Government could decarbonise by requiring all contractors to use ‘greener’ transport – not just those bidding for government contracts worth more than £5million a year (Cabinet Office document Sept 2021).
Peter Campbell explains that, as part of the government’s drive to hit net zero by 2050, new lorries that weigh under 26 tonnes (more than 90% of the heavy goods vehicles on UK roads) must be zero emission by 2035, while heavier vehicles, such as long-distance articulated lorries, must go green by 2040 (FT).
Some freight could be carried on the country’s under-used larger waterways – reducing accidents, cost, fuel consumption, air pollution and noise.
The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (RMMT) has called for the ‘rollout’ of a plan for electric chargers ahead of 2035 ban on smaller diesel-engined lorries. They point out that there is not a single public charging point for heavy goods vehicles in the UK.
Heavy-duty lorry charging places an enormous strain on the local grid connections, requiring expensive upgrades to local power systems, or installing large numbers of batteries at the site that can be recharged slowly from the main grid.
Left: lorry charging in the US.
The RMMT has called on the government to publish a strategy by early next year which will help the UK road haulage sector to decarbonise, detailing the rollout of a UK-wide HGV charging and fuelling network and greater purchase incentives for battery-powered lorries.
Some of the advantages of carrying freight on the country’s major waterways (CBOA graphics)
Below, World Bank graphic and advice
The World Bank advocates a web of water, road and rail arteries to help industries and manufacturing units to switch seamlessly between different modes of transport as they send their goods to markets in the country and abroad.
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Inland Waterway Freight 
Will the UK Government listen? I think itâs unlikely. Water freight needs government to do much more to encourage modal shift to water freight transport and then, for water freight to prosper, there must be more and better water freight infrastructure. In my part of the World, we need to be able to reactivate officially safeguarded wharves in less than the 7 years that it takes currently to overcome the staunch opposition of local authority planners and the Environment Agency.
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John Spencer Director http://www.gpsmarine.co.ukTel: +44 (0)1634 892010Mob: +44 (0)7730 644633