After months of campaigning, the RHA is pleased to confirm that the Longer Semi-Trailer (LST) trial has been extended by three months.
The end date is now 29 February having been previously set at 30 November.
Declan Pang, RHA Director of Policy and Public Affairs for England, said:
“We’ve been campaigning for some time for the Department for Transport to reduce new the bureaucracy on hauliers using longer semi-trailers to encourage uptake.
“We welcome this extra time to work with our members and government on solutions, and for changes to the guidance to reduce onerous administration.”
Encouraging uptake of these vehicles is good for the environment with fewer journeys and less congestion, so it makes no sense to discourage their use.
Safety is our number one priority and we’ve had years of rigorous trials which have proven that LSTs are safe to be on our roads.
Following the LST guidance published in May, we have been urging DfT to reduce the requirements for route plans and risk assessments that were due to come in from 30 November despite not being required during the 12-year LST trial.
Some members were particularly concerned about the added pressure on drivers and transport planners and the significant additional time spent on completing paperwork for each trailer.
There are options being considered by some operators including tracking providers and driver apps to link a pickup location with a route plan and risk assessment to facilitate a simpler solution, but this will not be ready in time for 30 November.
