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| Intro |
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This
second Freight Newsletter is the 2006 June edition of the series
hosted by the Freight Forum (hgvmanagement.com).
This letter will address issues such as the cohabitation of freight
traffic and light vehicles, dedicated parking areas or journey planners
on Internet.
If
your company sets up projects or measures supporting Freight activities,
and that you would like to be mentioned in the next Newsletter,
do not hesitate to contact use by email and send us your contact
details so that we can get in touch with you quickly. In addition
a survey
can be found in this newsletter, it only takes a few seconds to
fill in, and with your kind participation it will help us assess
the utility of the letter and the content that you wish to be displayed
in it.
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| Highlight |
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Fig.: Truckstop Guide
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The
Truck Parking guide developed in England
Over the past five years there has been a real decline in the number
of overnight parking spaces available for lorry drivers. In particular,
increasing land costs are making it harder for site operators to
generate a return on investment. To provide the commercial drivers
with a positive aid the Highways Agency has developed a national
guide on truck-stops in England.
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Weigh in motion
In The Netherlands six active weight in motion systems are used
for enforcement, prevention and analysis. Other possibilities for
the use of the system: a risk atlas (routes used by many Dangerous
Goods Vehicles), height measurements for tunnels and exceptional
convoys were studied, but not feasible with the current installation.
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Dynamic prohibition to overtake for freight
Since 1997, in The Netherlands, it is forbidden for freight traffic to
overtake on several roads. These measures were implemented with static
signs and showed good improvement of traffic flow and traffic safety,
but since 2004, a project has been set up to manage dynamically these
measures.
...More
Dedicated web based information for the freight community [cf.
Freight
Newsletter #1]
In France, more information on the Internet Freight Portal covering the
Arc Atlantic and the transalpine region. In the United Kingdom, the Highways
Agency has set up a focus group that evaluates the implementation of real-time
traffic information on Internet terminals. More information on the Internet
portal for HGVs -www.truckinfo.ch- set up by the Swiss Federal Roads Authority.
...More
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Autoroutes Paris-Rhin-Rhône and EGIS PROJECTS set up a partnership
to develop secured truckstops in France
The strategy of this activity, branded under the name of Park+,
is to create, on a national scale, parking which answer to the strong
need of the carriers, the insurance companies and the local authorities,
to secure the road carriage.
...More
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Fig.: Park+ 24/24
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| More interesting
experience from across Europe |
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A quick look at other initiatives
in European Countries, including: The United Kingdom with its "Freight
Best Practice Guide in the UK" available on Internet, and Germany and
France with their projects related to Freight parking...
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| Feedback |
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We would like to know what
you think about these Newsletters, and to have your advice on hot topics
that interest you, so that we can develop them in future editions of this
newsletter. Please fill in the quick survey
or send your feedback to Xavier Crassous.(xcrassous@ibigroup.com)
...More
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| Credits |
| INTRODUCTION |
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This second Newsletter
is the 2006 June edition of the series hosted by the Freight Forum. This
letter will address issues such as the cohabitation of freight traffic
and light vehicles, dedicated parking areas or journey planners on Internet.
In additions a survey
can be found in this newsletter, and with your kind participation, it
will help us assess the utility of the letter and the content that you
wish to be displayed in it.
We encourage widespread distribution to all interested parties and constructive
feedback. The address at which all the previous Newsletters can be found,
including this one, is: www.hgvmanagement.com
Your own experience in this area is also very interesting and this letter constitutes an opportunity for you to make them widely advertised. Just let us know what you would like to share with others. The letter is a common promotion space that can be used to advertise any experience related to the management of freight on the TERN. So don't hesitate to contact us for inclusion in the next release.(xcrassous@ibigroup.com)
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| HIGHLIGHTS |
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Free Truckstop Guide for England
Over the past five years there has been a real decline in the number of
overnight parking spaces available for lorry drivers. In particular, increasing
land costs are making it harder for site operators to generate a return
on investment. To provide the commercial drivers with a positive aid the
Highways Agency has developed a national guide on truckstops in England.
The key objective was to publish a guide that will ensure HGV drivers
have sufficient information to facilitate and plan their mandatory rest
stops. Improved information may also help improve compliance with driving
hours regulations and reduce the problems associated with lorry parking
in inappropriate or illegal areas. The guide was released in early 2006
and is available to drivers and transport operators free of charge at
truckstops, on the web and through the trade press.
You can get your copy of the truckstop guide by calling the HA publications line on +44 (0)870 1226 236, quoting HA05/6.
Figure 1 : Truckstop Guide in England
Home
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Weigh in Motion Supporting enforcing regulations
Since 2001 seven weigh in motion (WIM) systems were implemented in The
Netherlands, six on the main exits and entrance routes of Rotterdam and one
near Arnhem. The ones near Rotterdam are used for enforcement, prevention
and analysis. The system near Arnhem consists of 14 weighing sensors to test
the sensors and calibrate them. In 2006 two extra systems will be
implemented on the E19. All main access routes to and from Rotterdam will
then be covered.
A WIM system consists of several inductive loops to detect and specify
trucks, two weighing sensors to measure the weight for every axis
and cameras for number plate recognition. For enforcement the police
have to be stationed near a weighing system, so they can take offenders
off the road and use a static weighing point for more accurate measurements.
Currently the sensors to weigh in motion are not accurate enough
to send fines to offenders automatically, like with speed detection.
Other possibilities were investigated for the use of the WIM system
in other project. The cameras used for the licence plate recognition
process of the WIM have been also used to build a risk atlas (routes
used by many Dangerous Goods Vehicles), and for height measurements
for tunnels and exceptional convoys. Nevertheless, these ideas have
been studied, and estimated not to be feasible with the current
installation.
The specifications Rijkswaterstaat defined for the system were released in
May 2006, because the demand for the Dutch WIM system was very high abroad.
Research on possibilities for automatic detection will continue.
Figure 2a : Weigh in Motion in The Netherlands
Heavy Goods Vehicle drivers have given very positive responses to this initiative as these measures have a positive impact on safety. Indeed, this community has integrated WIM as a security improvement rather than a strict enforcement.
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Dynamic prohibition to overtake for freight
Since 1997, in The Netherlands, it is forbidden for freight traffic
to overtake on several roads. These measures were at first implemented
with static signs and showed good improvement of traffic flow and
traffic safety. However, truck drivers prefer dynamic signs, implying
that measures to forbid overtaking for trucks are only operational
when necessary. The dynamic aspect of the system, which ensures
that these measures are taken only when necessary should result
in fewer offences.
During 2004 and 2005 dynamic systems were implemented at two test
sites in Utrecht and Limburg on a two and three lane motorway. Activating
the measure depends on several parameters such as the average speed
of the section, traffic density and the number of trucks compared
to the density of traffic or the speed of trucks.
The measurements and experiences from the test sites were evaluated. The evaluation focused on driver experiences, traffic flow, the number of offences, and on the comparison between the different time periods and tailgating.
The evaluation results were recently presented to the Dutch Minister of Transport, but are still restricted. The results be made public in a few months and will be presented in the next freight newsletter of November 2006.
Figure 7: Dynamic prohibition to overtake for freight
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Dedicated
web based information for the freight community [cf. Freight
Newsletter #1]
Follow up of the Freight Newsletter 1:
In France, the dedicated Internet portal for the freight
community along the Atlantic Arc has been updated as it now takes
into account even more of the Trans-European Road Network. The service
has recently been extended to the south east of England and Flanders.
As a result, the website provides dedicated information covering
the entire Channel area (fig. 3). The user-friendly portals, accessible
from personal computers [www.freteuroservice.com]
and roadside terminals positioned strategically along motorways,
provide real-time multi-modal traffic, local service information
amongst other features.
Figure 3 : Arc Atlantic Freight Portal, coverage map
Figure 4 : Arc Atlantic Freight Portal, browser
Follow
up of the Freight Newsletter 1: The Swiss Federal Roads Authority
has set up an expert group to evaluate and improve the various servicesan
of the Internet portal (www.truckinfo.ch)
for HGVs. One of the main aims of this website is to help transport
companies to optimally plan their routes, and to enable an efficient
utilisation of capacities in the area of transalpine freight transport.
An intermodal route planner proposing alternative modes of transport
has also been included on the truckinfo platform.
In 2005 an expert group was set up, several meetings were held with
representatives from the involved partners, as well as the local
police authorities and freight transport associations. An evaluation
of the statistics shows that the number of visitors is constantly
increasing. The close link between the number of visitors and weather
conditions is obvious and proven. A significant increase in the
number of hits has been observed whenever bad weather occurs (e.g.
heavy snowfall) or is forecast.
Figure 5 : www.truckinfo.ch, browser
Since August 2005, the truckinfo web site has included traffic bulletins
concerning neighbouring countries (France, Germany, Austria and
Italy). In 2006 it is planned to implement a dynamic router with
display of current incidents and road works along the recommended
route and with mail notification about new incidents. And it will
be integrating further-reaching data from neighbouring countries,
and there are plans to increase the involvement of European partners.
NEW: In Scotland, the development
of a Freight Information Service was identified as a key achievable
mechanism to assist in the Scottish Executive's objective of sustainably
improving the efficiency of the road freight transport sector. In
addition, earlier work within the STREETWISE project recognised
the different information requirements desired by the freight sector.
The implementation of the service builds on the existing "Traffic
Scotland" information service, and in line with the branding
(recognised as a key element through a significant market research
exercise) the service is known as "Freight Scotland".The
main aim of the service is to provide dedicated freight information
on the Scottish trunk road network.
Launch of the Freight Scotland web service will occur in early summer
2006, with an initial focus on:
- Live events on the trunk road network, including Roadworks and
Incident/Traffic News data (available from the Traffic Scotland
service);
- An interactive map displaying all geographic data and information
for over 1,000 industrial sites in Scotland (information will
be expanded for key sites in future months);
- Information on key freight sites - related to lorry parking,
port and railheads;
- Network restrictions - details of height and weight restrictions
on the trunk road network. It is intended that information on
other non-trunk routes will be provided in future;
- Freight resources portal - comprehensive portal with web links
to over 400 freight relevant resources on the internet;
- A 'Freight News' section; and
- A fully functional administration and content management web
site that will allow stakeholders to access and update freight-relevant
information.
One
key aspect to the ongoing success of such a service is the need
for stakeholder involvement, including but not limited to, Transport
Scotland (the national transport agency for Scotland), the Scottish
Executive (national government), local authorities and regional
transport partnerships, and the freight industry and associations.
All parties have been involved throughout the development process,
and will continue to be involved to ensure the ongoing currency
and validity of information displayed on the site as well as prior
to the introduction of additional functionality.
Such
additional functionality includes:
- Journey time information - provision of journey time information
to highlight times of day where sections of the network experience
congestion and the likely impact on journeys at those times. With
the introduction of regulations on the working times of mobile
workers, journey time reliability is of increasing importance
to the industry.
- Wind alert and adverse weather information - Transport Scotland
are currently implementing a wind warning strategy and systems
throughout the country, and in the event of any alerts such information
will be contained on the Freight Scotland site. In addition, Transport
Scotland are also working with the Met Office to obtain more detailed
weather information for the trunk road network, and any adverse
weather warnings will also be provided.
- Dynamic Alerting - to assist in the prompt dissemination of
information it is intended that trial dynamic alerts will be undertaken,
using email or RSS feeds to 'push' information out to users.
- Rerouting/Diversion Advice and Guidance - Transport Scotland
will shortly have in place a network-wide rerouting/diversion
strategy. Coupled with the increased information detailed above,
the provision of appropriate alternative routes to the freight
community will be valuable, particularly for drivers unfamiliar
with the road network and thereby ensuring such vehicles continue
to use suitable roads. Such information would be provided on the
web site, and can also be included in any dynamic alerts in the
event of incidents or events on the network.
Figure 6 : Freight Scotland - A National Freight Information Service
As
such information is added to that provided at the initial launch,
the Freight Scotland service will be an extensive resource which
will prove extremely valuable to the road freight industry.
In
addition to providing information for Scotland, the service also
addresses wider European objectives, such as the Long Distance Corridors
Demonstration Programme, a key European initiative to improve the
information provided and management of long distance traffic on
the TERN, and complementing similar services planned or introduced
by neighbouring road authorities.
In
general, the implementation of such a service, with focus on a key
user group as part of a holistic approach to providing comprehensive
traffic and traveller information is still a relatively novel concept.
We feel that the approach taken in introducing Freight Scotland
as part of the Traffic Scotland "family" could be a model
which can be replicated elsewhere in Europe.
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Autoroutes Paris-Rhin-Rhône and EGIS PROJECTS set up a partnership
to develop secured truckstops in France
The strategy of this activity, branded under the name of Park+,
is to create, on a national scale, parking which answer to the strong
need of the carriers, the insurance companies and the local authorities,
to secure the road carriage. This service is based on a closed parking
with fully integrated external and internal security cameras and
the most appropriate cutting-edge technology of access control.
These Truckstops will be guarded 24 hours a day by qualified agents.
Park+ will also offer in these secured truckstops, new services
dedicated to truck drivers. Thus, Park+ has decided to equip its
secured truckstops with " multi-services " building with
a restaurant, a bar, a shop, a friendly lounge, a launderette, some
showers and some sanitary facilities. The concept which has already
been developed in other European countries, more especially in the
UK, Germany and Italy, brings an answer to the expectation of the
road professionals. Many service areas of the French motorway network
are already saturated.
To launch this activity, Park+ is building its first secured truckstops
in Langres, close to the motorway A31. This is a traditional stop
for the international carriers travelling between Northern and Southern
Europe. Laid on a 5 hectares area, this parking area will support
up to 230 Heavy Good Vehicles. The opening is forecasted for October
2006. The investment close to 5 Millions of Euros.
For more information visit www.parkplus.fr
Figure 8: Park+ 24/24, secured truckstops in France
Real added service for carriers, the secured truckstops Park+ will ensure
a total safety for truck drivers and a total security for their loads
and vehicles.
With a strong force of mobilization, innovation and recognized expertise
in road infrastructure, Autoroutes Paris-Rhin-Rhône and Groupe Egis
join their know-how to bring a service at high value added to the road
carriage in France.
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| MORE
INTERESTING EXPERIENCE FROM ACROSS EUROPE |
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Below are some additional
‘hot topics’ worth mentioning.
- UNITED
KINGDOM : The United Kingdom's Department for Transport Freight
Best Practice programme offers, through its Freight Best Practice Guide
in the UK, free essential information for the freight industry covering
topics such as : saving fuel, developing skills, equipment and systems,
operational efficiency or performance management. All FREE materials
are available to download from the website www.freightbestpractice.org.uk
or can be ordered through the Hotline on +44 (0)845 877 0 877.
- France
: A little more than a year ago, SANEF opened a secured and guarded
rest area on the A1 motorway north of Paris, near major logistics service
centres [cf. Freight
Newsletter #1]. Drivers have access to restaurants, shops and showers,
and their vehicles are safely parked. Although the current use of the
parking is below expectations, the low entry fee and increased information
are likely to make this initiative better known to lorry drivers. Other
similar areas have recently opened along the motorway network in France.
Recently, Sanef has extended the number of payment options to enter
the parking lot. The secured parking area used to only accept member
cards (people having subscribed), but now drivers can access the facilities
using CAPLIS, DKV, UTA, Euroshell, Total GR, Ressa and Esso cards as
well as the usual debit cards. The prices currently range from 2€ per
hour to 36€ for 24hrs. For more information visit www.sanef.fr
One of SAPN's, objectives concerning the illegal parking of HGV along
roadises, is to propose and evaluate methods of providing information.
This should help lorry drivers to know the availability of parking spaces
at motorway rest areas so that they can better plan their mandatory
stops. It will also ensure the maximum security at parking areas by
reducing illegal parking. Based on a feasibility study two prototypes
were installed at major parking areas, in order to validate (1) appropriate
methods and technologies for monitoring parking space availability,
and (2) appropriate methods of communicating this information to drivers.
The SAPN's project has helped to validate the HGV detection principle,
to select the most appropriate technology and to specify new devices
designed for HGV parking monitoring. Based on the result of this project,
SAPN is planning to deploy such system on several consecutive parking
areas, and equipments should be able to transmit the information to
HGV drivers very soon.
- Germany
: The lack of parking space is a serious concern for HGV drivers.
Indeed it results in increasing illegal parking along motorways, and
with forecasted increase in the number of trucks driving along the TERN,
this issue needs to be tackled urgently. An innovative telematics-controlled
parking (TCP) pilot program has been tested in the CENTRICO region of
Rheinland-Pfalz since September 2005 [cf. Freight
Newsletter #1]. The system calls for trucks to park according to
estimated departure time and size. When entering the parking lot, the
driver enters the information (departure time and vehicle size) in a
computer terminal. Since then the capacity of the tested parking lot
has doubled, and illegal parking has stopped. The next steps could be
to transfer the system of TCP to other service areas, to interlink those
rest areas, and to build a HGV parking guidance and information systems.
For more information: telematik@lsv.rlp.de
. Following this pilot, North Rhein-Westfalia is experimenting a
similar system on the parking area Siegburg-Ost on the motorway A3,
and England is now planning to implement a similar scheme at one of
their motorway service area.
- EU-wide
: The European Commission invites tenders for a service contract
regarding the Feasibility Study on the tracking and tracing of transport
by road of passengers, living animals and dangerous goods. The Directive
2004/52/CE on interoperability of Electronic Fee Collection (EFC) systems
in Europe introduces the concept of one single service and one single
onboard unit to travel all around Europe paying in a seamless way taxes
and fees of various natures. A first application is of course EFC, freight
and fleet management, but another one could be the tracking and tracing
of transport of passengers, living animals and dangerous goods, for
the purpose of road safety.
The concept of the service is the following : a small keyboard being
connected to the onboard unit allows the driver to download a few parameters
describing the type of load he carries. If an incident should happen,
automatically or by the action of the driver or a passenger, an emergency
call is made, with the following informations : accurate location, including
the direction, and load description parameters. The operator knows in
near real time real-time (within a few second) that one convoy carrying
important goods is experiencing difficulties on his network. Therefore
the reaction can be more accurate, faster, and will thus save more lives,
or limit the extension of potential pollution.
The study and the issues raised will be further detailed in the next
Newsletter (Freight Newsletter #3, Nov 2006)
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| FEEDBACK |
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We’re looking forward
to your feedback and we are very interested in your comments. Would you
be interested to participate in a workshop that would provide insights
to best practices and round tables to discuss and further develop innovative
solutions to the challenges posed to the freight community? Email your
comments to Xavier Crassous at IBI Group, xcrassous@ibigroup.com
To better assess the use that readers make of this Freight Newsletter,
and to provide information about topics that matter to you, we are carrying out a survey.
It is very brief and should not take you long to fill in, and it will
help us evaluate the utility of the series of Newsletter, as well as have a
better understanding of the future orientations it should take.
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| FORWARD
/ MAILING LIST |
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It is only by building
a broad community that we can provide tangible results. Please forward
this newsletter to all interested parties within the freight industry
(The address to forward is www.hgvmanagement.com).
If you would like to subscribe, send an email with your position, company
and contact details at xcrassous@ibigroup.com: Add me to the e-Mailing
list.
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| IN
THE NEXT NEWSLETTER |
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Make the freight newsletter, YOUR newsletter!
It is essential to us that you find the information you seek, and the topics that are of interest to you in this series of documents dedicated to the freight industry. Therefore, we need you to tell us was issues you want to see addressed. You can email us (xcrassous@ibigroup.com), or take a few minutes to fill in our quick survey, and we will make our best to answer your requests
Home |
| ABOUT
THE “LONG DISTANCE CORRIDORS” PROJECT |
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Within the Long Distance Corridors Project, the partners of Centrico, Streetwise and Corvette, covering a wide area from Ireland to Northern Italy, have set up an information exchange community, where best practises regarding the management of the freight traffic are regularly exchanged. The Long Distance Corridors project also supports service providers in developing new services, and looks at the way roads authorities assist long distance traffic across the project area. These projects are supported by the European Commission DG TREN within the TEMPO Programme.
www.longdistancecorridors.info
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The Euro-Regional Projects
This
communication tool is dedicated to give information, to all road
operator stakeholders, about best practices, new projects and pilot
programs related to freight traffic management. Information is also
largely disseminated during the Euro-regional project Conferences
and towards the European Traffic Management Expert Group. A French
LDC brochure has been released recently, in order to inform stakeholders
of the existence of this project. In addition a leaflet showing
some of the available traffic related information along a Long Distance
Corridor, as a demonstration of pan-European services, has been
edited and distributed to truck drivers. It displays contact information
of all national telephone service, radio or internet services.
www.centrico.org | www.streetwise-info.org | www.eu-corvette.com
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| CREDITS |
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This newsletter is prepared in the context of the Long Distance Corridor
Workpackage 3 and is supported by the European Commission’s DG-TREN
Centrico project. Conceived and edited by IBI Group, with the support
of LDC partners and the contribution of the organisations mentioned in
this edition.
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