The transport industry is facing a hard to solve problem: how to reduce harmful emissions at the same time as the number of transports is increasing drastically?
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limate and environmental issues are coming increasingly into focus and there is no longer any industry that can afford to disregard them. At the same time, transport needs are increasingly drastically. The best brains in the business are hard at work trying to combine decreased emissions with increased transportation. Although trucks’ environment-impacting emissions have been considerably reduced over the past twenty years, many people still regard trucks as having a negative impact on the environment. Volvo Trucks works actively to tackle environmental issues. “It’s not enough to adopt just one measure,” says Ulf Ehrning, head of Transport Policy & Research at Volvo 3P. “We are examining different types of fuel and also ways of making engines more economical, while at the same time looking at ways of utilising the vehicles more efficiently through more effective transport management.
” Volvo Trucks is also pursuing the issue of longer rigs, which would be able to combine transport efficiency with reduced eco-impact. In Europe the issue is complicated by the fact that there are different regulations for truck lengths and weights in different countries. Sweden and Finland apply the so-called modular system that allows rigs with a total length of up to 25.25 metres and gross combination weights of up to 60 tonnes. In the rest of the EU, the limits are 18.75 metres and 40 tonnes respectively. In the international perspective, longer vehicles are operated in countries such as Australia and South Africa, and even in the USA longer rigs are permitted. Europe is the scene for intensive debate on whether or not to permit the modular system on the continent’s roads.
“It’s a politically charged question, where highways are being set against railways,” explains Ulf Ehrning. “The way I see it, the two complement one another. In order to cover the transport needs of the future, we’re going to have to have better coordination between road and rail - all forms of transport will simply have to be as efficient as possible. ”The environmental benefits of longer rigs are obvious, according to Ulf Ehrning: “The potential is about 1.7 million trucks throughout Europe. If 35 percent of them were replaced with modular vehicles this would save about 13 million tonnes of carbon dioxide every single year. That figure corresponds, for instance, to the entire output of all the passenger cars in Sweden.” Another factor in favour of longer rigs is that the railways have only a limited ability to increase their capacity without requiring massive investment.
“With long trucks we would be able to achieve both more efficient and more eco-friendly road transportation,” says Ulf Ehrning. “I’m convinced that acceptance of the modular system will increase and that we will see longer modular trucks on the roads of many European countries within ten years. Many countries are in the process of starting the switch.” Volvo Trucks sees a future where it would be possible to drive longer modular vehicles on specified road networks and utilise electronic maps to see where such roads exist. In Sweden the company has already started taking the next step when it comes to longer rigs.
“Discussions are already under way concerning 32-metre rigs,” relates Ulf Ehrning. “Who knows, perhaps in another ten years’ time we’ll see truck rigs carrying two 40-foot containers on Swedish roads?” ■