THE ROAD Haulage Association (RHA) will be campaigning to get the 50mph speed limit introduced for all trucks on single carriageway A-roads across Scotland, bringing it in line with England and Wales.
Speaking to delegates at the Donald Malcolm Heritage Centre, sited in the Malcolm Group’s complex at Linwood, Renfrewshire, the RHA director for Scotland and Northern Ireland, Martin Reid, said the case to move to 50mph was a strong one.
“We are going to prepare a report later in the year involving many stakeholders from across all sectors and industries, we will call on the evidence from England and Wales, and the findings from the 50mph trial on the A9 to make the case,” he said.
He also announced a practical road test of the A75 will take place using 7.5 tonne trucks to provide empirical evidence of the differences in time and potential efficiencies of driving at 50mph, compared to 40mph.
The RHA also has additional campaigns running on facilities, skills and the environment.
Scotland’s traffic commissioner Claire Gilmore was the keynote speaker. She raised concerns with operators about the falling first time MoT pass rates for trucks and trailers after an interrupted maintenance and testing regime thanks to Covid, also third party trailers and their defects, and various issues concerning professional drivers.
Other speakers included Diabetes Safety Organisation CEO Kate Walker, Backhouse Jones solicitor and director Jonathon Backhouse, and the sales director for Michelin, Andrew French.
We’ll bring you a full report from the RHA Scottish Conference in the next issue.
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