New truck rules threaten weight rows

By FWi staff

HEAVIER legal lorry weights from 01 February will give rise to greater potential for disputes between farmers and merchants, predict some traders.

Glencore Grain moves 1m tonnes of grain off farms a year.

Haulage manager Kenny King points out that with five different lorry payloads operating from next month, contract tolerances will be more difficult to manage.

Currently, wagons may take up to 20t, 25t, 26t or 27t of produce.

The introduction of the new 44t gross weight limit, which will enable them to carry 29-30t of produce, is most likely to cause problems on 100t and 200t contracts, says Mr King.

For example, at the new weight, three full loads would fall below the tolerance of most 100t ex-farm contracts.

These are usually based on a tolerance of 5% or 15t, whichever is the lesser, and buyer and haulier carry the legal responsibility for ensuring that the contract tonnage is loaded.

Where more than one haulier is being used to pick up an ex-farm contract, the potential for over or underloading the contract increases, says Mr King.

A spokesman for UKASTA said that it had considered the issue of the increase in permitted lorry weights and it did not foresee great problems.

The implications of the 44t gross weight limit for haulage costs are unclear until operators have had time to run vehicles at this weight.

While in theory some costs will reduce because each vehicle can carry more weight, there will be increased wear and tear and higher fuel costs.

However, where trucks do upgrade to 44t, the number of journeys should be reduced by one for every eight loads.