FINMOBILITY-TRANSPORTFÖRETAGEN DEBATE ON WEIGHTS AND DIMENSIONS IN EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT
On 26 April, CLECAT participated to an event organised by the Finnish and Swedish transport associations FinMobility and Transportföretagen on the review of Weights and Dimensions Directive in the European Parliament. Hosted by MEPs Elsi Katainen (Renew, Finland) and Erik Berkgvist (S&D, Sweden), the event aimed to demonstrate Finland’s and Sweden’s extensive experience with high-capacity vehicles in the framework of the upcoming revision of the Weights and dimensions Directive.
Speakers from various industries and sectors highlighted the benefits of high-capacity vehicles as an efficient, cost-effective way to reduce the number of trucks on the road, thereby reducing emissions from road freight transport and alleviating the current shortage of professional drivers. Speaking in the panel discussion, CLECAT Director General Nicolette van der Jagt presented freight forwarders’ position on the revision of the Weights and dimensions Directive, noting that an increase of the EU-wide 40-tonne weight limitation for border crossings to 44 tonnes was desirable, while maintaining the possibility to authorise cross-border operations with heavier/longer trucks between consenting Member States. She also noted that it was important to authorise the use of European Modular system (EMS) vehicles in the EU, at least along the TEN-T core and comprehensive network.
Ms Ewa Ptaszynska, Deputy Head of Unit Road transport at DG MOVE, gave a state of play of the revision of the Directive: She highlighted that the future proposal should play a role in the decarbonisation of road freight transport, by allowing cross-border operations of EMS vehicles and boost the uptake of alternative fuels. There is also a need to align this Directive with other pieces of legislation, such as the Combined Transport Directive, by considering trailers and semi-trailers as intermodal units. Finally, a harmonisation of the rules and enforcement is also pursued in certain areas, such as guidelines for abnormal loads and the possibility to expand the installation of weigh-in motion systems.
The revision of the W&D Directive is expected to be adopted on 21 June, as part of the Greening Freight Package.