Earlier this year, the European Parliament voted in favour of the operation of Longer Heavier Vehicles (LHVs) across the EU, adopting its position on a new law that would also see the harmonisation of the cross-border movement of such vehicles. In a debate broadcast recently on French radio station, Radio France, a panel of experts discussed the likely impact of LHVs on train-borne freight.
In France, the government was swift to voice its opposition to the directive facilitating the operation of mega-trucks. The country’s rail freight market’s share is a lowly 9 per cent or so, significantly lower than in neighbouring states such as Switzerland and Germany. The prospect of an influx of mega trucks and the significant increase in the capacity on offer from road hauliers, has got the alarm bells ringing among providers of other modes of freight transport.
‘LHVs should be tested on specific routes’
Among the panel of participants in the radio debate was Rodolphe Lanz, general secretary of France’s leading road haulage industry body, the FNTR. While supporting the idea that LHVs can contribute to the decarbonisation of the economy, he said it was the FNTR’s conviction that road and rail freight transport were complementary, not in competition.
Resuming the FNTR’s position on LHVs, Lanz said: “We would like to see them tested out on specific road freight corridors in France, between logistics sites – not competing with rail freight – with specific conditions in terms of infrastructure, safety and driver training. And then conclusions can be drawn.”
‘LHVs are a stab in the back for the Green Deal’
A fierce opponent of mega trucks is Karima Delli, a Green Party MEP between 2009 and 2024 and who held the post of president of the European Parliament’s Transport commission over an eight-year period. A panelist in the debate, she began by drawing attention to the fact that in France, 88 per cent of goods are transported by trucks compared to less than 10 per cent by rail and 2 per cent by river. “It’s high time the general public knew just how dependent we are on road transport today for the shipment of goods because other modes of transport have not been developed.”
She described the vote in favour of LHVs as “a total stab in the back for (the EU’s) Green Deal. How can we say that we need to reduce greenhouse gases and then put more trucks on the road? The measures (relating to mega-trucks) will generate 10.5 million more road journeys per year, and as a direct consequence 6.6 million tonnes of CO2 per year. This is madness. Instead of putting more freight on trains, the shift will be reversed. We’ll have more goods transported by road.” She noted that France had the capacity to say no to mega-trucks and come up with an alternative. “This is a golden opportunity for the development of rail freight.”
‘Cost of road transport needs to be reduced’
Michel Savy, director of the Paris-based TDIE think tank, specialising in transport policies, was also a member of the debating panel. He proposed an experiment to incorporate mega trucks into combined road-rail transport provision. “We don’t often realise it, but the road part of rail-road transport, which represents only 10-20 per cent of the journey in distance, usually accounts for 50 per cent of the cost.”, he specified.
According to him, trying to reduce these costs would be a better approach than taking a dogmatic stance of either being for or against mega trucks. “It certainly merits being tested out with an objective observation of the effects on pollution, on the wear and tear of the roads, and on safety, all of which are clearly very legitimate concerns”, he added.
LHVs
Typically more than 25 meters in length, almost nine meters longer than the standard HV in Europe, and weighing 60 tonnes compared to a maximum of 44 tonnes in several EU states currently, the so-called mega-truck offers opportunities to optimise logistics, save on transport costs and, above all, reduce greenhouse gas emissions per tonne of goods transported, according to its advocates.
However, opponents of LHVs point to a higher level of emissions, lower energy efficiency and questions over safety standards. They also argue that these vehicles will lead to an acceleration in road infrastructure degradation and have harmful effects when operating through environmentally fragile regions such as the Alps. What’s more, detractors claim that mega-trucks will hamper intermodality and further strengthen the road’s position as the dominant mode for goods transport, possibly leading to reverse modal shift.