers obtain everything they need from traders to get through border customs smoothly, reducing the risk of holdups at ports and ferry terminals.

Get the full story on RoadwayLive.

Other preparations have also taken place with new motorway signs set up to warn hauliers about potential changes to customs processes in the event of a no deal Brexit. The signs read: “Freight to EU may change November 1. Check papers.”

This story is also available on RoadwayLive.

Tom Cotton speaks at RIS2 forum

The Westminster Energy, Environment and Transport Forum met yesterday to discuss infrastructure delivery, finance and RIS2. Amongst them the RHA's Head of Licensing and Infrastructure, Tom Cotton.

Jack Brereton MP, of the House of Commons Transport Select Committee, hosted the event. The forum garnered the attendance of some key figures, such as Graham Jones MP, Jim O'Sullivan Chief Executive at Highways England and Director of Midlands Connect, Maria Machancoses.

Tom took a moment to explain the important forum in the below video.

Read the full article on RoadwayLive.

Tom Cornwell tackles Clean Air Zones

Tom Cornwell, RHA Area Manager, spoke out on BBC Radio Essex about clean air zones and HGVs in Basildon.

Tom explained that while the RHA is certainly behind measures to improve air quality, it cautions that Clean Air Zones can increase congestion by targeting lorries and driving people to use vans instead to avoid the fines.

Since it would take 16 to 20 vans to carry the same amount of goods as a single lorry, it's easy to see how this move could increase congestion and emissions in the area.

You can listen to Tom below.

DVSA IT issues

The DVSA’s IT systems have continued to cause problems, after recently crashing on several occasions. This has resulted in trainers, including the RHA, being unable to upload results of the driver CPC courses.

However, the Association’s Tom Cotton has spoken with the DVSA who have confirmed all the records have been updated.

This story was first covered on RoadwayLive at the end of August, when issues with the Online Driver Enquiry service were first reported.

Highways England September news bulletin

Highways England have issued their new bulletin on the ongoing M4 roadworks.

The work will include the demolition of the first structure in the M4 project, Recreation Ground overbridge, over the weekend of 27–30 September 2019.

Work is also getting underway between Junction 3 and 4b following enabling work over the summer. Three narrow lanes and a 50mph speed limit will be in place from mid-September 2019 and access to the hard shoulder will also be removed during the work.

Read the full story on RoadwayLive.